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Divinely Delicious: "Hot Dish Heaven" cookbook is a ready-made classic

The “hot dish” as it is known in the Midwest has almost saintly status. It is the casserole that is toted to family gatherings, the mainstay of many a family meal and a traditional concoction that seems to go back at least four or five generations.

Ann Burckhardt, author of “Hot Dish Heaven” (Minnesota Historical Society: http://www.mhspress.org) is a consummate professional who has written or edited more than 25 books about food including the original Betty Crocker cookbook. There are few people in this world I would trust more than Ann with accuracy, dependability and downright goodness than Ann. She and I have known each other, worked together and encouraged each other since we were just out of our alma mater, Iowa State University.

Ann, the daughter of an Iowa newspaperman, also shared early childrearing challenges. She had her daughter Barb just about the same time as I had Elliot. Some days I believed we saved each other’s sanity just by laughing and sharing.

When Ann sent her book as a Christmas gift, I could hardly put it down. Not only that, I had to read bits to my husband as she mentioned many of people and places we had all b experienced when we lived in Minneapolis. It brought back such great memories. Now it is my pleasure to share with you a selection of recipes from Ann’s latest book. And, suggest that you might want to have your very own copy. That plus Ann’s other most recent book, ‘A Cook’s Tour of Minnesota” (also published by the historical society: http://www.mhspress.org) will bring you up to date with almost everything Midwestern. It will also provide you with some of the best home cooking this side of heaven.

This recipe’s title earned it the honor of being the first for me to recommend to you as an

introduction to the cookbook “Hot Dish Heaven”. It has all the “good stuff”…and is ready to eat after a 45-minute bake.

Heavenly Hash

2 tbsp. butter

1 medium onion or ¾ cup chopped frozen onion, thawed

1 rib celery, sliced

1 green pepper, diced

8 oz. fresh mushrooms (about 2 cups whole mushrooms), sliced, or 4-oz. can mushrooms, drained

1 ½ lb. regular or lean ground beef

8-oz. egg noodles (half a 1-lb. bag)

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese

15-oz. whole kernel corn, drained, or 2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

10 ¾ can tomato soup

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in large skillet. Stir-fry onion, celery, pepper and mushrooms in butter; add meat and stir-fry, breaking up meat, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions in lightly salted water, being careful to cook them just to the al dente stage…”to the tooth” or offering some resistance when bitten into. Cut cream cheese into 15 to 18 chunks and turn into a large mixing bowl. Drain excess fat from skillet of meat and vegetables. Add meat and vegetables to cream cheese in bowl. Toss with two large spoons until hot ingredients are coated with cream cheese. Drain noodles and add to bowl, again tossing to combine. Next add drained corn; toss again. Finally, pour on soup, continuing to toss lightly. Turn hash mixture into 2-qt. baking dish. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until well heated.

A tuna noodle casserole was uppermost on my mind as I open Ann’s book. Sure enough…there is was. This updated version is a bit more glamorous than we had at in my growing up years.

Tuna and Noodles

1 ½ cups uncooked egg noodles or macaroni (elbow, medium shell or spiral)

2 tbsp. butter, margarine or vegetable oil

¼ cup minced onion

2 ribs celery, sliced

3 tbsp. flour

¼ tsp. salt

1 ½ cups milk

8 or 9 oz. frozen peas, rinsed

1 cup drained tuna (9 ½-oz. can)

1 ½ cups grated carrots

1 cup cottage cheese

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Cook noodles or macaroni in boiling water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Melt butter in a large saucepan and stir-fry the onion and celery until onion is transparent. Stir in flour and ¼ tsp. salt into ingredients in saucepan and cook until bubbly. Add milk gradually, cooking and stirring, until the white sauce thickens. Remove the sauce from the heat. Stir in the drained pasta, peas, tuna, carrots, cottage cheese and soy sauce. Taste and add the rest of salt and pepper. Pour the tuna mixture into a sprayed or buttered 2 ½ -quart casserole.

