Summit Hill Chicken

1 (4-ounce) package dried beef
8 strips bacon, partially cooked
4 whole chicken breasts, halved, skinned and boned
1 can cream of mushroom soup (10.75 oz)
1 cup dairy sour cream

Line 13x9x2 inch casserole with dried beef. Wrap 1 strip of bacon around each chicken breast half; place in casserole.


Combine and soup and sour cream; pour over chicken. Cover casserole with foil. Bake at 325 for 2 hours; uncover casserole, sprinkle with smoked paprika, and bake 1 hour.

Serve with egg noodles and green beans.

This is the original recipe from the cookbook called "From Minnesota- More than a Cookbook."  It was originally called 'High Tech Chicken," but later renamed by MCJ when he moved to Milwaukee.  It was MCJ's favorite dish when he came home from college, and remains a favorite.  

Shepherd's Pie

Prep time: 20 MINUTES  cook time: 40 MINUTES  total time: 60 MINUTES  yield: 12 SERVINGS 1X

PIE INGREDIENTS 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/4 pounds ground beef

1 medium white onion, peeled and diced

8 ounces baby bella or white button mushrooms, finely diced

2 medium carrots, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

 1/2 cup dry red wine (or you can sub in more beef stock instead)

2 cups beef stock (or vegetable or chicken stock)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs each fresh rosemary and thyme (or whatever herbs you love)

 1/2 cup frozen peas

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

1 batch mashed potatoes (see below)

MASHED POTATO INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 pounds potatoes (either Russets, Yukon golds, or a mix of the two)

 1/4 cup butter

 1/2 cup whole milk, or more as needed

2 ounces cream cheese (or 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt)

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook the mashed potatoes.  Follow the instructions here to prepare a half batch of this mashed potatoes recipe.  Once they are ready to go, remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.

Brown the beef (or lamb).  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add the ground beef (or lamb) and cook until browned, crumbling it with a wooden spoon as it cooks.  Transfer the cooked beef to a separate plate with a wooden spoon and set aside, reserving any grease in the sauté pan that it has left behind.  (Or if there is no leftover grease, add an extra tablespoon of oil to the pan.)

Sauté the veggies.  Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, garlic and sauté for 5-7 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

Add in the flour and wine.  Stir the flour in with the veggie mixture until evenly combined, then continue to sauté for 1 minute more, stirring frequently.  Stir in the wine, then use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Add the remaining sauce ingredients.  Immediately stir in the stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, herb sprigs and frozen peas until combined.  Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer.  Then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a low simmer, and continue cooking for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove and discard the bay leaves and herb sprigs.  Stir in the cooked meat  Taste and season the mixture with salt and pepper as needed.

Layer it all up.  Transfer the filling mixture to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and spread it out in an even layer.  Spoon the mashed potatoes on top and carefully spread them out in an even layer as well.

Bake.  Bake uncovered at 400°F for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are lightly golden and the filling has started to bubble up around the edges.  (If you would like the potatoes to be a bit more browned, you can turn on the broiler for 1 or 2 extra minutes, keeping a close eye on the potatoes so that they do not burn.)

Garnish and serve.  Remove the baking dish from the oven, sprinkle a few extra herbs on top if you would like, then dish up your servings while the shepherd’s pie is still nice and warm.  Or store the pie in sealed containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Lois Nozel's Hot Dish

BROWN in pan
3# ground beef
5 cloves garlic and a little oil

ADD
1 - 12 oz and 1- 6 oz can tomato paste
2large cans tomato juice (Buy 3 cans but don’t open the third one)
½ # Italian sausage cut into chunks (brown a little in the oven)
Heat on top of stove

ADD to sauce
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
½ tsp basil
¾ tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 small Pkg Sargento Capri cheese shredded (this is an old recipe, they maybe don’t
make this anymore, Use any kind of mozzarella cheese)
SIMMER 2 hours

Meanwhile, cook
2 Pkgs mosticollo noodles (don’t use Creamette brand they are to mushy) (even though
they come from St Paul
Put in big roaster pan (you might have to buy one of those aluminum turkey roasters)

ADD
All of the sauce
BAKE 1 hour uncovered 350’
ADD 1 pkg sliced pepperoni while in the oven
PS You might have to add part of the remaining can of tomato juice if it gets too dried
out. It depends on the noodles and the oven.

