Sunday, September 5, 2021

Restaurant menu draft

Breakfast

  • banana muffins (pumpkin, apple, cinnamon raisin, zucchini)
  • breakfast egg taco
  • waffles w/maple butter cream
  • potato hash
  • sausage dipping stix/maple syrup
  • baked beans
  • fried mush 
  • bagel sandwich
  • corn bread w/honey
  • scotch eggs
  • yogurt
  • apple eggbread casserole with cream cheese frosting
  • toast with fried egg & avo
  • fry bread/pancakes
  • french toast
  • fruit chad salad
  • banana cereal
  • smoothies
  • paprika bratkartolfn with curry ketchup
  • al pastor chicken quesadillas

Brunch

  • shrimp cocktail
  • salmon patties

Lunch

  • cucumber salad
  • arbys copycat roast beef sandwhich
  • butternut squash soup
  • broccoli soup
  • W. African peanut
  • Ramen
  • Tomato soup with cheddar bay biscuits
  • chipotle chicken stuffed sweet potato skins
  • italian sub  
  • ceasar salad
  • nixed salad
  • blue cheese salad
  • fish sticks
  • german potato salad
  • ranch potatoes and beans
  • falafel with roasted veggie dip

Dinner

  • taco pizza
  • chana masala with mango chutney and rice and indian spinach with yogurt
  • german cream sauce pork chops
  • BBQ ribs
  • buffalo wings
  • orange chicken
  • seafood cream and bacon pasta 
  • mac and cheese
  • humus and sundried tomato pasta
  • poor italian spaghetti
  • lasagna
  • anna's ragu calzones
  • stuffed peppers
  • rice with lemon and peas
  • hungarian sour cream potato casserole
  • spiced hiking tuna rice
  • carmelized sweet potatoes
  • charred asparagus
  • BBQ blackeyed peas
  • crockpot BBQ
  • mayo breaded baked chicken
  • 18th century fried chicken
  • Hungarian style meatballs
  • Chicken-onion meatballs with indian butternets
  • apple and fruit/raisin stuffed acorn squash
  • spicy green beans
  • zucchini boats
  • steamed broccoli with lemon oil and S&P
  • pan fried zucchini
  • collard greens with bacon vinegar and moi-moi

Snacks

  • kale chips
  • Indian onion fritters
  • pepper relish dip
  • korean jerkey
  • Nigerian peanuts

Desserts

  • chocolate chip cookies
  • pb icecream cheesecake
  • cheesecake

Taco Pizza

Chebe pizza crust

Re-fried white beans (with brown sugar, "jack and the bean dip" spice blend, red hot chili flakes, and paprika)

Taco-enchilada ground beef (with crushed tomatoes)

Cheese blend- mozz or cheddar

Tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, taco sauce, other toppings (olives, green onions, etc)

The secret to working with cassava flour

Working with cassava flour can be tricky if you want it to come out "dry" like wheat flour.  It actually IS POSSIBLE.  Cassava is used to make real bread in Nigeria, not that gummy crap like in South America.

1) Never cook/bake higher than 335F.  I was told 325F is ideal, but it cooks slow and I've found in most cases 335F still gets it cooked dry and saves a lot of time.  An oven will get you a more consistent and even temperature than a fry pan.  If it is too dry, it forms a gelatin like structure that appears uncooked.  Cooking it longer will not make a difference. 

2a) When mixing a non-yeast dough, there is a very particular order.  First add oil or butter and mix until completely incorporated (it is really hard to do with utensils.... gotta use your hand).  Then add eggs (completely incorporating).  Finally add liquid (doesn't need much).  Add as little as possible to get it to stick together but stay dry.  In Nigeria, they are convinced dry milk is a critical ingredient.  I don't tolerate casein, so I couldn't tell you.  Occasionally I'll add a tsp of amaranth flour in hopes it does something similar.  It goes in before the liquid.  I haven't figured out yeast recipes yet.

2b) When making batter, it is a bit more forgiving as long as it is no more than 1/3 of the flour, or 2/3 with tapioca.  It also needs a major boost to get air in it to get a nice crumb.  Add way more baking powder than you think is necessary, and then add a little baking soda and vinegar too.  

2c) You can cheat at cassava flour recipes with a ridiculous amount of sugar that creates almost a caramelized crumb structure (in brownies, cookies, etc)

3) Let sit for 20-30 min.  The carbohydrate structure of cassava traps liquid.  This is a good thing in the long term because it keeps baked goods moist.  It also makes it very very difficult to bake through.  Letting it rest in the final shape you are hoping for helps.