Hotdish Beats Cold Comfort
Cooking for Election Night
JB: I didn’t think I could be more unnerved about an Election Night than I was in 2016 — I wrote about that nightmare here. This go round, I’ve turned my wallet inside-out for Dems up and down the ticket, written letters to voters in states with restrictive voter ID laws, and filled out my ballot earlier than ever before. If only I had Elon’s money to pour into the Democratic party. My efforts feel puny compared to yours, EG! What have you been doing to save us all from Musk, Thiel, Vance and the unmentionable?
EG: Ugh, Elon. I feel confident. This is not 2016.
The polls are tight, but that is to be expected (and I have been skeptical of polls since 2016). I was so excited to vote for Hillary — I even put on red lipstick for my post-voting photo at my neighborhood elementary school.
After voting, I went to watch the returns with my neighbors. Our celebration turned into a wake and I was asleep before the networks called the result.
This year, I am anxious, but optimistic. I have written 300 postcards to swing state voters, and spent much of my spare time since Labor Day putting my legal training to work as an election protection volunteer, to make sure people are able to vote. In previous years, I’ve struggled to energize my friends — not this year. All my usual gigs are heaving with enthusiastic volunteers and, thanks to postcard writing campaigns, New York City post offices have sold out of postcard stamps. We will finally elect a woman.
I am focused on what to cook for Election Night – I’ll need some comfort food to sustain me as I flip between John King and Steve Kornacki. I hope it’s not cold comfort. And I need to make something that I can prepare in advance and throw in the oven, as I will be volunteering nonstop through November 5.
JB: What are you going to cook?
EG: While I’m trying to stick to healthy habits, Tim Walz has enticed me with that staple of midwest cuisine: Hotdish. A Hotdish is a casserole — generally meat in a creamy sauce (e.g., Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup), topped with tater tots and cheese. I grew up watching Mary Tyler Moore, and even though I am the Rhoda to your Mary, I remain fascinated with classic American cooking. My family traditions were a mix of my grandma’s Eastern European soups, stews, and kreplach and my mom’s Julia Child repertoire. The closest we came to Americana in my family was cousin Carol, whose Thanksgiving menu included “The Green Jello” — a Tupperware-clad congealed salad composed of lime gelatin, applesauce and ginger ale (it looked like slime but tasted divine).
Governor Walz has won awards for his Turkey Trot Hotdish. My pal Bill made it this weekend and declared it, “Delicious!” The Harris-Walz campaign posted Walz’s New Ulm Hotdish on its official website, so I had to try it.
It’s made with Bratwurst, so it’s literally brat!
JB: How was it?
EG: JB, it was FAVVULOUS! Confession: I keep Cream of Mushroom Soup in the house for occasional tuna casserole cravings (don’t judge). Tater tots and cheddar soup had never crossed my threshold. The recipe lacks precise amounts (and unprocessed ingredients). I used a 12 ounce package of bratwurst and — after consultation with my Minnesotan colleague — a bottle of Blue Moon IPA, which is popular in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. It could use a little hot pepper or dry mustard, but it was like a warm hug from the Coach — stodgy, creamy, and salty with a bit of a crunch from the tots. It’s a candidate for Election Night but I tried one other recipe. I’ll get to that in a sec, but what are you making?
JB: Kamala Harris doesn’t talk much about her Jamaican father, but as a gourmand, she claims Jamaican cuisine as her own. When you hear Jamaican cooking, you think Jerk, right? I learned that Jerk comes from the Peruvian word, Cherqui, which is spiced dried strips of meat (“jerky”). Did you know one of the main ingredients, Allspice, is not a blend of spices, but the unripe dried berry of a tree native to the Caribbean? Though there are many varieties of the recipe, most jerk blends also contain thyme, smoked paprika, powdered ginger, powdered onion, cinnamon, ground cloves, cumin, cayenne pepper and brown sugar. I am going to make jerk chicken on my Big Green Egg smoker/grill for election night using a recipe that calls for a long, wet marinade and Scotch Bonnet Peppers. But, I also considered dry rub to get that smoky, spicy flavor.
I hope my chicken is half as good as the Jerk Turkey I ordered on Thanksgiving 2020 from Peaches Patties, a Jamaican food business. It was spatchcocked jerk turkey, and I tell you, we’ve never had a better bird! The meat was so flavorful because it had been in the jerk for a while, and it was cooked to perfection — not at all dry. For a side dish, I’ll make my friend Tori Ritchie’s (Tuesday Recipe) wonderful rice salad using wild rice from Minnesota. (P.S. Did you know wild rice isn’t rice?)
EG: That sounds delicious. I loved Tim’s hotdish so much, I tried a second recipe from Molly Yeh — Brisket Hotdish. My mom rarely made brisket when I was growing up, but the roasting onions give my apartment the comforting aroma of my grandma’s kitchen. I’ve even thrown occasional “Brisket Equinox” parties, halfway between Rosh Hashana and Passover, inspired by this brilliant essay on fake Jewish Holidays by Tracy Manaster. I really liked this recipe because it doesn’t include dairy – it’s close to my go-to brisket method. It would be fun to substitute little latkes for tater tots, in keeping with the Jewish-midwest mashup. I was pressed for time, so I used smiley-face tots, to maintain my sense of joy. It’s a winner.
And, for our vEGan friends, here is Molly Yeh’s Harissa Chickpea Hotdish recipe.
JB: Yum. But what about dessert, EG?
EG: I’m thinking of making Marion Cunningham’s Election Cake, a fruitcake based on a traditional recipe from Hartford, Connecticut. Historically, election cakes were used to encourage civic participation, before women were allowed to vote. Baking became activism.
JB: No cake until the election is certified, EG!
EG: OK, in a nod to Joe Biden I will make ice cream. Joe is partial to chocolate chip, but in honor of our future POTUS, I will make David Lebovitz’s Coconut Ice Cream with Saffron using saffron I brought back from San Gimignano this summer. The coconut and saffron are a tribute to Kamala’s Jamaican and Indian heritage — and it’s not overly sweet.
And just in case things take a bad turn, I’ll pick up a Big Mac and a bottle of ketchup to hurl at the wall. My dining room walls are red, so it won’t stain (unlike the burning orange stain of Drumpf’s legacy).
JB: I won’t tell anyone about the burger and ketchup throwing. That sounds tame compared to what I might throw if American voters don’t shut down the Trump era for good.
EG: I hope against hope that the only thing families fight over at the holiday table this month is the last piece of pie. On that note, while I ready my coconut cake recipe for Inauguration Day, we leave you with Madam VP’s method for a flawless roast turkey, and wishes for a Favvulous Thanksgiving.
And don’t forget to VOTE!
EG and JB,
Hilarious, as always. I had no idea cuisine could be so partisan. Or weaponized, as in the Big Mac and ketchup hurl at the wall. I assume Gizmo is decidedly Blue State when it comes to catnip.
Thanks, Bob
As always a fabulous read! If I close my eyes I still see the smiling taters!