It's true. Look at any homemade churchlady cookbook from the midwest (which apparently represents true American cooking in my book) and you will find that 80% of the recipes require cream of mushrooms soup. In the past year I have become completely obsessed with casseroles (insert comments about how this may relate to the baby weight clinging to my sides like, um, something that clings to ones' sides a lot), and I think every single recipe I've tried involves cream of mushroom soup.
Why is this? I'm almost curious enough to pick up a book about the history of American food. Almost, but not quite. So instead I will pull some theories out of my casserole-enhanced ass.
Theory 1)the Native Americans actually own Campbells Corporation, and were operating secret soup factories when the annoying pilgrims arrived to destroy their lives. When sitting down for the first Thanksgiving dinner, the Native Americans told the Pilgrims, "you cannot eat this green beans without cream of mushroom soup". They then pulled out a canister of oddly preserved fried bits of onion to put atop the resulting green bean casserole.
Theory 2) Something to do with poverty and World War II and canned goods and Americans becoming inventive with their limited food choices. I think I actually read something about Velveeta cheese that suggested such a theory. Back when I used to read.
Theory 3) The cream of mushroom soup is just a vehicle for the true gold: MSG and cottonseed and/or palm oil.
I suspect it's a combination of theory 2, theory 3, and some actual history and facts. Either way, I confess that I love cream of mushroom soup. And I dare you to try the following recipes and disagree.
1st, from my blog hero who, despite resembling Sarah Palin in more than one way, is a great example of bringing a sassy attitude and creative spirit to an otherwise traditional life, via her blog. The fact that she calls her husband the Marlboro mans makes me cringe a bit, but I will forgive her since her recipes never cease to give Rob and I food-gasms. And, she's pretty cute. Here is the link which you must cut and paste into your browser because I can't seem to make the link function work (help fellow bloggers?):
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet
2nd, from my mother-in-law Tracy (Tracy, I promise I will share the proceeds when I become rich and famous from this recipe) who grew up with a Southern family by way of Europe and Costa Rica, and somehow mastered the art of American cooking along the way. I'm not sure where she got this recipe- I think she may have found it on the back of a cream of mushroom soup can. Pasted from her email:
Tracy's Easy Cheesy Potatoes
2 - 1 lb bag frozen shredded potatoes
2 cans of Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup (Cream of Mushroom for Vegetarians)
16 oz. shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 - 1 stick butter (approx.)
1/2 C. cornflake crumbs (approx.)
1 finely chopped white onion
1-16oz sour cream
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
paprika
Greased 9x11 pan
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pull potatoes out of freezer (1 hr prior), so they can be 1/2 thawed (easier to work with).
3. Mix soup, onion, sour cream, S&P in a bowl. (I don't put salt as soup has salt).
4. Dump potatoes into BIG bowl, them add mixture from step 2 (I use my hands----brrrrr). Mix well!
5. Grease baking dish.
6. Put potatoes mixture into baking dish and push down to compact.
7. Add cheese to top.
8. In a small bowl melt butter and add to cornflake crumbs with a fork (lil butter at the time).
You want the mixture to be wet but not dripping butter---so just add more cornflake
crumbs until the butter is all absorbed (I just eyeball this step). Sometimes, I add more
crumbs to cover the entire top (up to you).
9. Sprinkle paprika on top for decoration.
10. Bake approx. 1 hour.
11. When it is dark brown on top (not black) and bubbling.........it is ready.
Note: You can cut this in half if you wish!
Enjoy!!!!
And I think that should be enough to fatten you all up for now. But to any Van Bovens out there, does anyone have Grandma's tater tot casserole recipe? I'm 100.1% certain that involved cream of mushroom soup.
Next food-related blog-topic: capers! They're slimy, smelly (like fish even though they're not from the sea), but somehow taste really good.
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