Mashed potatoes with a pan-fried cutlet is the kind of meal that reads as home cooking to almost everyone who grew up eating it. There’s nothing fancy about it, and that’s exactly the point — soft, buttery mash and a crisp-edged, juicy cutlet complement each other in both texture and flavor without any need for embellishment.

Good mash comes down to the right potatoes and warm milk. Starchy potato varieties mash up fluffier than waxy, salad-style ones, and pouring cold milk into hot mashed potatoes can make them gluey, so it’s worth warming the milk before adding it.

For the cutlets, a mix of beef and pork gives a more rounded flavor and juicier bite than either meat alone, though whatever you have on hand will still work fine. The bread soaked in milk isn’t a cheap filler — it’s what keeps the inside of the cutlet moist and prevents it from drying out during frying.

This dish reheats well the next day, and the cutlets freeze nicely uncooked, so a quick weeknight dinner can be as simple as boiling potatoes while they fry from frozen.