WASHINGTON — The cream of mushroom soup was flowing and the tater tots were plentiful, as Minnesota's eight U.S. Representatives and two U.S. Senators set aside their party differences on Tuesday in favor of a tasty tradition: the 9th annual Minnesota Congressional Delegation Hotdish Competition.
Rep. Betty McCollum was named this year's winner with her "Hotdish A-Hmong Friends" recipe, inspired by Minnesota's famous tater tot hotdish, combined with Hmong cuisine (see recipe below). It was one of several entries that honored Minnesota's cultural diversity: Rep. Ilhan Omar honored Somalian cuisine with her second-place recipe for "Little Moga-Hot-Dishu;" while Rep. Dean Phillips took third with his tribute to Minnesota's Liberian population, "From Monrovia with Love: Liberian Inspired Hotdish."
Omar and Phillips were newcomers to the competition this year, along with fellow freshman Rep. Pete Stauber ("Top of the Tater Hotdish"), Rep. Angie Craig ("World Championship Sausage Lynx Hotdish"), and Rep. Jim Hagedorn ("Make'n Bacon Great Again Hot Dish," honoring southern Minnesota's pork producers with the key ingredient of bacon).
Former U.S. Senator Al Franken started the hotdish competition; Sen. Tina Smith took over as host of the event last year, after she was first appointed to take over Franken's Senate seat.
All of the recipes are available on Sen. Smith's official website.
Hotdish A-Hmong Friends by Rep. Betty McCollum
Ingredients:
1 large onion, diced
2 cups of carrots, grated
1 small cabbage, quartered and sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 lbs of ground beef
1 bag of tater tots
½ cup of Umami Seasoning
½ tablespoon of salt
½ tablespoon of pepper
1 can of cream of mushroom
½ cup of milk
½ cup of vegetable oil
2 egg roll wraps
5 Thai chilis
Directions:
1. Add tater tots to cover the bottom of the hotdish container
2. Sauté garlic for 1 minute on medium heat
3. Add onion and cook until translucent
4. Add carrots and cabbage and cook until soft
5. Transfer veggies to plate
6. Cook ground beef
7. Add veggies back into the pan
8. Add umami seasoning, salt, and pepper and mix
9. Transfer food in pan to hotdish container, covering tater tots
10. Whisk cream of mushroom with milk and pour in hotdish container
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
12. While hotdish is baking, cut egg roll wraps in quarters and fry
13. Crumble egg roll wraps and garnish hotdish 5 minutes before it’s done
