Try our new menu entrees and win Steeler Tickets: Update!

Update! We have a winner!!!

My lovely assistant and bar patron, Chris, randomly chose our Steeler ticket winner over lunch and a margarita from among customer feedback surveys. These surveys focused on our new menu items. And the winner is.....

Congratulations, Travis! Travis won Steeler tickets and he and his girlfriend, Ginger, will be cheering the Steelers on to victory this Sunday.

Travis tried the Diablo Rellenos and commented, "So good! The peppers were not too hot, allowing the chorizo and cheese to be appreciated."

John and I got to meet and chat with Travis and Ginger Tuesday night when they visited the Inn for dinner and to pick up their tickets. A super cool couple. Enjoy the game, guys!

Thank you to everyone, who took the time to taste-test and provide written feedback for our new menu items. We appreciate your input and continually strive to serve you the better.

Please continue to fill out our customer feedback surveys when you visit the Inn....you may be our next winner.

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 I've got some exciting news for you. Based on your input and suggestions, we've taken off the items that you just weren't that into and added the ones that you love. Click here to see the new fall/winter menu.
Come on out this weekend and give our new menu items a try. You could win Steeler Tickets. Read below to see how.

New menu highlights:
* New side dish options - green beans and fajita veggies
* Cornbread with honey butter
* Tamale and Empanadas of the Day
* Black Bean Burger
* Hot Wing Taco

New house specialties based on your favorite weekend specials:

Diablo RellenosHouse roasted poblano peppers stuffed with chorizo and potato. Topped with melted Jack and salsa. Served with rice. 14.95

Chorizo Mac 'n Cheese
A delicious Mexi-American fusion of cheeses, chorizo, and peppers topped with panko bread crumbs. Served with fresh- baked corn bread. 13.95

Steak or Chicken Tostada
Crispy corn tortillas topped with black beans, grilled steak or chicken, cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole. chicken 13.95 steak 14.95

Taquitos Dinner
Spiced chicken & cheese rolled in a corn tortilla, deep-fried crispy with a chipotle ranch dipping sauce. Served with two sides. 12.95

Win 2 Tickets to the Steeler Game on November 10th!
Each time you order one of our new menu entrees, fill out a survey giving us your feedback. We'll randomly pull a winner from these surveys on 11/4.The more new items you try from now until 11/4, the more times you'll be entered to win.

Thank you for your input in helping us to decide which items to remove and add to our fall/winter menu. Please continue to provide your input so that we can serve you better.

Weekend Specials! Pumpkin Margaritas, Grilled Salmon and More....

Tasty Starters

• Sopa de Albóndigas del Abuelo (Grandpa’s Meatball Soup)
• Spicy Chicken Empanadas
• Hand rolled Tamales

• Cheese Cilantro

Red Chile & Honey Glazed Grilled Salmon
Salmon lovers enjoy this delicious entree with Southwest roasted potatoes, sauteed veggie medley and honeydew. 15.95

 

Dessert

John made homemade Ice Cream: 

Pumpkin or Mocha Chocolate Chip

Go Penns! Labatt Drafts just 2.50 during the Games

Happy National Taco Day

Can you believe we Americans ate 4.5 billion tacos in 2012?  According to National Taco Day.com, "That's 490,000 miles of tacos, which could take you to the moon and back or, if you prefer, could, at 775-million pounds, equal the weight of two Empire State Buildings.

Join us for National Taco Day. Enjoy your favorite taco. Mine is the San Carlos Fisherman Tacos.  John likes shredded chicken with pico de gallo and fresh cilantro. We've made you a couple special tacos too.

Tequila Lime Chicken Tacos
Flour tortillas filled with delicious tequila lime marinated chicken and topped with lettuce and pico de gallo. Served with a spicy red cherry pepper rice and a spring salad with avocado and orange dressing.13.95

Taco Wing Tacos
Flour tortillas stuffed with shredded chicken that has been tossed in our signature hot wing sauce and topped with lettuce, tomato, blue cheese, shredded carrots and celery. This was a big hit last time we offered it. Served with a spicy red cherry pepper rice and a spring salad with avocado and orange dressing.12.95

We also have some tasty starters:
• Spicy Chicken Empanadas
• Cheese Cilantro
• Hand rolled Tamales
• Tortilla Soup

John made homemade Mocha Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.

Featured Beers on Tap: Blue Point Toasted Lager, Dogfish Head Punkin, and Yards

Learn more about the history of tacos here: http://www.nationaltacoday.com/

Tequila of the Month: Sauza Blue

Last Call on Pumking, Fiesta Crab Cakes & Reyna Foods Chile Festival

We've got a busy weekend filled with tastiness for you.
Here are the highlights!

We will be at Reyna's Second Annual Pepper Festival. 
If you are attending stop by and say, "hi" to us.

Feliz día de la Independencia, México

Feliz día de la Independencia, México.
Join us at the Franklin Inn today for lunch or dinner to help our Mexican Neighbors celebrate. Then, let's keep the party going tonight as we cheer the Steelers on to victory against the Bengals.