Cover casserole with lid or a sheet of oil and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Take off the cover and sprinkle on the shredded cheese. Bake 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Variations: Chicken or Salmon and Noodles: Use 1 ½ cups diced leftover chicken or 1 to 1 ½ cups drained, canned salmon instead of tuna.

Bless those canned soups! What would we do without them….certainly the canned cream soups are the basis for all kinds of casseroles. This one has the uniqueness of baking TWO hours….lovely, Ann says in her book she might make this when she attends church and sets her oven to turn off automatically “just in case services run late.” I told you she was honest.!

Chicken with Rice and Two Soups

1 cup uncooked white rice or 1 ¼ cups brown rice or wild rice (or mixture of the three)

2 ½- to 3 lb. broiler-fryer chicken, cut up, or 1 ¼ lb. boned chicken breasts or thighs

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

10 ¾-oz. can cream of mushroom soup

2 ½ cups water, as needed

Heat oven to 325 degrees (300 degrees for a glass pan)

Spread rice in the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Arrange chicken pieces on rice, skin side up. If using chicken breasts, cut breasts into halves with kitchen shears. Pour onion soup mix into small bowl and stir together the enclosed bouillon granules and dried onion. Sprinkle onion mixture evenly over chicken pieces. In medium bowl, stir soup and 2 soup cans (2 ½ cups) of water together; pour over all. Cover pan with a sheet of aluminum foil. Bake 2 hours.

Ann had a Bed and Breakfast in St. Peter Minnesota for eight years. She credits Bev Smith from Mankato MN with this recipe. Ann incorporates the oven omelet in this festive menu:

A FESTIVE BREAKFAST

FOR ANY WEEKEND OF THE YEAR

Pineapple-Orange Juice served in wine glasses

Cheese-Rich Oven Omelet

Favorite Muffins or Coffee Cake

Fruit Plate of Berries on a Fan of Melon Slice

Cheese-Rich Oven Omelet

½ cup fried, crumbled bacon (6 slices)

1 ½ cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups shredded Swiss cheese

2 to 3 tbsp. diced pimento, drained

3 to 4 sprigs fresh parsley , leaves only, chopped

8 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare bacon ( bottled bacon pieces sold by Hormel can be used). Butter a 1 ½ qt. casserole. Place cheeses in a medium bowl and add flour; toss using two spoons or clean hands until cheese shreds are coated with flour. Place cheese in casserole. Sprinkle bacon over cheeses. Dot bacon and cheese with pieces of pimento and parsley leaves. Beat eggs and milk together. Pour over ingredients in the casserole.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until puffed and starting to brown. It will smell invitingly of cheese.

Cooks’ Notes:

Thanks to the flour coating the cheese, the puff does not fall. If a portion or two is leftover, chill and reheat later in the microwave. You can also use the microwave to reheat the omelet if someone oversleeps. If your family enjoys breakfast food at supper -time, remember this high-protein casserole; it’s excellent with a mixed green salad.

I would have loved knowing Ann’s mom. I am sure that the “apple didn’t fall far from the tree” in this family as I’ve always known Ann to be thrifty and yet generous. I can almost taste the gooey lushness of a well-made bread pudding such as this.

Ann Burckhardt’s Mom’s Bread Pudding

1 ½ cups milk

2 tbsp. butter

6 cups bread cubes

2 cups canned peaches, cut in chunks, or 16-oz. can fruit cocktail, drained

½ cup raisins

2 eggs

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. cinnamon or nutmeg

¼ tsp. salt

Heat the milk to scalding in a 2-qt. saucepan. Add butter to pan. Set off the heat to cool while measuring other ingredients (butter melts in milk).

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 2-qt/ casserole. Place bread cubes, peach chunks and raisins in a large bowl. Pour warm milk mixture over bread mixture; stir until all bread is moistened. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg and salt. Beat until the sugar is dissolved in the egg mixture. Add to the bread-and-milk mixture; mix well. Spoon the mixture into the casserole, making sure fruit is distributed evenly.

Bake uncovered about 1 hour or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm with cream (half and half in a pitcher).

Cooks Notes:

When there’s a bowl of this in the refrigerator, I like to reheat a portion in the microwave oven to savor as part of breakfast.

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