Cooking: WIP Cauliflower Wings Recipe

Mostly in its final form, but I haven't made this in over a year and
my dog ate the last set of handwritten notes that never made it into
git, so committing this with a WIP note until I make it again and
figure out where I'm at with tuning the baking method.

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+***Work In Progress: Recipe is pretty good in its current form, but
+baking method could use some tweaking for better texture.***
+
+
+* Ingredients
+
+ - 1 Head Cauliflower, cut into florets
+ - 1 cup panko bread crumbs
+
+** Batter
+
+ - ¾ cup white wheat flour
+ - ¾ cup unsweetened plain almond milk
+ - ¼ cup water
+ - 2 tsp garlic powder
+ - 2 tsp smoked or plain paprika
+ - ¼ tsp fine ground sea salt
+ - ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
+
+** Sauce
+
+ - 1 cup Valentina extra hot sauce ("black label")
+ - 1 tbsp olive oil
+
+
+* Directions
+
+ 1. Cut cauliflower into small florets
+ 1. Put panko bread crumbs on plate
+ 1. Line baking sheet with parchment and pre-heat oven to 350°F
+ 1. [[https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/8896-experiment-bringing-out-the-best-in-garlic-powder][Proof garlic powder]]: combine garlic powder with 2tsp water and
+    allow it to stand for 5 minutes. This will ensure the enzymes
+    activate and are able to develop a better garlic flavor.
+ 1. Make batter: combine flour, almond milk, water, garlic powder,
+    paprika, salt, and pepper. Stir until thoroughly mixed (whisk to
+    remove chunks of flour if needed).
+ 1. Dip cauliflower florets in batter, ensuring each is fully coated
+ 1. Roll the coated cauliflower florets in panko
+ 1. Place cauliflower on parchment lined baking sheet (not touching,
+    single layer only) and bake for 25 minutes at 350°F. Keep oven on
+    after removing, these will be baked a second time.
+ 1. Make sauce: mix 1 Cup Valentina hot sauce and 1 Tbsp olive oil.
+ 1. Toss cauliflower and sauce in large bowl until all florets are
+    evenly coated.
+ 1. Place cauliflower back onto parchment lined baking sheet, and bake
+    for an additional 20 minutes at 350°F
+ 1. Eat!
+
+* Notes
+
+** Inspirations
+
+ - https://veganheaven.org/recipe/cauliflower-buffalo-wings/
+
+** Made
+
+*** 2020-01-25
+
+Spiked sauce with 1Tbsp el yucateco xxx. Wings were pretty spicy; fine
+with ranch, but could probably do without being spiked with xxx for
+people with lower spice tolerance (like ... Kristen).
+
+1/2 to 3/4 cup hot sauce would have been plenty, there was a lot left
+over and the wings were soaked a bit too much IMO.
+
+"Skin" was less crunchy than promised. Can probably ramp up second
+cook time to 400°F or 425°F... or turn the convenction fan on for the
+second bake.
+
+Panko is not optional, at least with parchment paper. Without it, the
+batter on the bottom detaches from the cauliflower. Also panko on a
+plate didn't work out very well, use something with sides next time
+(maybe the red ceramic cooking dish).
+
+Might want to use a dash of msg instead of salt in the batter: could
+make things a bit more savory, and at least the valentina hot sauce
+adds PLENTY of salt (one batch of wings with 1 cup of hot sauce is
+150% the daily limit for salt...). Start with 1/8 tsp.
+
+Cumin might work well for the batter... but it could just be that I
+really like cumin.
+
+So for next experiments:
+
+ - use less valentina (1/2 cup or 3/4 cup)
+ - try wire rack instead of parchment (put parchment under rack to
+   catch drips)
+ - use convection for second roasting to see if that makes the crust
+   crispier.
+ - look into roasting the cauliflower during the first part, since
+   that should make it taste richer. looks like it'd be done around
+   450°F for under 20 minutes, but does batter burn at those temps /
+   would batter inhibit roasting?
+ - maybe some experimentation with increasing the amount of oil; a lot
+   of other recipes are showing 1/3 cup butter/oil to 2/3 cup
+   sauce.
+
+*** 2020-04-03
+
+Been a bit... decided to just change the sauce since I don't remember
+much about the last batch.
+
+**** Changes
+
+***** batter
+
+ - replace 1/4 tsp salt with 1/8 tsp msg and 1/8 tsp fine ground sea
+   salt
+ - forgot to add pepper
+
+***** sauce
+
+ - 1/2 cup valentina
+ - 1 Tbsp el yucateco chipotle sauce
+ - 1 tsp el yucateco xxx
+
+Can try wire rack next time.
+
+**** Tasting Notes
+
+1/2 cup of valentina and then a couple tablespoons of additions worked
+great. not being over soaked in sauce let the wings crisp a bit
+better. also, 1 tbsp olive oil is a lot more in a half cup than a
+whole cup...
+
+I don't think it is important to try cooking these on a wire rack
+next, and that test can be bumped back a bit. Instead of focusing on
+crust crispiness (adequate, not that these aren't super soaked in
+sauce and they actually **can** crisp), focus on making the cauliflower
+richer: increase the temp of the first roast.
+
+*** 2020-04-14
+
+**** Changes from base recipe
+
+***** batter
+
+ - replace 1/4 tsp salt with 1/8 tsp msg and 1/8 tsp fine ground sea
+   salt
+
+***** sauce
+
+ - 1/2 cup valentina
+ - 1 Tbsp el yucateco chipotle sauce
+ - 1 tsp el yucateco xxx
+
+Messing with temperature instead of wire rack.
+
+Found at least once recipe for battered regular wings
+(https://cafedelites.com/crispy-buffalo-chicken-wings-baked/) that was
+at 450°F, so I think it will survive the increased temp fine.
+
+http://www.kitchenriffs.com/2012/01/roast-cauliflower.html :
+
+  You can roast cauliflower (or any vegetable, for that matter) at
+  oven temperatures ranging from 300 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. I
+  prefer 400 – 425 for cauliflower. It takes longer to cook at lower
+  temperatures, and at higher temperatures it has a tendency to char
+  somewhat (which I regard as a good thing, although not always
+  something I want).
+
+  But oven temperature affects how quickly cauliflower roasts.  At 500
+  degrees, it could take as little as 35 minutes.  At 300 degrees, it
+  may need a good hour and a quarter (maybe even longer).  Start
+  testing the cauliflower at the 30-minute mark, and keep testing
+  every 10 – 15 minutes until you determine that it’s done.
+
+**** new baking schedule
+
+Idea here is: roast at a lower temp before we add oil, then give it a
+stronger roasting once the oily sauce is on it.
+
+ - 25 minutes @ 350°F
+ - 20 minutes @ 425°F
+
+**** Tasting Notes
+
+For next time, maybe try 2Tbsp oil