First Trip to an American Classic

[akirlu]

Well, not bad for a first try

Comments

[don_fitch]

Sounds pretty good, though I date back to the era when Campbell's cream soup was pretty much limited to mushroom, and I'd have added some mushrooms, on General Principles -- or maybe just because I like them. My (undependable) childhood memory holds that these casserole dishes almost always had the major ingredients  -- macaroni, noodles, rice -- cooked in advance, and were brought only to a thorough boil in the oven (and a touch of browning on the top).

Thanks for reminding me to finish the casserole of macaroni & cheese I made day-before-yesterday, before it spoils. (It's the Traditional/One True/Kind Mom made version -- slightly short of kosher because there wasn't quite enough "Cheddar" to balance the three other cheeses ("Swiss", creamy Gorgonzola, and an unwisely-chosen Mexican varietal that remained a bit granular), but it worked ... okay, with two eggs per cup of milk, quant. suff. to cover the (cooked al dente) elbow macaroni.)

[akirlu]

Well, when I have made somewhat similar things on the stovetop, and without the Campbell's soup and without the baking I have often pre-cooked the starch, but it isn't strictly necessary. In principle you can start with dry rice/noodles but you need to be sure you allow sufficient cooking time at the back end. The main advantage to starting with dry ingredients is that, in principle, you can minimize the number of cooking vessels that get dirty, and I try to be kind to Hal (who does the dishes) when I can. It cuts down on the grumbling.

You're right that the number of kinds of cream-of-whosis have proliferated over the years. Although there seems to have been some contraction, too. We used to make 'Fido' with a condensed Campbell's soup called Beefy Mushroom, which I liked a lot, but these days tend not to be able to find, at least not at my local market. I liked the Cream of Chicken with Herbs, though. Quite nice.

[idahoswede]

Ah, the "hot dish" with cream of whatziz! My mother feed 5 hungry kids on a limited budget with various Campbell's condensed soups. And I have a favourite comfort food I occasionally do for myself (although it's hard to find the Campbells over here any more), which is ground beef, onions, diced green peppers, c of mushroom, bouillion cube, water and fast-cooking rice. Brown the beef, onions and peppers, drain off the fat, add the bouillion cube and soup, water enough to make a soupy sauce and the instant rice. I call it "Goop".

[akirlu]

We used to do a similar dish back in the days when I lived in a shared house called BTLE (Beyond the Leading Edge -- it was originally a household of current or former Caltech students). We called it "Fido". It originated when someone realized that it was silly to buy Hamburger Helper and then doctor it when you could just use noodles or rice and do the doctoring without the Helper.

[idahoswede]

I used to make a really good shepherd's pie as well with the hamburger and the cream of celery soup. It was gorgeous.

[akirlu]

Huh. Interesting idea. I'll have to file that for the next time I'm thinking shepherd's pie.

[mrissa]

This is not the only thing hot dish can be, but it is indeed one of the things hot dish can be.

[akirlu]

The ways of Minnesotans are exotic and unfamiliar to me, and I have clearly not grasped them fully, as yet.

[scarlettina]

What I love about this entire affair is that you can pretty much throw anything into a casserole with cream-of-something and it gets called "hot dish," because apparently the most important thing--besides it being edible--is that it's hot and it's in a dish. It may never be the same thing twice, but it's hot and it's in a dish. The practicality of this does not escape me. Also? This all sounds rather tasty.

(I'm using my "Food" icon, but I may as well have used my "LOL" icon; both would have served, much like anything called "hot dish.")

[akirlu]

Yeah, it's particularly funny to me because it's just the opposite of the old legend about the Innuit and their supposed proliferation of terms for kinds of snow -- here you have a great variety of kinds of food, and it's all got the one name. Arguably it's a category identifier. What would be interesting is to explore at what points, if any 'hot dish' diverges from 'casserole'. I assume that all instances of hot dish are also instances of a casserole, but is the reverse true?

[idahoswede]

Hot dish is actually very Scandihoovian (i.e. descendents of Swedes and Norwegians mostly) living in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. Goes with the Luther League suppers and other such in the basement of Lutheran churches, along with lime jello on flimsy paper plates.

[akirlu]

Yes, I've gotten sketchy impressions of what the culture is from my various Scandosotan friends and acquaintances, plus periodic bouts of listening to Prairie Home Companion. It strikes me as funny, being raised mostly in California where basements are rare, that Lutheran church suppers are always, ALWAYS described as taking place in church basements. I don't recall ever seeing a church in California that even had a basement. Though, I confess my observation is nothing like exhaustive.

[bohemiancoast]

I have a number of feeding-the-family when you don't feel like it culinary secrets, one of which is an outrageous slow cooker recipe. First thing in the morning, put a lump of silverside or similar cheap cut of beef into your slow cooker, together with a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup and some dried onions (and mixed herbs if you like). Much later, eat it with a starch of your choice. It's a close relative of Dungeon Crawling Pork, where you do the same thing with a lump of pork rubbed with Cajun spice and put in the slow cooker with a can of root beer and half a cup of barbecue sauce. That one is best eaten with bread and coleslaw or remoulade, so even easier. (It's called Dungeon Crawling Pork because slow cooking is supposed to be so that busy families can come home to a cooked meal... but in this case the first time I cooked it I was home all day, but had just bought Diablo III).

Both of these are completely delicious but you wouldn't want to eat them too often.

[akirlu]

Hmm. Both recipes sound nicely simple, and I do like the reason for calling it Dungeon Crawling Pork, even if the name does summon images of animated joints of ham slogging through the rat and slime-infested lower levels of someplace unpleasant. If I had young teenage boys I would totally serve that. As it is, I might try slow-cooked barbecue pork some time...:)