Beefy Hotdish
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice, uncooked
- 1 cup wild rice, uncooked
- 2 lbs. lean ground beef
- ½ cup butter or margarine
- 1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 1 can cream of celery soup
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
- 2½ oz. slivered almonds
- Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook white rice according to package directions for 10 minutes only. Drain.
- Cook wild rice. Drain.
- Brown ground beef; set aside.
- Melt butter in a skillet. Saute mushrooms, celery, and onion until tender. About 5 minutes.
- Combine soy sauce, water, sour cream, soup, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in both types of rice and ground beef. Add mushrooms, celery, and onion mixture along with water chestnuts and half of the almonds.
- Pour mixture into a greased 3-quart casserole; sprinkle with remaining almonds. Refrigerate up to 4 hours.
- Bake, covered, in a 350° oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until heated through, about 15 to 20 minutes longer. Garnish with parsley.
About Byerly’s
Location:
Various
Status:
Open
Dates active:
1968-present
Don Byerly got his start in the grocery business working at SuperValu in Iowa, where his father, Russell, was a division manager and later chairman of the Minnesota-based wholesaler. Don studied food marketing at Michigan State before returning to Minnesota to open a grocery store with his name above the door.
Don used $45,000 of his savings, along with extra support from Russell, to plan the first Byerly’s in Golden Valley in 1968. He aimed to attract upper-income shoppers, young singles, childless couples, and working women, designing every part of the store to appeal to them and keep them coming back.
Customers entering the store found a welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff ready to help. The stores often had extra staff to make sure every customer could ask questions or get cooking advice.
Unlike other stores that used coupons and specials, Byerly’s skipped those to create an exclusive, club-like feel. Instead of games and giveaways, they offered cookbooks and recipes to help customers use the unique, high-end ingredients they sold.
Customers could count on the freshest meat, fish, and produce in the state. Test kitchens with home economists and a chef developed recipes for deli and bakery items. The ice cream counter and sit-down restaurant became a popular spot, while flower, gift, and candy shops gave shoppers extra reasons to visit.
In 1979, Byerly’s opened a kitchen production facility to make quality ready-made items such as soups, entrees, and deli salads. The kitchen developed a Byerly’s branded line of 19 frozen soups under the guidance of chef Keith Kersten. Keith had been a chef at the Orion Room at the IDS Tower when Don Byerly asked him to expand the private-label prepared food selections at his stores. The famous Byerly’s Wild Rice Soup recipe was actually created by Keith while he worked at the Orion Room.
The Golden Valley store was a big hit, and more stores opened soon after. In 1980, the St. Louis Park store launched—a huge 92,000-square-foot grocery palace with carpeted aisles, crystal chandeliers, a kosher deli, and all the familiar amenities. It even had a cooking school with 15 instructors offering 42 different classes. The Minnetonka store opened in 1981. Though smaller at 72,000 square feet, it felt like a department store and featured a large gift shop selling high-end art. Stores in Roseville, Bloomington, and Burnsville followed soon after.
Byerly’s grew to 11 stores, 3,300 employees, and over $300 million in sales. Don often visited the stores to make sure they ran smoothly, that the staff were friendly and helpful, and to see what customers were interested in and buying, and what they put back on the shelf, so he could stock the right products.
Don’s personal wealth grew with the store’s success. By 1984, he was worth nearly $20 million and owned a penthouse in downtown Minneapolis. He retired from daily operations in 1990 and moved to California. Though Don maintained ownership, Tom Herberts ran the stores.
Without Don’s close involvement, sales leveled off. In April 1997, a $90 million deal brought Byerly’s and longtime rival Lund’s under one corporate umbrella. Each company continued to operate its portfolio of stores, but combined the buying power of 11 Byerly’s and 8 Lund’s locations to offer competitive pricing in the Twin Cities grocery market.
In 2015, Byerly’s and Lund’s underwent a complete rebrand. The stores would be combined under the name Lund’s and Byerly’s.
Gallery
