Tater Tots, turkey and trash-talking on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON – There were Tater Tots, turkey and a whole lot of trash-talking on Capitol Hill Wednesday as members of Minnesota's congressional delegation faced off in Sen. Al Franken's fifth annual casserole bake-off — or hotdish-off, if you're Minnesotan.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-St. Paul, pulled out the win this year with a turkey and wild rice dish covered in sweet potato Tater Tots. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Detroit Lakes, scored second place with his "Suspend the Rules and Pass the Hotdish" casserole, a hearty ground-beef mixture topped with a cornbread crust. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D- Minneapolis, rounded out the top three with a turkey-bacon dish topped with biscuits.
"Much of it was crispy, a lot of it was very original, it was tasty, but there was a spectrum of tastiness," said chief judge Eric Kaler, president of the University of Minnesota.
Kaler joked that as a chemical engineer who specializes in "complex and often hazardous fluids," he was well-qualified to judge the concoctions submitted to the competition by all 10 members of Congress from the Gopher State.
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Franken started the casserole bake-off as a way to get the entire delegation together and put partisan politics aside.
"Then we have all 10 of us for just some camaraderie and fun to celebrate a real Minnesota tradition," he said Wednesday.
Along with the camaraderie came a fair amount of ribbing. Franken accused Rep. Tim Walz, D-Mankato, of cheating by trying to tip off judges to which dish was his. And Franken said it was "kind of obnoxious" that Walz, who won the competition the past two years, was looking for a third win.
When Klobuchar decided to remove foil keeping another lawmaker's dish warm, saying it was against the rules, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, suggested the rules seemed rather "fluid." A House colleague then quipped, "That's because senators are in charge."
Emmer, who was participating in his first delegation hotdish-off, seemed less than amused that his Tater Tot-covered ground beef and mushroom and chicken soup casserole didn't place.
"The judges made a mistake, the judges made a mistake, that's all I have to say," he sniffed.
Contact dslack@usatoday.com. Follow @donovanslack.
Recipes for Minnesota hotdishes submitted this year
Winner: Turkey, Sweet Potato and Wild Rice Hotdish — Rep. Betty McCollum
Ingredients
1 lb. ground turkey
2 large bunches kale leaves
3 cups cooked wild rice
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp butter
4 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup milk
1/8 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon thyme, minced
1 package frozen sweet potato Tater Tots
Directions
Brown ground turkey in pan with salt and pepper, set aside.
Add kale leaves and 1 cup water to large saucepan and cover, stirring occasionally. Do this until water has evaporated and kale is wilted. Remove from saucepan and set aside.
On medium-high heat, add mushrooms, onions and 2 tablespoons olive oil to saucepan. Do not stir and let mushrooms brown and begin to caramelize. After about 5-6 minutes, stir mixture, add salt and pepper to taste, and allow to sit for another 5-6 minutes.
Add kale, butter, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, cinnamon, paprika, red pepper flakes to the pan. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Add milk, cream, and chicken stock to the pan. Reduce heat, and cover, stirring occasionally until mixture thickens and reduces into a sauce. Add flour to thicken if necessary.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In 9-by-9-inch baking dish, combine the sauce from your pan, the wild rice and the ground turkey. Top with a single layer of sweet potato tots. Bake until tots begin to brown slightly on top, about 35 minutes.
Amy Klobuchar's Gobble It Up Minnesota Hotdish
Ingredients
3 cups of Jennie-O Whole Turkey, cubed
4 strips of Hormel bacon, diced
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp Gold Medal flour
4 cups chicken stock
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups Sno Pac frozen sliced carrots
2 cups Sno Pac frozen peas
Fresh thyme, tarragon, and parsley
Pillsbury Biscuit Dough, cut with a Minnesota-shaped cookie cutter
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a saucepan, fry bacon until crispy, then add onion and garlic to the grease until softened and golden.
Sprinkle flour and add stock into the pan, stir for two minutes, and simmer on low until sauce thickens.
Add cream of mushroom soup, carrots, peas, turkey, and herbs; stir until combined.
Pour into a casserole dish, add your Minnesota cutouts on top, and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
Collin's Suspend the Rules and Pass the Hotdish
Ingredients
Cooking-oil spray for greasing pan
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup rinsed and drained canned black beans
1 cup corn, drained, canned or frozen (thawed if frozen)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup beef or chicken broth
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper, optional
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
11/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 3-quart high-sided casserole dish with cooking spray. In a large skillet, saute the beef and onion over medium-high heat until the meat is brown and the onion translucent, about 10 minutes. Then add the beans, corn, tomato sauce, broth, bell pepper (if using), chili powder, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and teaspoon salt. In a small bowl whisk together the egg, milk and oil until combined. Whisk the milk mixture into the flour mixture until combined. Spread the meat mixture into the casserole dish and cover with the cornbread topping. The topping will disappear into the meat mixture but will rise during baking and form a layer of cornbread. Bake until the cornbread is brown, 20 to 25 minutes.