Some friends of mine were talking about some things they like at restaurants, things that aren't really on the menu, but it's something the regulars know about. Do you have anything you like to order down at the local diner that isn't exactly on the menu, but probably should be?
Many years and a few factory jobs ago, I used to have a job at a Taco Bell. There was one snack a lot of us enjoyed. Take a fried tortilla flour, melt shredded cheese on it, dust it with cinnamon sugar from the cinnamon twists, then put sour cream on it. When we told a new person about this the reaction was always the same - "Ewww!" But when the new person tried it, the reaction was again always the same - "Hey that's pretty good!" No idea how we would have rung this up on the register, but fortunately the managers made them so they were free.
Many years and a few factory jobs later, I once again find myself w*rking at a fast food factory... this time the stereotypical fast food factory itself, McDonald's. I started wondering if I could make a quesadilla on the grill. So I started with two chicken snack wraps, minus lettuce, plus onion. I took the chicken from both wraps and chopped it up, spread that on one of the two tortilla flours, put the onion on next, then the cheese on top so it would melt down and sautee the onion under it, then I put the second tortilla on top of the whole mess and put it on the grill. When it was through cooking I took a flat-edge and chopped it up into bites. To pay for this I rang up two chicken snack wraps, minus lettuce, plus onion. This became so popular that I was frequently asked to make it for other employees.
There is a local diner that my uncle Fred frequents, and where he has started ordering something that is not on the menu - a kitchen sink omelette. That is a three egg omelette with everything but the kitchen sink in it... ham, bacon, sausage, onion, every ingredient in the kitchen that might go well in an omelette. I have tried it and it's pretty good. Very filling though.
I make sourdough bread, and sometimes there is dough left over that is not enough to make a full loaf. With that dough I make sourdough hamburger buns that are bigger around than a traditional saucer. There use to be a local diner that I knew used sausage from a local butcher shop for their sausage biscuits. I took one of my hamburger buns over there and asked the cook to make me a sausage burger that would fit that bun, with mustard and onion on it. She did, and man, what a breakfast! Unfortunately she soon moved back to the state she came from, to be back with her family I believe.
Sometimes when I haven't had a good night's sleep and I need to make it through the day, I stop by the local Jack's eatery and order a large mocha shake. If there's a new person at the cashier he'll look at me kind of fishy and say "We don't serve that" but the old hands know to ring up a large chocolate shake, then take a large cup and fill it a third full with chocolate ice cream, then fill it up the rest of the way with hot black coffee. Coffee melts ice cream, ice cream cools coffee and I'm left with kind of an iced mocha latte, only creamier. It's the most delicious way I have ever found to ingest a large amount of caffeine, and the employees have told me I started them all experimenting with different shakes and soda mixes.
So how about y'all? Anything you order at your local diner that isn't on the menu, but it really should be?
Many years and a few factory jobs ago, I used to have a job at a Taco Bell. There was one snack a lot of us enjoyed. Take a fried tortilla flour, melt shredded cheese on it, dust it with cinnamon sugar from the cinnamon twists, then put sour cream on it. When we told a new person about this the reaction was always the same - "Ewww!" But when the new person tried it, the reaction was again always the same - "Hey that's pretty good!" No idea how we would have rung this up on the register, but fortunately the managers made them so they were free.
Many years and a few factory jobs later, I once again find myself w*rking at a fast food factory... this time the stereotypical fast food factory itself, McDonald's. I started wondering if I could make a quesadilla on the grill. So I started with two chicken snack wraps, minus lettuce, plus onion. I took the chicken from both wraps and chopped it up, spread that on one of the two tortilla flours, put the onion on next, then the cheese on top so it would melt down and sautee the onion under it, then I put the second tortilla on top of the whole mess and put it on the grill. When it was through cooking I took a flat-edge and chopped it up into bites. To pay for this I rang up two chicken snack wraps, minus lettuce, plus onion. This became so popular that I was frequently asked to make it for other employees.
There is a local diner that my uncle Fred frequents, and where he has started ordering something that is not on the menu - a kitchen sink omelette. That is a three egg omelette with everything but the kitchen sink in it... ham, bacon, sausage, onion, every ingredient in the kitchen that might go well in an omelette. I have tried it and it's pretty good. Very filling though.
I make sourdough bread, and sometimes there is dough left over that is not enough to make a full loaf. With that dough I make sourdough hamburger buns that are bigger around than a traditional saucer. There use to be a local diner that I knew used sausage from a local butcher shop for their sausage biscuits. I took one of my hamburger buns over there and asked the cook to make me a sausage burger that would fit that bun, with mustard and onion on it. She did, and man, what a breakfast! Unfortunately she soon moved back to the state she came from, to be back with her family I believe.
Sometimes when I haven't had a good night's sleep and I need to make it through the day, I stop by the local Jack's eatery and order a large mocha shake. If there's a new person at the cashier he'll look at me kind of fishy and say "We don't serve that" but the old hands know to ring up a large chocolate shake, then take a large cup and fill it a third full with chocolate ice cream, then fill it up the rest of the way with hot black coffee. Coffee melts ice cream, ice cream cools coffee and I'm left with kind of an iced mocha latte, only creamier. It's the most delicious way I have ever found to ingest a large amount of caffeine, and the employees have told me I started them all experimenting with different shakes and soda mixes.
So how about y'all? Anything you order at your local diner that isn't on the menu, but it really should be?
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