| By chris on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 11:11 am: Edit |
I am an executive chef at a working guest ranch. I have an abundance of guest recipies but I am running out of ides for the staff. These meals are served buffet style for a staff of up to eighty. I am looking for any hearty ideas anyone might have for lunch and or dinner. Most of the staff are true "cowboys" so the fru-fru stuff that the guests recieve doesn't go over well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
| By Hamlet on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 08:17 pm: Edit |
Hi Chris
This always goes down well for my staff...
Sausages (link ones are best) cut into chunks
Veal or beef Jus -to cover
Sliced red & green peppers
sliced button mushrooms
salt and pepper and a little chili
Thinly sliced potatoes (as per Boulangere)
Place the sausage chunks,Jus,mushrooms,peppers
in a dish,season well.
Cover with a thick layer of potato slices
bake till golden brown (about40 mins)
The dollar stands today as $1.40=£1.00 so each ptn works out at around 90c or 70p
Hope this helps its cheap and tastes good and fairly quick to make,we often have it for tea at home :>)
| By Hamlet on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 08:18 pm: Edit |
Hi Chris
This always goes down well for my staff...
Sausages (link ones are best) cut into chunks
Veal or beef Jus -to cover
Sliced red & green peppers
sliced button mushrooms
salt and pepper and a little chili
Thinly sliced potatoes (as per Boulangere)
Place the sausage chunks,Jus,mushrooms,peppers
in a dish,season well.
Cover with a thick layer of potato slices
bake till golden brown (about40 mins)
The dollar stands today as $1.40=£1.00 so each ptn works out at around 90c or 70p
Hope this helps its cheap and tastes good and fairly quick to make,we often have it for tea at home :>)
P.S Got any Jobs going for a disillusioned British
Chef
| By Peachcreek (Peachcreek) on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 10:01 pm: Edit |
Hi Chris. When I worked at a guest ranch(25-30 employees) we fed the crew the same carbs, veggies, and salads that we fed the guests, unless it was something too expensive or time consuming. The staff did'nt get the same "center of plate", of course. No matter how much you like 'em, the best they got there were leftovers. Actually, the staff ate alot of leftovers. It would help if you gave us an idea of your time and money budget. For the most part though, they were an easy crowd to please. Meatloaf, chicken something, anything barbequed, pastas, you name it, they ate it. Hell, after a hard day, all they cared was that they didn't have to do anything! What the chef did was a simple 7 day menu, with an occasional variation. The food was great, and the staff actually liked knowing that Wednesday night was pizza. A personal favorite is Chicken Chauseur out of the old CIA Pro Chef. Cheap, easy, fast to make and still a huge crowd pleaser after all these years.
| By W.DeBord on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 08:56 am: Edit |
Besides what's already been mentioned the simple eaters in my life like dishes like: lasagna, stuffed peppers, turkey tetrazzini, tacos, baked pork chop, stew, pot pies, meatballs, meatloaf, mac & cheese etc...
There's a series of cookbooks by HPBooks that are wonderful for simple eaters. They're about $8.00 each (they're not hard cover, aprox 8 1/2"x11"), sometimes they are displayed on a spinning metal rack at the book store. Their a series of books with titles like: Pasta Cookery, Chicken Cookery, Burger Cookery...I own most of them. Every recipe I've tried was good, easy to make and you could use your left-overs in many of their dishes.
Also try looking up "favorite brand name recipes tm" or Pillsbury on line, they have simple pleasing dinners. Cambel's Soup (I can't spell it this morning) also has recipes that are basic and liked by most people (try them on line too).
| By chris on Monday, January 29, 2001 - 10:22 pm: Edit |
Thanks for all the suggestions. I decided to devote two shelves entirely to Pre-prepared entrees. These seemed to have been a nice change when served with fresh salads and veggies. They are also cost effective from a labor point of view. The staff will continue to get leftover protiens but none of them seem to b**ch about leftover fillet, duckbreast, or pheasant. Thanks again!!
| By W.DeBord on Tuesday, January 30, 2001 - 08:17 am: Edit |
We have problems with our staff meals also. We have tons of left-overs and the chef feeds us only the crappy left-over stuff. Sometimes a party continues during a meal break and the manager tells the chef to feed the staff off the buffet. He'll pull all the meats off and save them, leaving only wilted salads. Then a week later he throws out the good stuff he had saved (because by then there's even more left-overs).
My point is to consider your staff as worthy of decent left-overs. They see what happens, it pisses off everyone, lowers everyones attitute and doesn't save a penny.
Not that your doing that...I just wanted to remind you that your meals can really help set the tone among the employees. I understand budgets, but good employee meals equal an emotional bonus that can make for a happier staff.
| By papa_smurf on Thursday, February 01, 2001 - 03:12 pm: Edit |
One thing that I would suggest serving (although I may be kinda late) is Shepard's pie. It's quick, easy, and relatively cheap to make. Just thought I'd give my two cents. *smile*
David