Tag: macaroni

Marlene’s Sauerkraut Hotdish

Many years ago, Jerri was at a potluck at the New Richmond United Methodist Church. She really liked a hotdish made with sauerkraut, hamburger and macaroni. She asked who made it and got Marlene to share the recipe with her.

Marlene told her that it was an old family recipe.  “What memories this hotdish brings back to me!  I originally got it from my great-aunt, who almost always made it for our family get-togethers. She was the last of my Grandmother’s sisters.”  When we told Marlene that the recipe was now on line, she told us that her great aunt had passed away this summer at 98.

The recipe is a great example of how inexpensive ingredients can be combined to make a tasty meal in the wonderful tradition of church potlucks with a hint of German or eastern European flavor. It is also extremely easy and fast to make.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 16 oz. can of sauerkraut
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can milk (We use whatever we have, usually 1%.)
2 small (4 oz.) cans of mushrooms
1 cup UNCOOKED macaroni

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Chop the onion medium. Brown the hamburger over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onion and continue cooking three or four minutes until it is translucent. Drain any extra fat.

Grease a two quart baking dish. Blend the milk with the soup and stir it into the meat mixture. Drain the mushrooms. Put the macaroni in a large bowl, add the mushrooms, a can of undrained sauerkraut and the meat mixture.

Mix the ingredients thoroughly and transfer the casserole to the baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

NOTES: You may omit the mushrooms or use only one can or use some sliced fresh mushrooms if you find some in the refrigerator. Jerri often uses 2 cups of homemade sauerkraut instead of a can. Just make sure that you have a couple of tablespoons of liquid with the sauerkraut.

As with many church basement hotdish recipes, the cream of mushroom soup is indispensable. Do not add salt or pepper, though guests may wish to grind a bit of fresh pepper on their serving.

Another great recipe using cabbage, meat and pasta is haluski. You’ll find the recipe here.

Finnish Macaroni and Beef

When I was a District Exchange Officer for Rotary districts in Minnesota and Wisconsin, I helped coordinate exchanges for students coming to our area from Finland and students from Minnesota and Wisconsin going to Finland.  It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot.  For instance, I learned right away why Finnish students were amused by Minnesota’s slogan, “The land of 10,000 lakes.”  Finland has over 187,000 lakes!

Once a year my wife and I invited the exchange Students from Finland in our Rotary Districts to spend a weekend at our home.  Since the students were living in cities that could be more than 100 miles apart, we tried to make the weekend an opportunity for students to get better acquainted.

The rules were simple.  Students could speak Finnish as much as they wished.  My wife cooked Friday dinner and I made breakfast Saturday and Sunday.  The students could make whatever they wanted for lunch and dinner Saturday and a final snack at Sunday noon.  My job was to get the ingredients they needed.

We had a lot of fun together and enjoyed many of their favorite recipes, some of which had been sent via airmail from mothers and grandmothers in Finland.

One popular dish nearly every year was Lihamakaronilaatikko (Lee-hah-mah-cah-row-nee-lah-tee-ko), which is a Finnish version of a macaroni and hamburger hot dish.  Instead of a tomato-based sauce with mixed vegetables,  a cream sauce.   This is comfort food for a cold winter evening.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups uncooked macaroni
1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion
1 T vegetable oil
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/2  cup grated Swiss or Jack cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 T. butter

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Finely chop the onion . Heat the oil in a saucepan and brown the ground beef over moderate heat.  When the meat is nearly done, add the onion and continue cooking until the onion is translucent.  Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon white pepper.   Drain the meat if necessary.

Boil the macaroni in salted water until a bit more than half cooked.  Drain the macaroni and mix it with the beef, then pour the mixture into a greased oven casserole.

Grate the cheese and beat the eggs until they are lemon yellow.  Add the milk, grated cheese 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon white pepper.  Mix well and pour over the macaroni-beef mixture.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs and add a few small pieces of butter on the surface.  Cover and cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, remove the cover and continue cooking for another half hour or until the batter has set.

NOTES.  Like many other Scandinavian dishes, this is a white mildly spiced dish.  Ketchup is the condiment of choice, so put the ketchup bottle on the table when you serve Lihamakaronilaatikko.  Some versions are made with beef broth, but our student guests preferred this recipe.