Lunch Specials?

90 degrees + and still they want chilli

chilli .. i tried some cold soups... nope.. where the heck is the chilli is all they reply... although.. it could have something to do with the beer...

We just started some promotional menu for Marriott corporate... some ideas im fond of... others im not so fond of:

Buffalo chicken chili with bleu cheese tortilla chips, celery, & carrot sticks

"The Worlds Smallest Meatloaf" - Three 1.5 oz meatloaf mounds with a ketchup-based sauce and a samuel adams gravy.

Truffle Oil & Asiago French Fries with an asian-influenced sam adams dip

Pesto chicken & provolone quesadillas with roasted garlic sour cream

the other renters in the church where my catering kitchen is have special health needs....one is a celeiac (severe) and needs low sodium (2000mg day) so lunch is whatever I have in the kitchen.......last week it was fresh Tuna salad nicoise, soft-shell crabs with corn flour on a bed of local greens with fruit and chocolate meragines, it's been BBQ pork sandwiches with chips and pickle when I've butchered pigs.....
Shrimp Creole with frozen shrimp seems to be a favorite.
Mediterranean platter....dolmas, cuke sauce, hummos, green salad, olives, Goatsbeard chevre, pita chips.....

Usually I have extra fruit/vegetables when there are larger events. Red peppers, onions, potatoes, pesto frozen from last years bounty, always lettuces.....this past time it was carrots, cukes, zucchini, onions, potatoes, plum tomatoes.....so I made tomato based veg soup. Actually that is the low priced meal I offer for in-house events. Veg Soup, salad (sometimes slaw) cornbread, cheesey biscuits, brownies.....sometimes I'll throw in deviled eggs just as a lagniape.

I have not made the buffalo chicken chili, but a quick look at the recipe leads me to believe it is a standard chili using ground chicken instead and adding buffalo sauce to it...

The pesto quesadillas are actually quite popular with the staff, though I think the idea is a little too "out there" for our customers to want to try them.

Ahh, yeah that one is different...

Here is another special that actually sounds pretty good

Pan-seared lemon sole with roasted roma tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli rabe, and a lemon-herb vinaigrette

my lunch menus are ingredient driven, yesterday I made pecan dacquise with pastry cream, strawberry rhubarb goo....very tasty and no glutin!

When we do specials, we often feature them in the bar as well. The quesadillas are aimed more for the appetizer-driven bar crowd instead of the restaurant, but they are indeed incredibly good. We have a TGIFriday's right next door to us, so competition for this market is very tense.

I do notice though that our clientelle are not very outgoing, as we feature some really neat (and sometimes weird) specials, but do not sell anything. The reliable "steak & potatoes" dishes sell very well though.

I've actually done something similar (for myself), roast beef sandwich with a chipotle-bleu cheese mayo. I personally thought it was amazing, but since I am not the Chef, all I can do is stick notes in the suggestion box.

Blue Angel was a rare roast beef with mayo, blue cheese, red onions, sprouts
on baguette

Years ago I made a flank steak salad with slices of med rare flank, blue cheese, balsamic viniagrette, red grapes


Tart I guess.....two layers of meragine with pastry cream and rhubarb/strawberry goo in the middle.....I HATE NAMING SHTUFF.

I ran the pesto chicken and provolone quesadilla with the roasted garlic sour cream as a lunch special today and must of sold 50 of them big thanks to RAS1187 for the great idea 

 

I wanted to reply earlier, but waited to see if anyone wanted to play first.

I search the internet all night for ideas.   Usually just end up using google/images and go from there.

"Does it look good?  Okay, I'll check out the recipe."

 

4 or 5 a day?  List them!

Here's some lunch specs that have been moving well for me...

