How to cook sans stove

[chefjack]

Hello Egulleters,

Heres an interesting question for the pro-cooks out there... I am helping a restaurant owner as a consultant they have no hood, no stove, and no fryer. Trying to create a wine bar menu to create better night-time sales, which is little or none for this restaurant is a coffee house type place. So my question is how to create a fun menu that can be made without a stove or creating too much smoke to be without a hood ventillation. I thought about pizzettas or cheese plates.... antipasti, maybe a roast that could be sliced to order and rewarmed, ie duck, pork etc. Any ideas (I don't need actually recipes but maybe some exciting ideas on how to cook without a stove top!)

[JayBassin]

How about little sandwiches? Small (1-1/2") buns baked off premises. Serve good quality sliced roast beef, roast turkey, ham. Also miniature cheese tartlettes, riblets, chicken wings all cooked off premises and warmed in a microwave.

[MelissaH]

I'm most definitely not a pro chef, but I did plenty of cooking without a stove back in the days when I lived in a dorm and the only cooking appliances permitted were hot pots and small refrigerators. No microwaves, toasters, or anything else.

Or what about some tapas-like little plates, which could be prepared elsewhere and then either served cold or heated in a microwave? (I like that idea!) Maybe a Spanish tortilla? Bread with ham? Potato salad? Seasoned chickpeas, roasted or not? Cured olives? Slices of pate? You can make more-than-decent bacon in a microwave; this time of year, BLTs go with everything.

Get a single burner of some kind (standard electric, portable butane, or induction) and set up a pot with a steamer basket for seafood and maybe vegetables too? Actually, I think someone makes an electric steamer. (Come to think of it, you could even do shrimp or fresh pasta in a wide-mouthed hot pot!) With a rice cooker, you have the ability to make rice to go with. Get a panini press and you can do all kinds of toasted sandwiches: use your imagination! If you can't find decent bread to bring in, you could investigate acquiring a bread machine. Heck, you could even get an electric griddle and do pancakes (blini with caviar, anyone?) or acquire a waffle iron. A George Foreman-type grill may be another viable option, although in my opinion the best use for one of those is to cook the frozen slices of garlic bread from the grocery store.

Soup or stew made in a crockpot?

MelissaH

[Shalmanese]

I second the idea of using portable induction hobs. Some of the top restaurants in the world are using them so why shouldn't you?

[Pam R]

Since many snacky-type foods are fried - look into a countertop fry unit. They make models that do not need to be vented - it's all self contained. You can also get finishing ovens - they really just brown - like a salamander, but not. Convection ovens don't need hoods or venting. Don't they make home versions now that just sit on a counter? You know - the small ones. If you can get any type of oven (even a small one) you will have many more options.

Is hummus, bruschetta, etc. something they'd consider or is that off target?

[dvs]

panini. panini. panini.

eot.

[Mayhaw Man]

ceviche, gazpacho, smoked salmon with all of the side, caviar, sushi of various sorts, crudite with interesting dips, all kinds of great cheeses with breads of various sorts, various kinds of fruit and melon soups

There are lots and lots of interesting dishes that never see a stove. You might also consider many of the things that come out of some of the more interesting raw food kitchens- Raw Food Recipes

[KarenS]

Get a small convection oven- you can do so much with them. A torch can also be used for so much- broiling oysters, heating foie gras etc... One or two burners will be plenty for you. My friend worked a "restaurant" on the beach with a toaster oven and a propane torch for 6 months- before the restaurant was finished. I love my delonghi convection oven (with rotisserie). I just keep the door open!

[jackal10]

Soup and a roll;

Good cheeses and breads;

Ham carved off the bone + salad

Salt beef sandwiches (need a hot carve station)

Baked potaoes + trimmings (cheese, beans, etc)

Sweets

Of course if you could put in a wood fired oven, or even a fireplace, then there are losts of exciting things...

[cdh]

Wine bar? Gotta concentrate on the cheeses... such a leg up in the marketing too, if they can latch onto the wine and cheese meme that already resides in everybody's head. Find a good supplier of interesting cheeses, a good bakery for some breads, and write up a menu-like booklet with recommended pairings of wines with cheeses, and I'd bet they'd sell. Don't clutter the menu up with too much extraneous stuff. Keep a variety of cheeses, and rotate a few of them seasonally or keep a slot open for new stuff that's interesting. There's enough variety amongst the various cheeses that keeping something on hand to please just about any palate would be easy.

[lancastermike]

Not sure about Georgia, put in Pennsylvania and food prepared on premisis means your kitchen needs to be approved and inspected by the state. I would check into this before you do anything. Many of the ideas folks have mentioned would not pass inspection here in PA

[Dave the Cook]

Not that there aren't a lot of good suggestions here, but I think Chris's cheese ideas especially are well worth exploring. I'm apprehensive about being able to maintain a worthy selection in Flowery Branch, but you don't need the very best and most rare, you just need good matches. One nice spin-off is that you can create tasting events, for which you can charge a premium, as well as gather data on what your customers like and want.

Something else you might consider is sous vide: tender cubes of short rib, salmon, lobster; infused baby vegetables; exotic meatballs. Sous vide doesn't require a hood, and the medium is water, hence no fume or disposal issues.

[rooftop1000]

I once worked at a "lunch counter" we had an electric griddle(commercial)....double hot plate, soup warmer kettle, and a home convection microwave combo....This was in an office building lobby with a bathroom fan vented to the parking garage....the only time we really created any smoke was cleaning the grill hot or laying 2 pounds of bacon on it

tracey

and.....we passed the fire inspection because there were no open flame appliances

Edited August 22, 2005 by rooftop1000 (log)

[chefjack]

Wine bar?  Gotta concentrate on the cheeses... such a leg up in the marketing too, if they can latch onto the wine and cheese meme that already resides in everybody's head.  Find a good supplier of interesting cheeses, a good bakery for some breads, and write up a menu-like booklet with recommended pairings of wines with cheeses, and I'd bet they'd sell.  Don't clutter the menu up with too much extraneous stuff.  Keep a variety of cheeses, and rotate a few of them seasonally or keep a slot open for new stuff that's interesting.  There's enough variety amongst the various cheeses that keeping something on hand to please just about any palate would be easy.

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I thank all of you for your wonderful suggestions, I have this so far for a menu, all in small plate format"

Summer Antipasti - roasted asparagus, fresh mozz, prosciuto and evoo

Tomato Salad - slice vine ripe tomato, tarragon vinegar essence, herb salad

Sliced Roasted Pork Tenderloin - roasted red onion yellow corn relsih and Saba

Pizzetta du jour

Roasted Duck Pancakes - hoisin sauce, scallions, cucumber and sesame

Cheese - possibly starting soon when I get Atlanta foods to get going with their abundance of great cheeses

Well that's just a start on oven only cooking, thought about sous vide however have to invest in the cryovac machine and not ready to invest just yet. They have a flat top type thing (electric) would love to sear some tuna but don't think it would get hot enough.

Cheers all and thanks