Restaurant recipes

How do I go about getting a recipe from a restaurant? I know there are lots of copycat recipes online but I never seem to find the one I'm looking for and if I do find it, it tastes aweful.

I was thinking maybe I could pretend to have an allergy to some foods and I could say "what's in it?" LOL But that makes me a liar so not so fond of that idea.

Anyone have an idea???

I would just ask the waitress. When I had that job I was always ready and willilng to discuss it!! It wouldn't be awkward or anything, I'm sure it is something they get a lot...I did.

I would definitely ask!

I have a site that I use from time to time let me see if I can find the link.
ok here you go http://www.recipelink.com/copycat.html hope this helps.

What recipes are you looking for?

Let's see... Pizza from any pizza restaurant. Shroeder's (burger chef) ham & cheese sandwich. Pizza King has a sandwich that for the life of me, I cannot think of the name right now. It's sort of like spaghetti sauce & meat on a sub....almost like BBQ, but not. Oh that's it, Texas BBQ. And the REAL REAL recipe for taco bell meat. I've tried about 10 copycat recipes now and they're all wrong...and flat out gross honestly.

Did you try out that link that I gave you? If so did you find what you were looking for?

barbiedoll1973_tn said:

Did you try out that link that I gave you? If so did you find what you were looking for?

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I'd used that many times before. That was the place I got most of the recipes from that came out aweful. Plus their layout irritates me. LOL But I DO appreciate you taking the time to post it! Have you found any on there that actually came out tasting like the restaurant's food??

rt49andellis said:

I'd used that many times before. That was the place I got most of the recipes from that came out aweful. Plus their layout irritates me. LOL But I DO appreciate you taking the time to post it! Have you found any on there that actually came out tasting like the restaurant's food??

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Well I have only made one thing from there lol sorry that I was no help.

My mom used to have 2 cookbooks full of restuarant recipes & name-brand foods, like Reese's Cups & Oreo cookies. She managed to lose the books in one of her many moves, and I can't remember the name or the author. I do know that the books had a guy on the cover & he looked like a complete goof. Hmmmm, now this is going to bug me until I remember the name.

I agree, I'm not a fan of the copycat sites. They're never the same.

A few times I have been friends with people who worked at a particular restaurant and they gave me the recipe. Also some cooking magazines (I'm thinking of Bon Appetit in particular) feature restaurant recipes that they have been given.

phoenyxstarr said:

My mom used to have 2 cookbooks full of restuarant recipes & name-brand foods, like Reese's Cups & Oreo cookies. She managed to lose the books in one of her many moves, and I can't remember the name or the author. I do know that the books had a guy on the cover & he looked like a complete goof. Hmmmm, now this is going to bug me until I remember the name.

Click to expand...

I did a search on ebay for something like what you described. Found a few books but they were all dated to like the early 80's and no goofy lookin men on the front. LOL

And Barbiedoll, don't apologize! I appreciate the good try.

try Todd Wilbur....he put out those books....can't remember the proper names - LOL - comes with age..........

Todd Wilbur has recipes at topsecretrecipes.com. There are lots of free "clone" recipes from restaurants here and lots of recipes that have a charge to view, I'm thinking 99 cents each. I don't have enough posts yet to post the link directly here, sorry.

The book that I have,
"Top Secret Restaurant Recipes", Written by Tod Wilbur. Came out in 1997.
Website is listed as Top Secret Recipes. Taken off the introduction on the 1st page.

No recipe is going to turn out exactly like what you may be served in a restaurant. Heck, I don't think I have ever had 2 Big Macs ever taste exactly the same, lol. Specially in the past 10 years. Even with the recipe of 2 all "beef patties", special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. And the special sauce is no big deal to make. Making it at home can taste a million times better or it can be a flop because you didn't use ground cardboard over processed beef and press it into patties. The texture was just different so the recipe didn't taste like what you are use to getting.

Even in top quality steak establishments, order a steak made with a theme and sometimes the seasonings are just right and other times the sesonings for the same steak can gag you. Order a pizza from your favorite Italian joint. Sometimes the sauce can be perfect, the crust excellent, toppings fresh. Then there will be the time that same joint will have something that taste like it had been under a heat lamp for hours, the crust was to spongy, the sauce was greasy, the toppings didn't have any flavor.. Time for another pizza joint or was it just a bad night?

Deep-Dish Pizza Dough
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105° to 115°)
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Vegetable cooking spray
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 cups chopped green pepper
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
1-8 ounce can black olives-halved lengthwise
1 clove garlic, crushed
2-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1-1/4 cups (5 ounces) shredded mozzerella cheese
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded provolone cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Dough (Food Processor method):
Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl, and let stand 5 minutes.
Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal,and salt, and pulse 2 times or until blended. With processor running, slowly add yeast mixture and oil through food chute, and process until dough forms a ball. Process 1 additional minute.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 or 5 times.
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top.

