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i agree neil. best of british, good luck with what ever way u go, trial and error i feel!!! but with this much input im sure u will be full of ideas now, using all that is around u and making the best of what u have, but producing good quality, tasty food that your customers will enjoy and come back for more. i cook for a living but im not a qualified chef, but when i go out to eat i expect better or same as i know i can do! would love to know where your pub is . but good luck anyways!!! kim.

I agree with most of the above but whats wronge with yorkshire pudding large one with good pork sausages and lashings of gravy thats a good winter warmer and of course a large pan of stew and dumplings.

Thank you all, some great ideas... both for recipes and suppliers...by the way elizabeth ...it was rick steins show that gave me the original idea....and i love the idea of being able to support local farmers whilst also providing the very best in pub food...best of british to one and all ...
neil

I would have to agree with Elizabeth, I don't think there is anything worse than ordering a pie and getting heated up filling with a dry pastry top stuck on. Is there anyway that you can make the pies but just cook them to order? I can understand not always easy in that kind of environment but nothing beats freshly cooked food!

Some ideas for you, if I may....

Homemade soups such as pae and ham, roast pumpkin, lentil and pancetta, roast tomato and oregano, potato bacon and leek, chunky minestrone, french onion

Bubble and squeak with the added twist of chorizo instead of bacon and leeks, searched with grilled/roasted tomotoes or poached egg.

Stew and dumplings - stew made with lamb in a Morrocan style or rabbit stew with thyme, or use a cobbler topping instead

A vegetable crumble using roasted veg and tomatoes and cheese in the crumble mix.

Roast spatchcocked chicken (or chicken breasts) with lemon, garlic and olives.

Yorkshire pudding with different sausages or add mustard, herbs or onion to the batter

Shepherd's or cottage pie - add flavourings to the mash or make with italian style meat sauce

Pork chops with an apple and sage topping.

Roast vegetable frittata.

Fillet steaks with soft polenta and blue cheese

Lemon and parsley fried fish fillet

Pork fillet with apples and cider, sauce or pork chops braised with apple, leeks and bacon.

Homemade ice creams - summer berries, pear and cinnamon, banana and honey with nuts,

Chocolate fondant puddings with mascarpone or a good ice cream.

Chocolate brownie with coffee ice cream or sauce.

Strudels, tarts, rise puddings - all can have different additions and flavourings - can also do savoury strudels and tarts with onion, spinach and feta, cheeses, potato/rosemary/goat's cheese

Toffee apple pudding, sticky maple pudding with dates and nuts, bread and butter pudding with apricots and brandy or using croissants or brioche instead of bread.

Looks like I've been thiking too much!! Sorry for the long list. Helen

Food Heroes.. He had some super ideas, especially using the local produce you are right Elizabeth. I remember him doing a wonderful Leek and something Canneloni, because he said his Cameraman was veggie and he had had some awful food on their travels from pubs ets.,
Are you listening out there!!!

Everything sounds great -
can't help on the re-heating / keeping side of the s&k (sorry) but please don't just re-heat some meat and stick puff pastry on the top, it would be lovely to have a proper steamed suet s&k pudding. I think it is great you are setting out to provide good quality food (whether it is traditional british or not), and if you are support local farmers, growers and suppliers, so much the better. If it were me in your position I would look at my supply base first, visit farmers markets, organic veg box suppliers etc. to find what was locally available and build a small range of recipes around those, and build on that by buying in from other areas. Your comments about salt-marsh lamb etc.etc. reminded me of 2 programs - the 2 fat ladies championed a lot of 'british' recipes using local suppliers and also Rick Stein - was it the food lovers guide or something the series when he went around britian finding local suppliers of good quality ingredients and cooking up things to suit..... he frequently commented that he expecting to see somthing on the local pub menu because an area was famed for a certain type of food but only found thai curries etc.etc. Why not buy his book or check out the website to get recipe and supplier ideas.
After all of this where is this pub going to be? can we all visit !?!

Rustie - Stop using all those rude words - What do you think this is - The Weekend ???

Think I will abstain from this now, think most of my suggestions, although traditional, were a bit common, and some that were ****'d disgusting.

Oh well can't win 'em all.

It's very much like Cod, same chunky bits, and 1 big bone in the middle (Correct me if I am wrong). I go to our fishmongers every week and ask him for something that is plentiful and not very bony every week and I get so much choice, but cannot remember halve of it.

Our fishy is excellent - Greenslades of Poole Quay (Well he is on the other side by Brittany Ferries/Condor Ferries side)

Steamed puddings. Fridge them as soon as possible - clingfilmed. They will hold a good 3 days. To reheat the only way is to steam them - any other way ruins and toughens the pastry. Improvise a steamer - eg. trivet in a wok with lid. Or buy a one of the cheap steamers on the market - £20-£35 - ish. Keep them in their individual moulds and cover top with clingfilm. Timing depends on size. Don't attempt to microwave them.

