A Political Hot Dish

Food and politics bring like minded people together. Nothing is more like that than voter house parties that are  popping up all over Iowa.Hot dishes and candidates are becoming part of their diets these days.

Regular contributor Kim Severson wrote about this interesting tradition in yesterday's New York Times Food section.It works in one candidate's favor . Amy Klobuchar is well familiar with a variation of this, the Minnesota church gathering and a dish specific to the state - the hot dish. This is a mix of protein, starch and vegetables held together with a creamy sauce baked until it bubbles. It helped conserve meat a century ago during World War One and helped feed families during the Depression. Nowadays it's topped with Tater Tots and/or mixed with rice. Hot dishes offer working parents an inexpensive way to get an easily made  dinner on the table after a long work day. Ms. Klobuchar 's Taconite Tater Tot Hot Dish, named for a rock mined in the Iron Range, located in northeastern Minnesota. Hers is a mix of chicken and ground beef with onion, typical ingredients yet she zings it up with the addition of cheddar jack cheese. Some found it too spicy, others liked it.

It's not the first time hot dish made political news. Disgraced pol, Al Franken created a hot dish competition as a way of uniting the state's congressional delegation. Not surprisingly Senator Klobuchar won. In 2017 an unusual dish won, thanks to Representative  Democrat Colin Peterson. His dish , A Right To Bear Arms had bear (!) meat in it!!!!Representative Betty McCollom, also a Democrat created the Asian inspired Hot Dish A-Hmong Friends that had cabbage and ground beef topped with fried egg roll wrappers. She paid homage to the large Hmong population from China, Laos and Vietnam who made up her district. Controversial Ilhan Omar made a hot dish full of chickpeas , chutney and , of course, Tater Tots. It's called Moga-Hot-Dishu and was inspired by a Minnesota blogger's samosa chaatdish. For something closer to the Midwestern heart there was Republican Jim Haggedorn, Ms Klobuchar's close competition, who created Make'n Bacon Great Again. His hot fish had two pounds of bacon and a pound of sausage mixed with eggs and cheddar. Hot dish can be made fancy as "What's Eating America" host and Senator Klobuchar friend Andrew Zimmer can attest. He has created fancy versions with turkey legs and veloute. He does go back to a more humble recipes of green beans, turkey, beef and Tater Tots.

The Minnesota Hot Dish not only unites families but also Iowa voters too. This hearty dish can help soothe tensions and create long time allies. It's also a good dish to serve on a winter's night too.

The Perfect Pot Of Rice Guide

Rice is one of the easiest dishes to make. Or is it? For many of us home chefs, it's nearly impossible to produce a pot of perfectly cooked, perfectly fluffy pot of grains.It's either sticky or overcooked. Or worse - under cooked and jarringly crunchy. Luckily there's help for us.

Tejal Rao, famed chef, and regular columnist for The New York Times Food section wrote about it today in an extensive article.Everybody cooks rice , whether for a side or for a dessert of rice pudding. Rice should be fluffy and slightly chewy , the perfect foils for gravies and sauces.One of the first crucial steps in creating perfect rice is rinsing before cooking. This gets rid of any extra starch on the rice. It means a looser, fluffier texture The technique is super simple. Just use your fingers, a bowl and cold water. The process needs to be repeated anywhere from two to six times., until the water you're pouring out is almost clear. Once it's cooked , it needs to rest.This allows the starches to cool down slightly which means the grains are firming up. DON"T stir the grains when they're hot and wet. The result is a mushy bowl of rice fragments.Wait anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes and fluff the still hot rice with a rubber spatula. (I've always used a metal fork with the same results) This is also the time to season it. Ms. Rao suggests a light salting. keep the cover on the pot until it's ready to be eaten.

What happens when the rice doesn't come out right? Ms/ Rao explores the many problems that can happen and how to solve them.If the grains are too squishy or clumpy then  there may be excess water in the pot.It could also mean that you've skipped two crucial steps rinsing and resting. Clumpy rice means that there's still starch attached to the grains or the rice was fluffed too soon.Sometimes rice can be too wet,This is probably due to it being recently harvested. The answer is just reduce the amount of water used or cook with the lid off so the water can evaporate. There is also the problem of having scorched at the bottom rice. This is due to two factors. One,the heat is too high so turn it down to the lowest setting possible. The second reason is that the pot's bottom may be too thin. Ms. Rao suggests switching to a heavier pot. What went wrong when the rice turns out stuck and starchy as she puts it.if you have rinsed it but it's still gluey, then use some muscle and a wooden spoon or spatula  to stir when the rice first comes to a boil. Doing this will release the grains at the bottom. Once you've mastered the perfect pot, you can toss in some add ins like roasted cherry tomatoes  and Parmesan cheese or basil leaves with a drizzle of good vinegar.You can even chop in green olives and blood oranges for a colorful side.

The perfect pot of rice shouldn't be an easy cook.Follow the guide and it'll come out just right. Rice is a simple dish.Cooking it should be just as simple.