Cover dough, and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide dough in half; roll each half into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray, and sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon cornmeal. Place dough in prepared pans; press dough up sides of pans.

Cover and let rise 20 minutes or until puffy.
Top and bake according to recipe directions.

Yield 2 (9-inch) deep-dish pizza crusts.

Prepare Deep-Dish Pizza Dough, and set aside.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pepper, onion, and garlic, and sauté 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, oregano, and salt; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat; cool.

Spread half of tomatoes over each prepared crust, and top each with half of vegetable mixture. Sprinkle mozzerella cheese and provolone cheese, then olive halves evenly over pizzas. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over top of pizza.*

Bake at 475° for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°, and bake 15 additional minutes.

Cut each pizza into 8 wedges.

*Note: If you prefer you can sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the mozzerella and provelone cheeses and then add olives.

Gino's East Original Deep Dish Pizza

1 Cup warm water
1 Package yeast
3/4 Cup cornmeal (see instructions)
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon sugar
1/4 Cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2-1/2 to 3 cups Gold Medal flour
.
Preparing the cornmeal One secret to making Gino's East pizza is getting the cornmeal ground up fine enough so that you don't have a grainy texture to the crust. To do this, take 3/4 cup Quaker Oats corn meal and grind it up in a coffee grinder. You have to grind it as fine as is humanly possible. Then take the ground corn meal and sift it into your mixer bowl. Getting the cornmeal into solution and proofing the yeast Another secret to Gino's East pizza is to get the cornmeal dissolved as well as possible (to prevent the grainy crust.) To do this, put the warm water in the mixing bowl with the corn meal, and add the yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and melted butter.

Using the whisk attachment (if you have a kitchen aid mixer), stir the mixture for 10 minutes. Making the dough ball. Add one cup of flour to the mixer and use the dough hook to mix it up well. Add the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time until you can handle and kneed the dough without it sticking to your hands. You may not need the whole 3 cups of flour, or you may need more. You will have to use your judgement. Just remember not to let the dough get too hard, or to have it too soft (will stick you your fingers).
Next take the dough out of the kitchen aid mixer and kneed it by hand on a countertop. If you have made the dough right you will not have to put any
flour down, or you will only need a minimal amount. Kneed the dough for 3 to 5 minutes. Again this is a judgement call. Letting the dough rise Oil the inside of your mixer bowl. Place the dough ball in the bowl and cover the bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap. Put the bowl in the oven.
Here is another secret take a skillet and boil some water in it. Put the pan of boiling
water on the bottom shelf of the oven and the mixer bowl on the top. The dough will rise much faster in the warm humid air. Let the dough rise until doubled in size. This might take anywhere from 1/2 to 1-1/2 hours.
Forming your crust:
After the dough has risen, punch down the dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough on the counter and flatten it with your hand. Then use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a uniform circle 1/4 inch thick. Take your dough and carefully place it into the pan. Form the crust by pinching the dough 1-1/2 inch up the side of the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let
the dough rise 1/2 hour or until your oven is preheated to 475. As an aside, Gino's probably puts either butter or olive oil in the bottom of the pan before it puts the dough in. You can do this if you like but I don't. A word on deep dish pizza pans Gino's East uses a 12" wide by 2" deep circular pan with straight up and down sides to bake their medium pizzas. Let me say this again, the sides of the pan are straight up and down, not angled like a pie pan. You can mess with a clay pan or a pan with fancy holes in it or
some weird convection device but then you won't be making Gino's East pizza. A nice substitute is a cake pan with straight sides. This recipe makes
enough dough for a 12" pizza. A half recipe will make the perfect amount of dough for a 9" cake pan.

Topping your pizza After you let the crust rise 1/2 hour in the pan, melt some butter and use a basting brush to coat the crust surface with melted butter.

The first thing you will put into the pan will be the cheese. Place an even layer of cheese 1/2 to 3/4 inches deep in the pan.

The next thing you will put into the pan will be the meat. Layer the meat spaced evenly over the top of the cheese. Don't put too much meat on. Too much of a good thing can be bad.

Next spread a layer of tomato sauce on top of the meat. Don't put too much sauce on or you will end up with a soggy pizza.

The last thing is to sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top of the sauce. A word on cheese The cheese makes the pizza. Use good quality mozzarella. Don't bother with the low-fat cheese or your pizza will. I like to use Kraft's 4 Cheese Pizza cheese.

A word on pepperoni Gino's uses a little local butcher to get its pepperoni. It tastes really unique. I used to remember the name of the place, but it has slipped my mind. I think I remember walking by it on Clark Street down by Illinois Street. It sounded something like Inichi or Anuchini Brother's. You won't be able to buy meat from this place though, so substitute. The closest substitute is Hillshire Farm's Sliced Pepperoni.

