Tater Tot Hot Dish

 Next up in my effort to reclaim childhood comfort food is a dish my Engish mother learned to make at St. Olaf’s Catholic Church from Mrs. Maria Norton.

The original is made, as so many one-dish meals of its time were, with Campbells cream of mushroom soup. That was the first change I made since I love making a good cream sauce. Second, the original is topped with both Tater Tots and onion rings. I love browned onions, and I thought that would make a nice upgrade. I’m pretty sure having a non-deep-fried vegetable makes this count as healthy.

About Tater Tots. Don’t substitute something healthier. Just don’t. Eww.

Mom, of course, made this in one big baking dish, but since I still live on my own pending my husband’s move, I made individual servings. This recipe produced enough for five dinner entrées.

 Tater Tot Hot Dish

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons fresh garlic
• 1 1/3 cup half and half
• 2/3 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 2 large white mushrooms finely chopped
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• ~1 pound ground beef
• 1 package OreIda Tater Tots

Melt your butter in a medium sauce pan and saute your garlic for a minute or two over medium heat. Add the flour to form a roux and stir constantly. When the roux begins to darken, or when the aroma changes so that it smells more cooked, remove the sauce pan from heat and add the half and half and chicken stock. Return the pan to a medium high burner and stir constantly until it reaches a rolling boil while being stirred and has thickened. Add the salt, pepper, and chopped mushrooms. Stir to combine and set aside.

 In a large covered saute pan, fry your onion in the neutral oil over high heat while stirring constantly until the edges begin to brown and crisp. Remove from heat and crumble your ground beef. Return the pan to medium heat and cook until the beef begins to brown.

Drain the cooked beef and onion mixture thoroughly. I know, I know. Do it anyway. You’re about to replace the lost yumminess with the mushroom garlic cream sauce. Keep them both and you’ll have a grease pot.

Add the mushroom cream sauce to the drained beef and onion and stir. Add the mixture to individual ramekins, or to an 8 inch square baking dish if you prefer. Add an orderly layer of Tater Tots to the top. Follow the directions on the Tater Tot package to finish your creation.

If you want to make this ahead for later use, just pop the assembled dishes in the freezer with tinfoil over them before the Tater Tots thaw out.

Thanks, Mum, and thanks Mrs. Norton.

 

Along with my Scalloped Potatoes with Mushroom and Garlic recipe, this one is another re-invention of a childhood favourite, Tuna Helper! I loved it as a kid, so I decided to make a new version using my grown-up cooking skills. This recipe feeds four adults generously, so cut the quantities in half if you’re feeding fewer people. The cream sauce has a lot of ingredients, but it comes together quickly. It’s worth all the measuring, trust and believe!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

for the cream sauce

3 tablespoons diced shallot
1 tablespoon diced garlic
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dijon mustard

for the casserole

10 oz egg noodles
8 oz canned tuna
10 oz frozen peas
4 cups crushed potato chips

To start the cream sauce, melt the butter of medium heat and sauté the shallots and garlic for about a minute. Add the flour and mix well to form a roux. Stir the roux continuously while it cooks and watch carefully. I’m colorblind, so instructions I received to remove roux from heat when it starts to darken in color were useless to me. Instead, I stop cooking roux when it starts to smell like toast. Either way, when you notice one of those things happen, remove the pan from head and add the cream and chicken stock. If you have drained your canned tuna, you can add the water from the cans as well.

Return the pan to the head and stir continuously until the sauce thickens and reaches a rolling boil. Add the shredded cheddar and stir in. When it is melted and combined, add the salt, pepper, mustard and mix.

Cook the egg noddles per the package instructions and rinse with cold water in a sieve. Slightly undercooking them is a good idea since they will finish in the oven.

Combine the noodles, tuna, and peas in a large bowl, and add the cream sauce. Mix thoroughly, then transfer to a 9 x 12 baking dish. Pour the crushed potato chips over the top and smooth evenly.

Bake the casserole at 375 F for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how toasty you like your potato chip crust. Allow to cool slightly before serving.