Gourmet Tater Tot Casserole

We are now officially out of the mid west and I can stop pretending that calling something hot dish is socially acceptable. I don't think that in our 10 years living there I ever willingly called something I made a hot dish. Now I don't even have to silently nod as I inwardly cringe at the word.

No matter what it's called, I've been craving a tater tot covered meat dish for weeks now. As I checked out various recipes online I was prepared to make the standard ground beef and cheese casserole but then I came across this amped up version of tater tot casserole and I was inspired!

Shepherd's Pie

It's spring time and that means it's time to gear up for camping season and dutch oven cooking. I've always enjoyed using my dutch oven to cook over the coals while camping but I've never used cast iron for much of anything else until a year or so ago. I picked up some enameled cast iron pots and have really enjoyed cooking with them for everyday meals. I'm sure many of you are familiar with and extensively use cast iron skillets as well but I still haven't really branched out in that direction yet.