Family Dinner: Spilled Milk #253

What would I make for Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz? A farmhouse pork roll stuffed with sauerkraut and pickled cabbage.

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Everyone is BACK TO SCHOOL or maybe back to the salt mines of your work life. Or maybe it’s just summer’s swan song where you live.

This is a cheap meal, a farmhouse meatloaf with northern European vibes that is one of those Minnesota recipes that I have been tweaking and perfecting for years.

It’s so simple, so easy and feeds a hungry group. Although, to be honest, this really only feeds four folks because everyone has two slices and maybe there is a slice or so at the end to spare. I usually make two because it reheats so well and is great as a sandwich. The cooking knocks down the acidity of the sauerkraut. The tang that’s left tones down the fattiness of the bacon. It’s beyond delicious when served with hearty rye or brown bread and a few mustards.

Since everyone wants to have a meal with Tim Walz these days, this is what I would serve the governor and his incredible wife Gwen, our state’s first lady, when they come over the next time they are home. That may not be for four and a half years. In our part of the world, we make casseroles, and hotdishes, meat loaves and stews of all kinds. They have roots that first grew at the farmhouse lunch table where loaves of fresh baked bread accompanied meals like this one served in big portions for hungry workers. Feels appropriate as we all bask in the glory of our state’s shining moment on the front lines of democracy. And we eat lots of big meals like pork roll and sauerkraut.