Serves 15 “big boy” servings

This was a favorite served at post-game parties for the STA Cadets football games. 

Four Sheet Dinner

"great for your Minnesota grown vegetables"

1½ pounds ground beef

1 cup sliced onion

2 cups sliced carrot

4 cups sliced potato

2 (10¾.ounœ) cans cream of mushroom soup

1½ cups milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef drain. Place in 13x9x2-inch casserole (if you're using a deeper pan with thicker layers, allow for more time). Layer onion, carrot and potato over meat. Combine soup, milk, salt and pepper.  Pour over vegetables.  Cover with aluminum foil.   

Bake at 350° for 1½ hours.  6 to 8 servings.

Another Hot Dish!

We're full of hotdish (aka: casserole) around here!  Dan has been very busy trying out new recipes.....
the most recent recipe he tried was really delicious and it was even more delicious the next day!
It is from the Nativity cookbook, that is a treasure full of wonderfully tasty things!
So, here goes another one: 

Lois' Hot Dish

1 lb. ground beef
1T  butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2-8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup sliced cooked carrots (fresh is really delicious)
1 pound flat noodles, cooked and drained (we used bow ties, but egg noodles would be good in this too)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown beef with onion and garlic.  Drain fat.  Stir in tomato sauce, add salt and pepper.  Simmer 5 minutes.  In a bowl, combine sour cream, cottage cheese, parsley, carrots and cooked noodles.  Mix well.  Spray 3 qt casserole with cooking spray.  Alternate noodles and meat mixture, beginning and ending with noodles.  Top with cheddar cheese.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until hot.
**it can be prepared and frozen.  If frozen, bake at 400 for 1 hour.

Tater Tot Hot Dish (aka: Casserole if you're not from Minnesota)

Simple and delicious are two things that are key to any recipe that we make. I'd also like to add another criteria for me: not more than 8 ingredients....
I have a ton of cookbooks and recently went through my collection. I pared it down to 2 cubbies in my IKEA shelving unit, which is not many! Anyhow, I discovered that I had cookbooks on the shelf that had 15 ingredients PER RECIPE on my shelf, how about NO!
So, when my mom passed this on to me a few years ago, I realized that it would be a favorite....Not only because it is one of Dan's favorites, but it's got 6 key ingredients to it! Yes, I said 6! and those 6 are things that we have in the cupboard at any given time....
The recipe card dates back to 1965, so it is an oldie but goodie!

Tater Tot Hot Dish

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 cans french cut green beans, drained and rinsed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package Tater Tots

Press the ground beef into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Evenly distribute 1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix over the ground beef.
Spread the green beans on top of the soup mix. (note: often, I don't have canned french cut beans, you can use a bag of frozen ones too, I use this more often!) Evenly spread the canned soup over the top of the green beans and then arrange the tater tots on top of the soup.
Bake in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours.

Enjoy, this is a good one!

Lattice Chicken Hot Dish

Whenever I go to Sam's Club, I buy a rotissierie chicken, skin it, bone it and chop it. I keep these in ziploc bags in the freezer. So handy to have for an easy chicken casserole!
This is one of our favorites, it's easy and my kids LOVE it. It's like a chicken pot pie.

Lattice Chicken Hot Dish

1 can cream of potato soup
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
3 cup cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken!)
1 bag frozen vegetables
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup French fried onions
1 pkg. crescent dough, either the sheet or the rolls, cut into strips

1. Combine soup, milk, salt, cut up chicken, vegetables, 1/2 cheese and 1/2 onions. 
2. Put in a 9x13 pan, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. 
3. Bake covered with foil at 350 for 20 minutes. 
4. Uncover and top with strips of crescent roll dough arranged in a lattice formation. 
5. Bake for 15 minutes longer.  
6. After rolls have baked, add remaining 1/2 cheese and 1/2 onions. Bake another 5 minutes, until cheese melts.