This weekly column, “Adventures in Good Eating,” by Back Door Café chef/owner Fran Ginn appears each Thursday in the Marion County Informer.

……I relish the opportunity of finding something new and different to eat wherever I go. I love to explore why people eat what they do and how food has shaped their lives. Adventures in Good Eating is my way of sharing the pleasure of culinary discovery and also the anticipation of tables and tastes yet to be found.

Garrison Keillor’s tales of Lake Woebegon have long been a favorite of mine.  The stories of the stalwart Scandinavian Lutherans of Minnesota always make me smile.  I noticed that Garrison often mentions “hotdish”.  He uses it in several contexts, including jokes, such as:  “you must be Lutheran if……..you think anyone who says “casserole” instead of “hotdish” is trying to be uppity (or maybe even Episcopalian!)” 

 and ……….you think “hotdish” is one of the major food groups.”

I went right to the source, the Prairie Home Companion web-site.  There was an explanation of “hotdish” from Garrison himself.  These are his words:

 “ It’s a meal in one dish, vegetables and grain and perhaps meat, and its good peasant cooking and it exists in every culture. Surely you ate it growing up. It might have rice or noodles and it needs some sauce and then you add what ingredients you are moved to add. Be inventive. If you want to start with a classic, do the tuna noodle hotdish, which employs a can of cream of mushroom soup (don’t add water), a can of tuna, a bag of egg noodles, and perhaps a package of frozen peas. Cook the noodles, glop in the soup, add the tuna and peas, and if you want to be fancy, crush some potato chips for a topping.”

In my further exploration of this casserole with a special name, I learned that it did in fact originate in the basement halls of Lutheran churches in the frozen northern states, especially Minnesota.  It is as ubiquitous there as rice and gravy is in the South.  The farm wives of the early days of the last century discovered a new ready made ingredient – cream of mushroom soup.

This miracle ingredient gained such favor with the church ladies of the region that it became known as “Lutheran binder” and was considered a de rigueur item in recipes submitted for church cookbooks.  As flavors of condensed cream soups were added, it became fashionable to combine flavors of soup in the same hotdish.  As time passed, home-cut potatoes and onions gave way to Tater Tots, canned French-fried Onion Rings and chow mein noodles.   (I have been told that confession is good for the soul…….this is very hard for  me…….one of my favorite dishes in the world is the Green Bean Casserole on the side of the onion ring can…..please help me keep this secret and -  I love Tater Tots with a passion usually reserved for things like lobster.) 

It is easy to see how Hotdish became so popular in the frozen north.  The basic ingredients were ground meat (from a cow raised on the farm and butchered and in the freezer), canned soup, canned corn or the canned vegetable mixture known as “Veg-All”, and some type of starch, noodles, rice or potatoes – all grocery items which could be purchased in bulk and stored in a pantry when deep snow made the trek into town difficult.  In the early days there were no foreign spices, such as garlic, thyme or (God forbid, Tabasco).  Just good plain salt and pepper as the only seasoning.  As time passed, the inventive Lutheran ladies began to vary their ingredients.  A search of recipes on the Internet produced some of these versions of hotdish:

• Sauerkraut Hotdish
• Reuben Hotdish
• Chicken Crouton Hot Dish
• Pasta Ham Hotdish
• Creamy Chicken Hotdish
• Pepperoni and Tomato Hotdish
• Sweet and Sour Chicken Hotdish
• Tater Tot Hotdish
• Church Supper Hotdish
• Hamburger Hotdish
• Mashed Potato Hotdish
• Hula Hotdish (Spam and pineapple)
• Cheeseburger and French Fry Hotdish
• Wild Rice and Sausage Hotdish

Did I remember to mention that the number one condiment for hotdish is ketchup?  Midwest Living, which I gather is similar to our Southern Living, has more than 50 different recipes for hotdish.

To give you an idea of how dear this very basic food is to the hearts of the people of Minnesota, especially Lutherans,  I’d like to leave you with a very tongue in cheek version of the Christmas carol, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, as sung on a Prairie Home Companion.

 Hark, the herald angels sing

Is there hotdish we can bring?

Peace on earth and mercy mild

Tuna hotdish, family style.

Joyful all ye nations rise,

Casseroles and shepherd’s pies –

With angelic hosts proclaim,

This is really good chow mein.

Hark the herald angels sing,

Is there hotdish we can bring?

This week’s recipe touted itself to be the leading hotdish recipe ever.  It hits on every delicious, carb-laden, item available to go into a pan.  We have amended the more bland seasonings from up north, and spiced this hotdish up Southern style.

Tater Tot Hotdish a la Back Door

1 ½ pounds lean ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1  tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 (32 oz.) tater tots, thawed

1 can condensed cream of celery soup

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 Tblsp. worchestershire sauce

2 cans French-cut green beans, well drained

1 (6 oz.) can French-fried onion rings

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large skillet, brown ground beef with onion, salt, pepper, and garlic.

Spread meat mixture in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Cover the

meat with a layer of thawed Tater Tots.  Spread drained green beans over the potatoes.  In a mixing bowl, combine the two soups and worchestershire sauce.  Spread over the layer of green beans.  Top with onion rings. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.