Midwest food

My dad's from Minnesota, the heartland of the U.S. I interviewed him about Midwestern food while he and I were dining on a salad of sauteed river crayfish, flambeed in a anise liquor reduction, served with baby potatoes roasted in garlic, olive oil, and fresh rosemary, and a dessert of fresh berries and cassis liquor on intensely fatty ice cream. Here's my wry dad, on topic, and hilarious:

E (Erik) - So, tell me about Midwestern dinners?
D (Dad) - There's always some kind of meat, either chicken, beef, probably not fish. and a vegetable. and probably potatoes. And that's it.
E - Yeah?
D - How can you go wrong with that? You can't. It's ideal.

E - How are the veggies cooked?
D - Steamed, sometimes microwaved - you never know. Seasoning, salt and pepper.
E - Butter?
D - Sometimes, you add it at the table now. Connie used to add a lot of butter. Like a big bunch of butter in there. But people complained, so she stopped doing it. And people put their own butter on now.
E - No other seasoning?
D - Nope.

E - How are the potatoes cooked?
D - I would say most of the potatoes are baked or mashed. What else is there? That's it, man.
E - Do you use garlic?
D - No. It's the Midwest. Come on, man.

E - Tell me about the meat.
D - What do you want to know?
E - What do you eat the most?
D - Chicken, first. Beef, second. Pork, then fish. No lamb. Forget about lamb. It's too high-falutin. It's the Midwest, man. Fly-over country. Get with the program, man.
E - That's hilarious.
D - What'd I just say?
E - You're kidding.
D - It's the Midwest, man. (laughs)

E - So, how do you cook the chicken?
D - Bake it.
E - What do you mean?
D - You roast it.
E - You're not giving me detail.
D - You just put it in the oven. Real simple.
E - No seasoning?
D - You have to ask Connie.
E - You've never baked a chicken?
D - I've never baked a chicken in my life. Connie is the conquistador of baked chicken.

E - So how do you cook beef?
D - You mean my beef?
E - Let's not go there.
D - It could be anything. Hamburger, Roast, Sirloin. I mean, you just don't know. The possibilities are endless.
E - So you basically have 3 options?
D - Yeah, that's it. There are no other options. This is the Midwest, man.

E - How do you cook fish?
D - It's only fried. It's the only way you can do fish. It is the only way in the Midwest.

E - How do you do pork?
D - I don't know. I'm not a big pork fan.
E - So mom never cooks it?
D - She roasts it. It's getting boring, jack. Let's have dessert.