Okay so I’m assistant to the chef at a dude ranch…
I have to come up with some fancy dinner ideas- we do fancy dinners tuesday night. Does anyone have good recipes to do? We about 30 dinners of the same thing so it can’t be too time consuming. any ideas??? it can be anything (Within a reasonable price range)
I make this chicken dish that my friend calls, “TheFunkyChicken” dish: Mix ranch dressing, terriaki(sp?) sauce, and shredded (orange) ched. cheese. Bake it. sprinkle some more cheese on top for the “right look.” I marinate the chicken breast in the terriaki sauce for a few hours before. It sounds slightly gross, but it’s always a hit at my place.
If you’re stuck with the dude ranch theme, theirs an infamous joint in syracuse called the Dinosaur. They have a pretty nice website with some cool recipes, none that I’ve ever tried…yet.
Yeah, does it have to be ‘dude rance’ food (whatever the hell a dude ranch is!) ?
Ponster, Dude Ranches - think Ponderosa (the TV show) - they’re vacation destinations. Generally in the western states, it’s a ranch - think cattle, horseback riding, roundups - think Wild West - heck, go to www.duderanches.com - that’ll explain it.
Johnny, what about roasts? Think beef roasts, pork roasts, that kind of thing. Um, maybe try some dutch oven cooking? Stews? I’m trying to think of dude ranch kinda grub, and beyond chili and beans and stew, (and big hunks o’ meat) I am drawing a blank. I suppose you could go with a plank cooked salmon, and steaks, stuff like that?
What all are you serving for dinners now, anyway? What all have you served in the past?
This is my favorite “company is coming for dinner but I have to work until 5:00” dish. (In fact, we had it last night!) Looks pretty, it’s somewhat unusual and exciting but not insulting to most folks’ preferences, and it’s really easy. Plus, it’s pretty cheap, and the grapes help hold the heat in the dish while your platers and servers are getting their act together.
I don’t cook for 30, so here’s the recipe for 6-8:
12 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded thin and uniform
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/2 tsp tarragon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
7 Tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup dry vermouth (or other dry white wine)
1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
2 cups red or green seedless grapes (I like red best)
Preheat oven to 375. Combine bread crumbs, tarragon, salt and pepper. Dredge chicken breasts in crumb mix. Brown in 3 Tbs. butter in frying pan. Place in a shallow baking dish. Add 1 Tbs. butter to the crunchy bits in the pan and sautee the onions until soft. Add broth and wine and bring to a boil. Pour broth/wine/onion around the chicken. Bake for 30 minutes. Sautee the mushrooms in the rest of the butter (3 Tbs.) and add, with the grapes, to the chicken. Bake 10 more minutes.
I love to serve it with a rice pilaf (although a whipped cauliflower would go well, for the low-carbers) and a bright colorful mix of steamed veggies - broccoli, colored bell peppers, asparagus pieces, thin sliced carrots, etc.
I’m guessing the dude ranch isn’t going to go for my tofu-and-kale-in-spicy-peanut-sauce recipe, even though it’s awesomely good :). I have a tomato soup recipe that I love, though, and that might be a good accompaniment to something else (grilled cheese sammiches, e.g.).
5 pounds excellent tomatoes, chopped into big pieces
2 tablespoons butter
A handful of green onions, chopped up
A cup of water
Salt and pepper and fresh herbs.
Sautee the green onions in the butter. Add the water and the tomatoes. Cook on low heat for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent the soup from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add salt, pepper, and herbs to taste. Process through a food mill. Serve as is, or with cream.
This is from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and it’s the best tomato soup I’ve ever had.
Daniel
Well, you never know. Many of these places are becoming pretty health conscious. Plus, it’s nice to have options. Also, I want that recipe! I’ve never been able to figure out what to do with kale! Other than a stardard steam and add Bragg’s and/or vinegar. So done with that one.
So please, please, pretty please would you consider posting it anyway? 
A Chicago dude ranch? Okay…so what are you calling “fancy”. Out on the ranch if y’all got plates yo’re eatin fancy. I used to run a chuck once upon a time. Homeade flour tortillas with real guacamole and smoked or grilled cabrito maybe a really good spanish rice dish and some frijoles. That was eatin fancy. But then we were out in the middle of nowhere and cooking on a fire.
