Wild Rice Hot Dish

Mid-November. Semifinal week. We play Cherry Creek again. They are the four seed but they have been the favorite to win the bracket all year. They beat us in the regular season — wait, no, we beat them in the regular season, by four, on Diego's late slant. They are angry. They have spent six weeks watching that film. They have a plan for what we did to them. We have a plan for their plan. The film room this week has been a chess match conducted by men in their late forties who do not sleep enough.

Mike Reyes and I sat in the office until midnight three nights running. We installed two new looks for this game — a counter run that is going to give Cherry Creek's aggressive front a problem, and a tight-end shovel pass that I have not used all year and that I have been saving for exactly this game. The shovel pass is a play I learned from a coach in Albuquerque in 2003 and have used probably six times in twenty-two years, always in big games, always when the defense is keying on the perimeter. Cherry Creek's defense keys on the perimeter. The shovel pass is going to give us seven yards a pop in the middle of the field.

Tony Davis built the defensive plan around taking away their explosive plays. Their offense lives on three or four big plays a game — a deep ball, a screen for a long gain, a quarterback designed run. We are going to take away the deep ball with two safeties high. We are going to take away the screen by playing soft on the corners and rallying. We are going to take away the quarterback run with a spy linebacker. The plan concedes some short yardage in exchange for taking away the big plays. We will live with the short yardage. The big plays are what kill you.

Diego came home Wednesday night from a film session and ate dinner standing at the kitchen island. He said, "Dad, the shovel pass is going to be open." I said, "I think so." He said, "Marcus loves the shovel pass." I said, "I know." He said, "Are you going to call it on the first drive." I said, "I am going to call it when the moment is right." He said, "When is the moment right." I said, "When their defensive line gets aggressive on the second-and-medium and the spy linebacker bites on a run fake. That is when the moment is right." He said, "Got it." He kept eating.

Lisa worked Thursday and Friday on day shifts so she could be at the game Friday night. The semifinal is at our home stadium because we are the higher seed. Lisa was there at six for the tailgate. The tailgate was a smaller version than weeks before — playoff weather, a deep cold front had moved in Thursday night, the game-time temperature was projected at twenty-eight degrees. I had still smoked a brisket Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. I had still made green chile mac. The booster moms had still brought everything else. But the spread was indoor — we set up in the field house common room, not on the patio, because nobody was going to stand around eating brisket in twenty-eight-degree weather.

The game itself — well, that is next week's entry. I am writing this Friday afternoon, a few hours before kickoff. I am at home. I have eaten lunch. I have had three cups of coffee. The dog tags are around my neck. Hector's ring is not on a chain yet. I am going to take Diego to the field at five. I am going to walk into the field house at five-fifteen. I am going to give the boys their pre-game speech at six-thirty. I am going to step on the field at six-fifty for warmups. Kickoff is at seven-thirty. Three and a half hours from now we will know whether we are going to a state final or whether the season ends in the semifinals for the fourth time in my career. Three and a half hours from now I will know.

I prayed this morning. Mamá called at noon — I had told her on Wednesday night about the game, and she called to check in. She said, "M'ijo. Whatever happens, you have already done the work. The game is in God's hands now. Go coach. Come home." I said, "Yes, ma'am." She said, "Te amo." I said, "Te amo, Mamá." She said, "I will be praying through every quarter." I said, "I know you will." We hung up. I am going to put on my polo. I am going to put on my coaching jacket. I am going to drive to the school. I am going to coach the game I have been coaching for twenty-two years toward this moment. The road bends. Feed your people. The game is won at the table.

The tailgate moved indoors this week — twenty-eight degrees and a deep cold front — and I was not about to let the weather shrink what we put on that table. But after three nights in the film room until midnight and a Friday afternoon that felt like the longest few hours of my life, I needed something I could build in stages, something that held warm and fed whoever walked through the door without fuss. Wild rice hot dish has been in our family rotation for years; it is the kind of food Mamá would approve of, the kind that says the work is done and it is time to sit down. That is exactly what semifinal week called for.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 10 min | Total Time: 1 hr 30 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 lb ground pork sausage
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (optional topping)
2 tbsp butter, melted (optional topping)

Instructions

Cook the rice. Combine wild rice and chicken broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.
Brown the sausage. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook sausage, breaking it up as it cooks, until browned and no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Drain excess fat.
Sauté the vegetables. Add onion and celery to the skillet with the sausage. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Combine the filling. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, and sour cream until well combined. Add cooked wild rice, black pepper, thyme, and garlic powder. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
Transfer to baking dish. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the mixture evenly into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Top with shredded cheddar cheese.
Add topping (optional). If using breadcrumbs, toss with melted butter and scatter over the cheese layer for a golden crust.
Bake. Bake uncovered for 25–30 minutes until bubbly around the edges and the top is golden. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Wild Rice Hot Dish — The Meal You Make When Everything Is on the Line