flipBlue Plate Special — Meatloaf, Brown Gravy and Mashed Potatoes
Blue Plate Special — Meatloaf, Brown Gravy and Mashed Potatoes
Why this dish? Her file says: 'irregular meals, taken in cafeterias and roadside restaurants.' The 'blue plate special' — a single daily dish at a fixed price served on a compartmented plate — was THE hot meal for the touring musician of the 1940s, gulped down at the counter between stops.
A tender meatloaf topped with brown gravy, flanked by mashed potatoes and green peas: the comforting, cheap dish that every diner in America served at lunchtime, on a compartmented plate.
Listen, kid, when the bus drops you in a town you've never heard of, you push through the door of the first diner and order the blue plate, period. A nice warm slice of meatloaf, its brown gravy, the mashed potatoes on top — you don't have time to be picky between two sets. You eat standing up, coffee steaming beside you, and you leave. That was my life on the road: hot, fast, and you hold your band jacket tight.
- •Ground beef — a good pound (base of the meatloaf)
- •Chopped onion — one, fine (flavor)
- •Egg — one (binder)
- •Breadcrumbs or soaked stale bread — a handful (moistness)
- •Ketchup — a few spoonfuls (glaze and acidity)
- •Potatoes — as needed (mashed)
- •Milk and butter — as needed (creamy mash)
- •Green peas — one can (green garnish)
- •Flour and cooking juices — as needed (brown gravy)
Blue Plate Special — Meatloaf, Brown Gravy and Mashed Potatoes
A tender meatloaf topped with brown gravy, flanked by mashed potatoes and green peas: the comforting, cheap dish that every diner in America served at lunchtime, on a compartmented plate.
Why this dish? Her file says: 'irregular meals, taken in cafeterias and roadside restaurants.' The 'blue plate special' — a single daily dish at a fixed price served on a compartmented plate — was THE hot meal for the touring musician of the 1940s, gulped down at the counter between stops.
Listen, kid, when the bus drops you in a town you've never heard of, you push through the door of the first diner and order the blue plate, period. A nice warm slice of meatloaf, its brown gravy, the mashed potatoes on top — you don't have time to be picky between two sets. You eat standing up, coffee steaming beside you, and you leave. That was my life on the road: hot, fast, and you hold your band jacket tight.
Ingredients (period version)
- Ground beef — a good pound (base of the meatloaf)
- Chopped onion — one, fine (flavor)
- Egg — one (binder)
- Breadcrumbs or soaked stale bread — a handful (moistness)
- Ketchup — a few spoonfuls (glaze and acidity)
- Potatoes — as needed (mashed)
- Milk and butter — as needed (creamy mash)
- Green peas — one can (green garnish)
- Flour and cooking juices — as needed (brown gravy)
Ingredients
- Ground beef (15% fat) — 500 g (base of the meatloaf)
- Onion — 1 medium, finely chopped (flavor)
- Egg — 1 (binder)
- Breadcrumbs — 60 g (moistness)
- Ketchup — 3 tbsp (+2 for glazing) (acidity, glaze)
- Worcestershire sauce — 1 tbsp (umami)
- Potatoes for mashing — 700 g (mashed)
- Butter + milk — 40 g + 100 ml (mash)
- Green peas — 200 g (garnish)
- Flour + beef broth — 2 tbsp + 300 ml (brown gravy)
Method
- Mix beef, onion, egg, breadcrumbs, 3 tbsp ketchup, Worcestershire, salt and pepper.
- Pack into a loaf pan, glaze top with remaining ketchup, bake 45 min at 190°C.
- Boil potatoes in salted water, mash with butter and warm milk.
- Make gravy: make a blond roux with melted butter and flour, add broth, let thicken.
- Warm the peas. Slice meatloaf, spoon gravy over, serve with mash and peas on a compartmented plate.
How it was made : The 'blue plate special' got its name from the blue porcelain compartmented plates of the 1920s-1950s, which separated meat, starch, and vegetable. At a fixed price, it made a hot lunch accessible to workers and itinerant musicians during the Depression and the swing era.
The contemporary twist : Serve it in a real vintage compartmented plate, with a little 'Special of the Day' flag stuck in the mash.
Anita O'Day · Charactorium
