so ubiquitous in hotdish that it is often referred to in such recipes as “Lutheran Binder,” referring to hotdish's position as a staple of Lutheran church cookbooks. The soup is considered a defining ingredient by some commentators. Minnesota Congressional Hot Dish Competition After the 2010 U.S. midterm elections, then Senator Al Franken invited the members of the Minnesota congressional delegation to a friendly hotdish-making competition, to come together in celebration of the state before the beginning of the legislative session. Six out of 10 delegation members — Sens. Franken and Amy Klobuchar and Representatives Michele Bachmann, Tim Walz, Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum — participated, with Klobuchar taking first place with her "Taconite Tater Tot Hotdish" and Walz taking second with his "Chicken Mushroom Wild Rice Hotdish". For the second competition in March 2012, Franken's "Mom's Mahnomen Madness Hotdish" tied with Chip Cravaack's "Minnesota Wild Strata Hotdish" for first place. With 9 of the 10 members of the delegation participating in 2013, the winner was Congressman Walz's "Hermann the German Hotdish", which featured a bottle of August Schell beer. Sen. Franken has also provided a free PDF version of the 2013 Hotdish Off collection of recipes. In 2014 all ten members participated, with Rep. Walz's "Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish" winning. In 2015, again all ten participated, and Rep. McCollum's "Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Wild Rice" dish won. Past winners 2011 Sen. Amy Klobuchar's Taconite Tater Tot Hot Dish 2012 Sen. Al Franken's Mom's Mahnomen Madness Hotdish and Rep. Chip Cravaack's Minnesota Wild Strata Hotdish (tie) 2013 Rep. Tim Walz's Hermann the German Hotdish 2014 Rep. Tim Walz's Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish 2015 Rep. Betty McCollum’s Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Wild Rice Hotdish 2016 Rep. Tim Walz’s Turkey Taco Tot Hotdish 2017 Rep. Collin Peterson’s Right to Bear Arms Hotdish 2018 Rep. Tom Emmer's Hotdish of Champions 2019 Rep. Betty McCollum's Hotdish A-Hmong Friends In popular culture Hotdish frequently appeared, along with other stereotypical Minnesotan dishes such as lutefisk, in the radio program A Prairie Home Companion. Hotdish is also described in Howard Mohr’s book How to Talk Minnesotan. Hotdish is an integral element of the book Hotdish to Die For, a collection of six culinary mystery short stories in which the weapon of choice is hotdish. Minnesota public television station KSMQ in Austin, Minnesota has produced a 2012 documentary video entitled "Minnesota Hotdish." providing a historical and humorous