If It's Wednesday, It Must Be Meatloaf

In another life, I worked at an ad agency in the city along with someone I’ll call Donny, and someone else I’ll call Jerry. Donny was a little short white guy who was a newlywed and wore a wig. He didn’t think anyone knew he was wearing a wig, but back then it was painfully obvious.

Jerry was a 12-foot tall black guy who was outwardly friendly, but with a huge chip on his shoulder. I didn’t care; though I was a third of his height (okay, I exaggerate) I was able to knock the chip off and we got along great.

One day, as we were cleaning up at the end of the day, Donny announced, “oh boy, I’m having meatloaf tonight.”

I stuck my head up and peered over the partition, “How do you know you’re having meatloaf? Did your wife phone?”

“No,” replied Donny. “It’s Wednesday; we always have meatloaf on Wednesday.”

Jerry glanced over his partition (he didn’t have to raise his head).

“What?” I said.

Now this is where it gets good. Donny then told me (actually us), that spaghetti and meatballs were Monday, chicken cutlets were Tuesday, meatloaf was Wednesday, hot dogs were Thursday; well, you get the picture.

Jerry and I looked at each other. That’s all we had to hear. Well, of course our ribbing of Donny entered over into other aspects of Donny’s married life.

Imagine mealtime with no surprises, no variation. Sometimes, I think of Donny and wonder if he’s still married to this woman and if he’s still having chicken cutlets on Tuesday.

On the other side of the spectrum is my younger daughter. She’ll phone me periodically with a question that goes somewhat like this:

“Mom, I’ve got pork chops, an onion, a pear, and rice. What could I make for dinner?

It’s interesting because usually her question is generally her answer as well. I think she just wants reinforcement that, for example, pork chops with sautéed onion and pear over rice doesn’t sound crazy.

I bought her a great cookbook online and had it sent to her: “50 Ways to Cook Everything.” You look up an item, say pork chops, and it has 50 different recipes to prepare it. It’s perfect for her.

The day after it arrived in the mail, she phoned me.

“Thanks for the book, mom. It’s great. So, I have ground beef, one red bell pepper, onions, potatoes, and olives. What should I make?

Cuban Picadillo

I bet you thought I was going to suggest chili. I just knew she’d have beer on hand; after all, she’s in the Navy. Some things actually are predictable.

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup beer
One 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
A few drops Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound potatoes (about 2), peeled and cubed
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pitted green olives, quartered

In a large skillet, cook the ground beef until it is no longer pink. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the beer, canned tomatoes and its juice, tomato paste, the spices, and Tabasco sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet in hot oil over medium-high heat, sauté the potatoes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes, raisins, and olive to the meat mixture. Cook, covered, until the potatoes are just done, about 10 minutes longer. Serves 4.