 

Fish Taco:

1z cod, beer batter then panko breading. deep fry.

shredded cabbage and radish

yogurt/sour cream/cilantro sauce

handmade (purchased) corn tortilla

1z pico on the side

 

Flank Steak Sammy:

flank steak rubbed generously with Montreal seasoning

(I made my own, recipe is at work. Orange peel, gran garlic, dill, kosher salt, pepper, crsh red pepper, celery seed, etc)

seared, cooked MR and sliced thin, 3z per order

foccacia

Jarlsberg

arugula

horseradish sour cream

 

Italia Stallion

I accidentally purchased a prosciutto cotto. Needed to get rid of it. Came up with this great sandwich; realized half way through making it -it's a muffaletta rip-off.  *sigh*

prosciutto cotto

hard salami

copa

quatro fromaggio

foccacia

pepperoncini/kalamata/rst red bell/red onion/oregano/olive oil/n'stuff

 

Banh Mi

Everyone has their own take on this

It moves, especially when it's hot outside.

check it out: http://battleofthebanhmi.com/

 

Haven't run these in a while, but they always sell well for me:

 

Ham Sammy:

marbled rye (thick)

4z shaved ham

apple butter

Swiss cheese

...that's it.  Apple butter is the x-factor.

 

Roast Beef Po'Boy

You probably don't need a recipe...

I prefer Parisian baguette or something with a light crust and a crumb that will absorb the gravy. Others may not. w/e

hinged bread, not sliced through!

mayo

rst beef

gravy

iceberg

GO!

If food cost permits, add sliced ham, tomatoes, and pickles.  It's a bit overkill though IMHO.

 

Fish specs lately have been taking advantage of the fresh berry season and the salmon season.

This week was raspberry/chipotle salsa on salmon. Polenta cake. Veg.

Could just make a salad out of it for lunch, though.

Raspberry vinaigrette ...  I'm starting to type train of thought now.

I'll stop then.

 

 

Okay, your turn! 

 

 

This was a lunch special I did for a while:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54440767@N03/5611213077/in/set-72157626479251778/

 

Toasted baguette, drizzled lightly with basil infused olive oil, thin sliced prosciutto de parma, fresh buffalo mozz and a fresh basil leaf. We served it with a simple spring greens salad topped with a tomato balsamic vinaigrette.

 

It was very popular. Only reason we stopped serving it was because our supplier wouldn't stop sending us out of date prosciutto and basil in these parts has been looking VERY bad.

 

Typical

That does sound pretty bomb, though, the MB sandwich with gardenia puree and provolone.

 

And more typical, you want a recipe for the one dish I posted that the sous chef came up with...

haha

I'm not sure, but I'd bet we could both fake it.  Fresh raspberries, chipotle in adobo, sugar, onion?  It was macerated.  Was probably just fresh raspberries mashed with "chipotle in adobe" puree.

The raspberries are all but free right now (in season) so.....  yeah.

 

Cranberries on salad with cheese is a winner for sure.

I've re-hydrated them in port for a salad topping before, rst shallot vin.  goat chz.

 

 

 

 

Thanks! It was my husband's favorite sandwich and he won't eat anything he has trouble pronouncing. (listening to him say prosciutto is funny)

THIS sounds AMAZING!! YUMMM!!!

 

...fish tacos still rolling.  Sold well enough to keep them on the special list for another week.

 

Still want to play, just too busy atm. :)

 

Oh yeah! Just remembered we're doing this:

 

quesodilla special

 

smoked chix breast,

jack/cheddar,

rst poblano,

cilantro crema (cheated with sour cream and heavy cream) drizzled on top,

"fire-roasted" tomato salsa on the side.

 

Joke in the kitchen is that the chicken was smoked with "Connecticut Laurel, Damascus Rosemary, and Egyptian Hickory".

Not sure why we thought it was so funny.

Maybe because we ran out of smoked chicken so we blanched some and rubbed it with chipotle in adobo puree to make a few orders.

"Smoke and mirrors", as a former chef I worked for used to say...

 

Here's your Iron Chef challenge:

 

Nathan's hot dogs

corn bread

baked beans

stadium rolls

chicken wings

ricotta

chicken thigh meat

 

...getting rid of freezer surplus for new chef.  I'm a prince, I know...