Rep. Betty McCollum Wins 9th Annual Minnesota Congressional Hotdish Competition
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Get your tater tots and cream of mushroom soup ready, Minnesota hotdish once again invades Washington, D.C.
On Tuesday, Sen. Tina Smith hosted the 9th annual Minnesota Congressional Hotdish Competition.
Minnesotans know that hotdish has the ability to bring people together, and when you have the chance to do that in Washington without getting politics involved it's a testament to why this tradition continues year after year.
All ten members of Minnesota's Congressional Delegation competed, including the five newcomers who won elections last November -- Republicans Jim Hagedorn and Pete Stauber, and Democrats Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig and Dean Phillips.
And when all was said and done, the winner was Rep. Betty McCollum, who scored big with the judges for her "Hotdish A-Hmong Friends."
"One of the largest Hmong communities in the United States is in Minnesota's Fourth Congressional District," McCollum said. "I'm so excited that my 'Hotdish A-Hmong Friends' recipe took first place in this year's friendly congressional competition! Our state's favorite comfort food unites Minnesotans from all walks of life. Thank you to Senator Smith for continuing this tradition, and to all of my colleagues for sharing their recipes with us today."
This is the second time McCollum has won, having previously picked up the award in 2015 with her "Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Wild Rice Hotdish." In the previous eight years, Rep. Tim Walz racked up no fewer than three wins. No one else has had more than one victory in the bake-off.
Current Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar won the contest in its first year, and competed this year with "The Final Four Layer Hotdish."
Other notable offerings were Omar's "Little Moga-hot-dishu," Emmer's "From Cheese to Shining Cheese Hotdish," and Hagedorn's "Make'n Bacon Great Again Hotdish."
Click here for the complete recipe book from this year's competition.
Here are the previous winners:
Past Winners:
2018: Rep. Tom Emmer's Hotdish of Champions
2017: Rep. Collin Peterson's Right to Bear Arms Hotdish
2016: Rep. Tim Walz's Turkey Taco Tot Hotdish
2015: Rep. Betty McCollum's Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Wild Rice Hotdish
2014: Rep. Tim Walz's Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish
2013: Rep. Tim Walz's Hermann the German Hotdish
2012: Sen. Al Franken's Mom's Mahnomen Madness Hotdish and Rep. Chip Cravaack's Minnesota Wild Strata Hotdish (tie)
2011: Sen. Amy Klobuchar's Taconite Tater Tot Hot Dish