Dinner tonight…

I feel lucky that my husband has participated from the very beginning in the preparation of our meals.  We are in the kitchen together about 80% of the time and it makes putting dinner on the table so much easier and faster every night.  I can’t exactly say he LIKES to cook, but I can ask him to take care of dinner every now and then when I work late.  I am not always thrilled of his choices in meals, but at least he won’t run to the nearest fast food place.

Being of Mexican descent my cooking has that spicy seasoning and though Mexican dishes aren’t all I cook, they certainly are dishes I go to when I need comfort food.  One of those dishes is “Picadillo”; a common meat and potatoes dish.  My husband came up with his own version which I call “Picadillo a la Mack” when we found ourselves suffering from postponing our grocery shopping and trying to come up with a meal with what we had left in the refrigerator.

 We had enough in the house to fix the traditional dish, but the portion was barely enough for two so my husband scanned the refrigerator for something we could use to bulk it up. He ended up adding some left over canned corn from the prior day’s lunch.  Then the next time we were preparing “Picadillo” he insisted we try adding green beans to it and over the months my comfort meal turned in to a different dish and one of my husband’s favorite meals.    

Now I have to give my husband credit for thinking like a good cook using what was on hand and taking a recipe as a base and running with it.  My only complaint is that “Picadillo a la Mack” has tuned in to a meal big enough to serve 6 to 8 and though I don’t mind having left overs for lunch the next day I do mind having left overs for days.  My husband would be happy to eat the same thing every night as long as he was fed so we negotiate on when this dish will be cooked.  On weeks I know I won’t be home for dinner one or two nights that is when this meal comes in handy.  I might eat it once or twice and my husband (who doesn’t get bored with the same meal and has a cast iron stomach) can eat it all week (or however long it lasts). This recipe may be an attractive dish that is easy to prepare and very economical for a family larger than two.  I hope you try it..