If you buy a steamer think about the oval ones which will also hold a whole fish. Good luck.
Jay Denson

Oh Yum Yum!! Rabbit, Wild Boar Sausages,Salt Marsh Lamb and Steak and Kidney Puddings.!! What do I have... Mushroom Strogganov Again.... or the ever present Quiche with salad when all my friends are having lovely vegetables! :(
When we go out for a meal we usually end up Italian (wonderful) or Indian (good selection) so we Veggies can have some choice. Think of all that lost business!!

now we know what your after. as for your sk puds, i dont think once steamed they would keep to long, suet can go tough! i would go with the cooking the meat and adding lids at last mo. as for common!! emm, u can always serve common food as u say with a twist, wild boar sausage with a herb and garlic mash, chilli, lasagne cooked with red wine,good tasty home made soups r a must,stuffed jacket spuds, leek and blue cheese,savoury quiche, pasta with home made sauces,chicken breast wrapped in bacon, pan fried, adding w wine,reduce, remove meat and keep warm, add stock, reduce again, garlic a knob of boursin cheese and simmer, then add double cream, season and thicken, goes well with new potatoes. hope thats a bit better. kim.

thanks for all the suggestions, but back to the original question ..it was steak and kidney puddings i wanted to know whats the best way to either keep them warm/or reheat them , if its possible, baring in mind its a pub menu. many thanks though for all your suggestions they are great ...some a little common ..i want to create that little something special, using top quality ingriedients..i think some of our traditional british food is having a surge and would like to use traditional recipes ...but maybe with a twist ..get your thinking hats on ...what about rabbit, salt marsh lamb, wild boar susages...keep them coming and thanks again...will bear the chutney man in mind as well...

Rustie - What kind of disgusting things are you saying ?

PS Where did you spot Dick ???

Cornish Pasties, Toad in the**** / Egg in a****, Shepherds Pie, Hotpot, Faggotts, Cheesey Parsnip Pie, Hearty Vegetable Soup.

How about puds? Spotted Dick, Jam Roly Poly, Syrup Pudding.

sorri, yes i agree with u dorset cottage, i live in dorset and there r not many vegi things on the menu these days, there r loads of things u can do, roast veg lasagne, pasta and tom sauce,baked spuds, beans chedder. to name a few. hope it all helps. good luck. kim.

Good point - Although I am not a veggie, I do think some of the food veggies are served up, you might as well just send straight to a pig trough.

People lack imagination sometimes - Indian Food is always good for veggies. Even I eat lots more veggie stuff at Indian Restaurants

My daughter works in a pub in Manchester while she is at Uni. We love going to see her there and the food is great, basically because there is a lot of choice for us Veggies. Good allround pub food but lots of choice for us, that is away from the usual veg lasagne or ubiquitous Pasta Bake. The Landlady makes it all herself and that makes the difference! and it's really good value as well.
I have lost count of the number of pubs that I've been in where my friends have a good pub meal and I'm left with the mushroom stroggonov...Again!!
Basically don't forget the veggies PLEASE

Or why not use another Fish (like Cod) Huss or something like that.

I used to have a pub and one of the most popular orders was ham egg and chips - but hand carved ham and real chips and bread and butter - they went mad for it!
Also a real good BLT or steak sarnie always went down well - using thick bacon and fresh baked bagettes

gosh i do so hope u do the good old pub grub thing, get so fed up going to pubs with posh menues as long as your arm, u , know its not fresh and i get put off straight away when theres so much choice, keep it simple!! individual bowls of chill with mouth watering garlic bread to mop it up. shepherds pie, lasagene and fresh bread, not piles of old salad,ploughmans, bangers and mash, jacket spud with all sorts of toppings, cod and chips, sk pud,homemade soup, individual hotpots,just a few ideas to get u thinking, sorri i got a little carried away, just wish all pubs changed back to the old ways. good luck,kim.

Sorry, I got carried away, I hate pizza over here - I make my own, and they are fantastic. But not as good as the pizzas I have had in Italy.

Kedgeree might be a good dish to serve up, quick and easy, make small batches of it though, as it has the dreaded KILLER RICE, and in a Catering place, don't reheat it. Not worth a closedown !!!

Make small batches of stuff, so at least you can sell out, and you are not stuck with stock.

Martino, the British pizza is an absolute travesty. You cannot imagine the muck that is served as pizza over here. The problem is the kids think that's what they should really taste like and can't relate to the real thing.
There are a few places where it is possible to get the real thing, made properly and baked in a wood fired oven; but in the main they are industrially produced and sold frozen. So-called toppings now include chicken tikka.....can you imagine that ?
You and I know how easy it is to make the real thing at home. It is even possible to buy the correct flour here now so there is no excuse. Bah!

Pizza?

I thought this was British, not Italian!

What about making Homemade Pizza's. Buy or make some bases and add sliced toms, cooked chicken, anchovies,mushrooms, olives etc and put in oven for 10 mins - Voila.You should be making 59% GP on all food as well, if you want to keep your kitchen running well. Get yourself Caterer and Hotelkeeper mag and check out some prices equipment etc.
CheersNick