Seafood’s usually quick to prepare and will dress up nice. I’d say for about thirty people you could prepare 3-4 kebabs per person w/ salad and pasta on the side. Pre-soak 100 Bamboo skewers (they’re cheap) add mushrooms, pearl onions, sweet peppers, bell pepper chunks, pineapple and garlic. Some pepperjack cheese is good to wedged in the butterflied section of the shrimp. Wrap the shrimp in a thin slice of bacon and skewer three or four medium shrimp in between the veggies and let marinate for twenty minutes in a spicy chipotle sauce.
On a grill if you’ve got it (dude ranch should) or oven if not at about 375degrees place the kebebs as many as will fit side by side and turn them after about 5 minutes so they won’t burn. Make sure the bacon gets well done though. After rolling the kebabs a couple of times they should be done. apprx. 12-15 minutes at most. Set them aside and squeeze a bit of lime juice on them and serve with the salad and angelhair w/ garlic and butter. It doesn’t take long too cook (preparation will take awhile) and is fairly inexpensive. I did this at the last BBQ I competed in. I made about a hundred kebabs except I added scallops w/ the shrimp. Good scallops are hard to find, so I wouldn’t bother. Everyone was extremely satisfied and it didn’t cost that much. Buy the shrimp already peeled and deveined unless you’ve got extra help.
You’ll need about 300 shrimp…30 count/lb. here is about $6-7/lb. on sale or fresh at market as cheap as $5/lb. either way you’re gonna spend about $3 per/plate with everything. The rest is all really inexpensive and takes very little prep. time. Throw in some good garlic bread and some wine, ale or whatever. mmm-good. 
Damn now I’m gettin hungry.
I’m not gonna bother proofin this cause my browser is trippin. There’s lots of recipes similar to this out there. But this’n won me a trophy last May in a state cookoff.
I don’t know why this popped into my head but my sister’s mother-in-law makes THE BEST crepes you will ever eat. The ingredients are cheap, they can be make well ahead of time and are delicious for dessert with either honey, jam, powdered sugar, chocolate sauce or whatever. Plus, it’s kind of cool to serve crepes.
P.S. It’s dude ranchy because they’re essentially pancakes but they’re fancy because they are served at snooty French restaurants.
Basic Crepe - (makes about 10-12 crepes)
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 C milk (or light cream)
1 T sugar
2 T butter - melted
1/8 t salt
3 eggs
Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Break eggs into another bowl and mix until yolks and whites are blended. Add milk to eggs. Make a hole in the middle of dry ingredients and pour in egg mixture. Stir in flour little by little until mixed. Add melted butter. Stir.
Set aside 1-6 hours at room temperature. If too thick add more milk, the mixture should be as thick as heavy cream.
Add 1/3 or 1/2 ladle of mixture to a heated, buttered pan. Cook until brown, flip, cook until brown. Serve!
Twist, twist, Whynot–here it is!
Chile-encrusted pan-seared bean curd in a garlic-ginger peanut aioli over wilted greens, if you’re a total freakin’ snob, or Tofu Kale Stuff if you’re not.
First, put some brown rice on the stove to cook.
Next, chop up
-1 Block tofu
into bite-sized pieces. Put in a bowl and add:
-Several cloves crushed garlic
-A good handful dried chile flakes
-A large marble-sized chunk of fresh grated ginger
-A healthy splash of tamari, and
-Enough water to cover.
You can marinate this for a few hours if you’re patient, or you can schlep the bowl in the microwave for 7 minutes if you’re impatient (heating the stuff up acts as a quick marinade)
Drain the tofu and reserve the marinade. Add
-A healthy splash of oil
to a large pot and heat till hot. Saute the tofu until it starts to turn golden. Meanwhile, add
-A giant spoonful of natural peanut butter
to the marinade, and whisk it in thoroughly. Pour the peanut-marinade mixture into the pot, scraping all the good stuff off the bottom of the pot. Cook on low simmer until the peanut sauce is starting to thicken, stirring occasionally. Adding a bit of toasted sesame oil and/or sesame seeds is tasty.
Meanwhile, chop
-1 bunch kale
into bite-sized pieces
and add them to the pot once the peanut sauce is a bit thickened. Put a lid on it and simmer until the kale is tender, and stir it in. You may have to take the lid off and let it cook a bit more to rethicken the sauce–the kale has a lot of water in it.
Serve over the rice, in bowls, for a spicy, warming, filling meal.
Daniel