Wingin’ It: Minnesota Vikings

As the Buffalo Bills prepare to face a new opponent each week, fans take on the age old arch-nemesis know as “hunger.” Never fear, Buffalo Rumblings has just the playbook to take down this foe. Each week, we’ll dive into enemy territory to scout their signature moves and put a “Buffalo” spin on it. Translated, each week we’ll share a themed recipe based on who the Bills are playing, including a custom wing sauce to go with each dish. Our opponent this week:

Minnesota Vikings

Hotdish: The land of 10,000 lakes is also seemingly the land of 10,000 casseroles. None of them are more iconic than the Hotdish (at least according to my internet research). Sometimes the best food is straightforward, and that’s where we land this week. The combination of ground beef, veggies, cream of mushroom soup, cheese and tater “puffs” is simple to put together and even easier to enjoy.

Hotdish

Serves 6-8
Active Time: 60 min
Total Time: 75 min

Buffalo Sauce:

• ¹⁄₂ cup hot sauce
• 2-3 Tbsp butter
• ¹⁄₂ Tbsp thyme

Hotdish:

• 1 lb frozen tater puffs
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ¹⁄₂ red onion, chopped
• 1 lb ground beef
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups green beans*
• 2 cups corn*
• 2 cans (10 oz. each) cream of mushroom soup, condensed
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F

1. Prepare wing sauce: Heat thyme in bottom of med-large sauce pan or pot on MED heat for 30 seconds. Add hot sauce; stir and allow to simmer 2-3 min. Remove pan from heat; add butter and stir until well-combined; set aside.
2. Prepare tater puffs, following directions on bag**
3. Place oil in large frying pan. Add onions; cook, stirring, about 5-6 min on MED-HIGH. When the vibrant reddish/purple color changes to light pink, proceed to step 4.
4. Add ground beef to pan; stir until thoroughly browned, 8-10 min. Drain.
5. Spread beef-onion mixture evenly on the bottom of a 9” x 13” baking dish.
6. Mix corn and green beans in bowl; sprinkle in even layer over the beef and onion layer.
7. Spread the canned soup over the vegetable layer. (Do not add anything to the soup, spread it right from the can.)
8. Toss tater puffs gently in wing sauce and add them evenly over the soup layer.
9. Add the shredded cheese over the tater tots.
10. Place in oven and bake for 35 min. Let stand for 5 min then serve.

Wingin’ It Tips:

• *Feel free to use fresh, canned or frozen. If going with frozen vegetables, thaw beforehand.
• **Because we toss the puffs in hot sauce later on, aim for crispy during the initial prep.

The Beer: We roll with the most iconic WNY brew in what has to be the best can ever made. Blue, burger and Bills? That’s a good weekend!

Beer products provided by Labatt USA. Please drink responsibly.

Coming soon!

Next week the Bills face off against the Green Bay Packers! I assume we all know what will be prominently featured on the ingredient list. So then, which American cheesy favorite will get a Wingin’ It makeover?