The History of Hot Dish
When chef Gavin Kaysen decided to leave New York City’s acclaimed Café Boulud to go home to Minnesota and open Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis, he did not expect a group of ladies from a local Lutheran church to be his most formidable critics. Kaysen, a 2007 F&W Best New Chef, clearly has affection for Midwestern comfort-food classics: His menu includescreamed spinach with panko-crusted cheese curdsalongside more global recipes like scallop crudo with shiso leaf. But he’d never taken on hot dish, a layered casserole invented by budget-conscious farmwives in the 1930s that came to rely heavily on canned vegetables, creamed soup and crunchy toppings like Tater Tots or chow mein noodles. “Hot dish is a dangerous thing to play with,” Kaysen says. “There will always be someone with a grandma who makes it better.”
F&W决定测试Kaysen的明尼苏达州的勇气asking him first to bring hot dish into 2016, then to invite a few local pros—the ladies of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church—to taste- test his recipes. This community takes its culinary traditions very seriously, but the Mount Olivet crew was won over by Kaysen’s respectful attention. Gathered around a table in the center of Spoon and Stable’s spacious dining room, they stared up at him adoringly. “Chef Gavin is as cute and humble as a hot dish!” exclaimed one smitten judge.
“Hot dish is a dangerous thing to play with,” says Gavin Kaysen. “There will always be someone with a grandma who makes it better.”
The recipes were a resounding success, particularly Kaysen’s version of a鸡肉和wild rice hot dishhis grandmother Dorothy made. Instead of using canned cream of mushroom soup, Kaysen substituted a wild mushroom gravy scented with fresh rosemary and thyme. “I would make this every Sunday!” remarked one taster. The ladies also approved of his cassoulet-like热盘merguez香肠, even though the “wienies” were deemed a little risqué for a church potluck. The judges’ only request? A cup of coffee to drink with the hot dish, in true Minnesota fashion.
Hot Dish History
1930:The first recorded hot dish recipe appears in theGrace Lutheran Ladies Aid Cookbookfrom Mankato, Minnesota. The recipe calls for two pounds of “hamburger” (i.e., ground beef), Creamette brand elbow macaroni and canned peas.
1934:Campbell’s debuts its condensed creamed soups. Flavors like cream of mushroom, or “the Lutheran Binder” as it’s referred to in the Midwest, become the go-to hot dish base.
1953:When left with a surplus of scraps from frozen French fries, the brothers behind Ore-Ida potatoes, Nephi and Golden Grigg, grind the potato bits with spices, form nuggets and deep-fry them. Housewives across the Midwest begin to top hot dish with these Tater Tots.
1986:Garrison Keillor and Jean Redpath perform an ode to hot dish, “Tuna, the Food of My Soul,” onA Prairie Home Companion: “Only a small can of tuna; mushroom soup, celery and peas; mixed with a quart of egg noodles; sprinkled with chips and with cheese.”
1999:Minnesota author Pat Dennis releasesHotdish to Die For, a collection of short mysteries in which hot dish is the weapon of choice. Some titles include “Death by Idaho” and “The Lutheran Who Lusted.”
Anatomy of a Hot Dish
Protein:Ground beef, shredded chicken, canned tuna
Vegetable:Canned corn, canned green beans
Starch:Wild rice, macaroni, mashed potatoes
Sauce:Canned cream ofanythingsoup: mushroom, celery, chicken, cheddar
Crispy Topping:Tater Tots, French’s French Fried Onions, chow mein noodles, crushed potato chips
Taster's Notes
The crispy shallot topping on theroot-vegetable hot dishis a game changer. It might even beat out Tater Tots!”—Karen London
Earthy, yummy mushrooms. Thewild rice dishis a modern take on the church-lady classic. Chef Gavin wasbraveto tackle this dish!”—Pastor Monica Hammersten
Love the guilt-freecreamed spinach! (It has to be healthy—there’s spinach in it.)”—June Kroog
I like the different root vegetables in theharissa-spiced cassoulet, but as an older person, I like my vegetables cooked more than is popular today.”—Jean Nederostek