Tater tot hotdish

Miscellaneous

This is a follow up to my fried green potatoes post.

Morrison’s potato crunchies took some effort to get — the first trip to the store, they were sold out.

First Morrison’s trip: no potato crunchies

However my second attempt succeeded. I am pleased to report they are indeed very close to American tater tots, and not at all like croquettes, which are made of fine mash.

Tonight I gave them the real tater tot test; I made a version of tater tot hotdish. You can make it too. The recipe was the award-winning “Sen. Klobuchar’s (Winning) Taconite Tater Tot Hot Dish”, from the tater tot cook-off hosted by Sen. Al Franken last year for prominent Minnesota politicians.

I varied it a bit to make it more UK friendly and made it half the size to feed four people (while keeping the garlic the same because I am a garlic fiend):

– Lean ground beef (250g)
– Heinz cream of chicken & mushroom soup (1 can)
– Onions (1 very small)
– Garlic (couple cloves)
– Salt
– Pepper
– Mexican cheese, chopped coarsely (200g)
– Morrison’s potato crunchies (1 package)

Preparation

Step 1: browning the beef while I chop things

1. Brown ground beef, drain off fat. Sautee onions and garlic.

Step 2: mix it all together
Step 2 continued: layering the cheese

2. Mix beef, onions, garlic, soup, salt and pepper and spread into a 6×9″ baking dish. Cover with half of the shredded cheese.

Step 3: arrange the potato crunchies
3. Place tater tots in one layer over the entire pan.
Mmmmmmmmm….

4. Bake at 220 for 30 minutes, or until tater tots are crisp. Cover with remaining cheese and bake until cheese melts (about 5 min).

 

This went down a treat, perfect for a chilly autumn day. Most importantly, potato crunchies are authentic tater tots.

And best of all, there were two of us eating, so there are leftovers tomorrow!