Cooking: WIP Cauliflower Wings Recipe

[clinton/website/site/unknownlamer.org.git] / Cauliflower Wings.muse

***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