Here's the line up:

Menu Features:
Hand made tamales and empanadas
Cheese Cilantro
Taquitos and Stir Fry Green Beans

Featured Tequila:
Herradurra
Horns Up Flight (Hornitos Plata, Reposado, Añejo)
House Infused tequilas: pineapple, peach, blueberry. 
(Chris is also working in a Mango Jalapeno which might be done.)

 Happy Hour - 4pm to 6pm
(Available in the bar or dining room)
A great selection of Half Price Appetizers
Half Price Beer Drafts
Discounted Margaritas

Bar Special - 7pm to 10pm (Bar only)
Dollar Tacos
40 cent Hot Wings

Independence Day (Día de la Independencia) is a Mexican holiday to celebrate the “cry of independence” on September 16, 1810, which staked a revolt against the Spaniards. This event is known as El Grito de la Independencia or Fiestas Patrias (National Holiday). Similar to our 4th of July, this holiday is celebrated in Mexico on September 15th and 16th. It is their biggest national holiday even more so than Cinco de Mayo (that's right!). The history goes back to September 16th in 1810, when Father Hidalgo rang the church bells in his church in Dolores and called on the people to take up arms to gain independence from Spain. That same bell is now rung each year. On the night of the 15th, the President of Mexico comes out on the balcony of the National Palace and rings Father Hidalgo's bell. He repeats some of Hidalgo's words, starting with: "Mexicans, Long Live Mexico!" (¡Mexicanos, que Viva México!). The crowds gather in the Main Square, and answer; "¡Viva!", as he waves the flag from the balcony. At the end of the third ¡Viva Mexico! the crowd goes wild waving flags, ringing noisemakers and spraying foam. Then fireworks light up the sky as the crowd cheers. After this, there are fireworks, music and a great fiesta that lasts into the night. This ceremony is repeated in cities and towns all over Mexico. The Governor, or the Municipal President gives the Cry of Dolores. In foreign lands, the Ambassador or Consul does it. Houses are decorated and flags are placed in windows and on cars. The next morning, on September 16th, most cities in Mexico have a big parade.

You can find more information regarding this holiday at the following links:
www.mexonline.com/mexican-independence.htm
Wikipedia
History.com 

We hope to see you today sometime!

Tequila of the Month: Herradura

Horns Up Flight at the Inn

Spicy Chickpeas and Eggplant...Yum!

A bit of a Mexican-Indian-Italian Fusion. My favorite cuisines!

The inspiration for this dish was two beautiful eggplants left from the last two weeks of my CSA box and a couple other miscellaneous unused veggies from this week's box (one red onion, two over ripe tomatoes, and a bunch of cilantro). My older children would have probably been happy with a cheesy slathered eggplant parmigiana dish but I wanted to try something different. Honestly, the gluten free baked "fried" zucchini with nutritional yeast cheese was a flop the week before. So, this dish had to be good or my family would be wary of  Mom's next adventure. It also had to be "Julia-friendly" due to my youngest daughter's multiple food allergies. I remembered making a curried cauliflower with chick peas that turned out great so I thought I'd add some of what I enjoyed about the curry recipe. This is what I ended up with. It turned out amazing, so I thought I'd share it with you.

 Ingredients

*  two beautiful egg plants from my CSA box (roasted, skinned and cubed)
* 1 red onion (would have happily used more)
* 1 large clove of garlic, minced plus a left over piece of roasted garlic
* 1.5 tablespoons of curry powder
* 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
* 1 can of chick peas (drained)
* tablespoon of lime juice
* couple pinches of salt
* couple shakes of crushed red pepper
* Cholula Hot Sauce (my favorite hot sauce!)
* two tablespoons of vegan margarine (so Julia could eat it. Real butter would have been good too.)
* two overripe tomatoes cubed (just because I had them)
* bunch of fresh cilantro

My on the fly procedure
My beautiful eggplants were roasted for 45 minutes at 400. While waiting for the eggplants to cool so I could handle them, I sauteed my red onion until browned in olive oil. I like onions so I would have used more but this was what I had. After reducing the heat to medium in went the garlic, curry powder, and tomato paste. I stirred it all until the onions were well coated. Next to join the party were the chick peas, a quarter cup of water, lime juice, salt, crushed black pepper, and a few dashes of cholula hot sauce.These goodies shimmered for about five minutes with an occasional stir. Then, I put in two tablespoons of Earth Balance Dairy free Soy free butter. More simmering and stirring until the butter melted (Earth Balance doesn't melt as quickly as regular butter.) I put a few more dashes of Cholula, a couple shakes of crushed red pepper, and a bunch of chopped cilantro.  I had to careful with my Grace. She doesn't enjoy spicy food like the rest of us. Yummy!!!

This dish is so flavorful. Even if you don't like eggplant you may want to try it. The  Eggplant could easily be traded for whatever veggies you have on hand: potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower. It would be great served over rice or quinoa or with baked shredded chicken. However, we ate it as is for lunch before we went to my best friend's birthday pool party where we gorged on hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips and birthday cake for dinner (when in Rome).  But, hey....we had a healthy lunch anyway.  I would make this again in a heart beat (and I will with other veggies). I also suggested to John that we adapt it to accompany one of our off  menu specials at the Franklin Inn.