Southwestern Curried Tater Tot Hot Dish

Anyone who's ever lived in the Northern Midwest is familiar with the "Hot Dish," or what strange other tribes call a "Casserole." It's some good stuff, as comfort foods go. It's easy to make, it's filling...and it's more bland than Mitt Romney eating a cucumber and white bread sandwich in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. So, in my own inimitable style, I decided to fire it up a bit with an American/ Indian/ Southwestern fusion vibe.

Southwestern Curried Tater Tot Hot Dish

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 chopped white onion

3 tbsp bread crumbs

3 tbsp curry powder

1 tbsp rubbed sage

1 tsp cayenne (red) pepper

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 soup can milk

1 32-oz pkg Tater Tots


Preheat oven to 375. Crumble beef and garlic salt into 9x 13 baking dish, add onion, sprinkle bread crumbs on top. Combine the rest of the ingredients, mixing well, and pour over meat mixture. Top with closely-spaced Tater Tots and bake for 1 hour.

Comfort with a kick...you betcha!

Cheesy Bacon Dog Casserole

Hey, we all gotta die sometime, and if it's by cholesterol poisoning, so be it.  You make this at your own risk.  Not responsible for heart conditions, colon blockage or expanding waistlines.

Wraith's Cheesy Bacon Dog Casserole From Hell

3 cups cooked macaroni
4 hot dogs, sliced 1/4"

4 strips of bacon, sliced in thirds

1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 cup shredded cheese

6-8 slices pepper jack cheese
4-6 oz. crushed Doritos

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  While the oven is heating, cook, drain and crumble the bacon.

In a 9x13 baking dish, combine macaroni, bacon, hot dogs, shredded cheddar cheese and soup.  Top with pepper jack slices.

Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbling.  Sprinkle with crushed Doritos and bake for another five minutes.  Serve. 

Duck the objects your wife throws at you for blowing her diet.

An old standby

Mrs. Wraith had a bad day yesterday, so the obvious solution was comfort food.  Tuna casserole, anyone?

Wraith's High-Class Tuna Casserole

3 cups cooked macaroni (I used shells)
1 can tuna, drained(give the juice to the cats)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
3-4 oz. black olives
1/2 onion, diced
olive oil

Heat oil in a small pan, saute the onions and garlic for 3-4 minutes.  In a 9x13 baking dish, combine onion, garlic, olives, soup, tuna and macaroni.  Mix well, top with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I've got a hotdog casserole in the works.  Stay tuned.