A word on the sauce This is of extreme importance! Buy a can of whole peeled plum tomatoes in tomato sauce. For a 12" deep dish pizza you need a 35 ounce can. No fancy spices, no additives! Place the tomatoes and sauce into a bowl and crush them up with your hands. This is fun! Crush the tomatoes up until they are broken apart into fairly small pieces. Next you add salt. Start with a tablespoon and taste it. Keep adding salt and tasting until it is to your liking. Gino's sauce is nice and salty. The only other thing you might want to add would be a tiny amount of basil. Fresh is best. Absolutely do not add more than 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil to a 35 ounce can of tomatoes. My favorite brand of plumb tomatoes is tuttorosso Italian Style Tomatoes with Fresh Basil. Ingredients: whole
peeled plumb tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, calcium chloride, citric acid, basil leaf. Baking the pizza Your oven must be at 475 exactly before you put the pizza in. USE A HANG IN OVEN THERMOMETER! MOST OVENS ARE OFF BY AT LEAST 50 DEGREES!!! IN OTHER WORDS YOUR OVEN IS OFF NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PAID FOR IT!! Bake the pizza at 475 for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 400 and bake the pizza an additional 10 to 25 minutes until the crust is golden brown, and areas of browned cheese start to poke up through the sauce. Let the pizza cool 5 minutes and then serve.


NOTES : Makes enough dough for a 12" round deep dish pizza pan. 1/2 recipe is the perfect amount for a 9" round cake pan.

NORTHERN ITALIAN PIZZA DOUGH

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour plus extra for kneading the dough.
1 1/2 cups warm water
2/3 of a cake of cake yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Crumble the cake yeast into the 1-1/2 cups of warm water, stir and set aside. Stir the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the olive oil and the water/yeast mixture to the flour, mix by hand until you have a dough ball. Knead the dough on a flat, floured surface for 5-10 minutes. Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly, and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until dough has doubled in size.

Split dough into halves (for 2 large crusts) or fourths (for 4 individual sized crusts) and roll each section into a ball, flatten by hand (do not use a rolling pin) and drape with a cloth while on your pizza pan. Let rise for another 15 to 30 minutes. By hand, pull the dough into it's final shape (large and round). Do not use a rolling pin, which squeezes the carbon dioxide out of the dough and results in a very boring crust. Put the dough back onto the pizza pan, and cover with a cloth while you prepare the toppings. After the second rising, about 15 minutes, top with your favorite toppings, and cook in a preheated 450 degree oven on baking tiles or a pizza stone for about 10 minutes, or until toppings are done. Makes 2 large crusts.

For one 12-inch pizza I used 1/4 lb grated Mozzarella, 1/4 lb grated medium cheddar, 16 slices dry salami, 1/2 thinly sliced Vidalia onion, 1/2 thinly sliced green bell pepper, and 1/2 small can chopped olives. Baking at 450 deg., it takes about 25 minutes to cook.

PIZZA SAUCE
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
oregano,
garlic,
salt & pepper to taste
fresh or dried basil
(Italian seasoning is okay if desired)

Simmer. If any is left over, freeze in a Ziploc bag.

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE II
1/2 cup onion -- chopped
1/2 cup celery -- chopped
1 teaspoon garlic -- minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
7 cups tomatoes -- peeled and chopped
6 ounces tomato paste
1 teaspoon oregano leaves
1 teaspoon basil leaves
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf

Heat oil in a 3 to 4 quart pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic; cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and increase heat to medium-low. Boil gently for 15 minutes or until sauce is thick, stirring often. Discard bay leaf. To freeze sauce pack airtight and label. Makes about 8 cups. Use on pizza or pasta or for quick chili with beans.

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE
Makes about 3 Cups Sauce
2 lb. fresh vine-ripened Tomatoes, coarsely chopped
(Usually about 7 to 8 medium tomatoes equals one pound)
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Ground Pepper
1 1/2 tsp. Granulated Sugar
4 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar

Working with a food processor or blender, combine and process the tomatoes with the olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar, and vinegar. The finished composition makes for a rough-textured sauce. Warm the sauce through and serve it as is over pasta, or combine with any of the following ingredients to present a flavorful adaptation of your basic tomato sauce. To 1 1/2 cups sauce, add: 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped OR 1/4 cup Greek or Italian Olives, chopped with 1 1/2 tsp. finely grated Orange Peel OR 1/2 cup Feta Cheese crumbled with 3/4 tsp. dried Rosemary OR 3 Tbs. toasted Peanuts and 4 to 6 thin slices or Prosciutto, cut into bits OR
3 Tbs. Capers with 2 Tbs. chopped fresh Parsley Of course, you can prepare nearly any tomato sauce from scratch by utilizing concoctions from this Sauce.

PIZZA SAUCE
1 10 3/4-ounce can of tomato puree
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon basil
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Makes 1 cup.