Today is National Tater Tot Day, and for a while there, I was somewhat concerned that my blog entry was going to cover how to make a great tater tot. The potato section in the freezer aisle has been really bare the past couple of months. While I don’t believe it was connected to the Chinese supply chain issue off the west coast, it was probably more to do with holiday rush, a couple of ill-timed snow storms, and probably some ‘rona outages mixed in, too. Luckily, I found a couple straggler bags over the last two weeks.
However, now I was kind of stumped for what to make with the tots. So, I took to the interwebs and I found something peculiar, with a very generic name, called “Hotdish”. Have you heard of this before? I mean sure, you’re going to a potluck or something and you ask “what can I bring?” and the usual response is salad, side, or a hot dish…as in an adjective, not a proper noun. Ok…what’s in this “Hotdish” and where did it come from? From way too much research (because spending more than 3 minutes on this is absurd), I have finally determined the answer is: Hotdish comes from the upper Midwest reaches of the US and contains pretty much anything your little heart desires.
Hotdish is a generic term, for a generic dish, made of generic ingredients. There are only 3 hard and fast rules. 1 - it must be in a dish (or, more properly, a casserole dish); 2 - it must be hot; and 3 - it must be topped with tater tots, although it seems you can aslo sub in macaroni as a topping. Looking at some of these recipes though…man, not gonna lie, it looks fucking horrible. Throwing frozen veggies into a dish, along with a can or two of god- awful canned Cream of Mushroom soup, sound like a meal more suited for a prisoner. So, what goes well with tots…or potatoes, rather? Well, I make a mean Shepherd’s Pie, why can’t I try it with tots? So, I did. I made it and everyone really enjoyed it, which I wasn’t expecting, and I’ll most likely never make this again, and now the recipe is below for your consideration. I’d just stick with my real-deal Shepherd’s Pie, though.
McHotdish
6 slices of thick-cut bacon
2 small onions
1 lb ground lamb
3 carrots
3/4 cup of frozen peas
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp flour
1 can of Guinness or other dark beer
1 scant tsp of minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup beef broth
~1 lb of frozen tater tots
Slice your bacon into ¼-inch batons and, in a 12-inch pan, sauté over medium heat until crisped. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate.
Toss in your onions with a heavy pinch of salt and sauté for about 13-15 mins, stirring occasionally, until caramelized. Once the onions have softened, toss in the carrots. When the onions are caramelized, increase the heat to medium-high and add in the ground lamb, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon. Season with kosher salt and black pepper.
When the meat is no longer pink, stir in the garlic and frozen peas and cook until fragrant. Then, stir in the tomato paste until fully incorporated, followed by the flour and cook for a minute while stirring.
Pour in the beer and let it come to a boil, and using the wooden spoon, scrape the fond from the bottom of the skillet; let it cook for about 5 minutes until nearly evaporated.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350.
Once the beer has cooked down, add the rosemary and beef broth and let the mixture just return to a boil. Then, transfer to a 10-inch round casserole, or a 9-inch square casserole dish or other casserole-style dish. Level off the contents with the back of a spoon and top with frozen tater tots, in a single layer.
Place the casserole dish on a baking tray and place in the oven and cook for 40-50 minutes. Serve hot! ______________________________
Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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