Ad Hoc at Home: Family-Style Recipes [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Although I've only had Thomas Keller's ad hoc for a short time, I ready love it and have found many things that make it a must-buy if you're a lover of food or books about food. Keller's quote on the back of the book really sums up the theme of this book: "...a big collection of family meals and everyday staples, delicious approachable food, recipes that are doable at home. No immersion circulator required. No complicated garnishes. I promise!"

Keller delivers on this promise in ad hoc. The book assumes far less prerequisite knowledge than his other books, The French Laundry, Bouchon, and Under Pressure. In fact, the first section of the book is called "Becoming a better chef," and Keller outlines the techniques, ingredients, and tools that can help anyone become a better home cook.

I own all 3 of Keller's other books, and regularly cook from them. This is, by far, the most accessible book for the casual home cook. The recipes in here can easily be made as weeknight meals--most don't require any excessive time demands or preparation. Many of the recipes are dishes you're probably familiar with: chicken pot pie, fried chicken, braised short ribs, beef stroganoff, apple fritters, chocolate brownies, etc. But, this being a Thomas Keller book, many of these classic dishes are refined and made more elegant. For example, his beef stroganoff uses fresh cremini mushrooms, creme fraiche, braised short ribs, and pappardelle pasta. All of the recipes I've made have turned out perfectly so far, which has been the case with his previous books.

Consistent with his previous books, the look of ad hoc is beautiful. It's also a nice change to see Keller's fun side featured, and he's displayed in a number of whimsical photographs throughout the book, warning you: "shh... the lamb is resting," and telling you, "That's how I roll," when showing off his lobster roll. In addition to these photos of Keller, there are numerous beauty shots of the food and technique photos.

Overall, I think this book strikes a perfect balance between elegance and approachability. The recipes are refined enough that the most experienced food lover will be satisfied, but simple enough to prepare that the willing novice can easily tackle them. For those who have looked at The French Laundry or Under Pressure and were scared off by rare ingredients, expensive equipment, or advanced technique, this book is a great initiation into the world of Thomas Keller's food.

As Ruth Reichl recently said on Fresh Air, if it's four o'clock at work, and you're trying to decide what to have for dinner, you've already half-lost the battle. You can't start out from that position with most of the recipes in this book. What I'm trying to say is that these recipes take something most cookbooks and even television shows that are about food avoid: time and advanced planning. Most of the recipes contain sub-recipes. Most of the chicken and pork dishes require brining, and many dishes require some type of stock. However, most of the time consuming processes in the book don't require much active time, but they do require planning. I'm not putting this up as a negative. In fact, so many wonderful things about cooking simply require time. My first Thomas Keller cookbook was Bouchon, and some of the more time-consuming components used there (soffritto, tomato confit (in Ad Hoc oven roasted tomatoes), garlic confit, duck confit, preserved lemons, peeled shelled fava beans before blanching) make an appearance in this cookbook as well. The first reaction I had to cooking things for more than four hours, which some of these require in total time, was incredulity. Seriously? MORE than four hours? Having eaten at TK's restaurants I put my trust in him, and I learned how wonderful things happen when food is given time.

If you've been cooking for many years some of the tips you may have known: put a towel under your cutting board, you only really need four knives, some salts weigh differently; however, others will most likely be new if you haven't cooked out of TK's other cookbooks. Thinking back on the difficulties I had when I first started cooking, how I wish all of these things had been spelled out to me as clearly and as simply as they are in this book. TK's cookbooks improved my cooking so quickly that I can't recommend them enough. Not only will you make amazing food, but you will learn skills and techniques that will help you even when you aren't cooking one of his recipes. The chalkboard drawing in a way emphasizes the daily changing meal, and the quite gracious TK as teacher and reader as student looking at the teacher in front of the chalkboard. Some of the photos don't quite work for me, but hey, this review is mainly about food, not graphic design.

With that note of caution, if you're afraid these recipes are as complex as Heston Blumenthal's In Search of Perfection recipes, you'll be relieved. Most of the ingredients in the book are relatively standard, and sources are provided for the few esoteric ingredients. The types of dishes are very familiar, and the product description gives a good idea about what to expect. Part of me was hoping this book might feature a lot of chervil, and this would lead to other people requesting it so that it would be stocked in stores just as TK mentions about people requesting cilantro from grocers in this book. Another disappointment for me is the lack of what he calls in his cookbook Under Pressure, "variety meats". I understand that this book is based on a restaurant's food that serves a daily changing set menu, and tongue may not be something everyone wants to eat, but I was hoping for at least one or two involving the aforementioned tongue or tripe, liver, kidneys, sweetbreads or cheeks. Even though he promises no immersion circulators on the back, I'm curious about what is cooked sous vide at Ad Hoc as he has mentioned that they use circulators at the restaurant, and if these dishes are, then what are those alternate preparations?

Something that surprised me and delighted me was the "Lifesavers" portion of the book. This section is full prepared foods that you can make and store like (to name a few) compotes, chutneys, jams, marmalades, spiced nuts, pickles and mustards.

This is a quick note meant to be helpful: if you live in an area that is a culinary wasteland, you might think about ordering Piment D'esplette and Vanilla Paste along with the book as they are used somewhat frequently. TK also highly suggests a Vita-Mix (don't I wish I had one!).

To sum up, I can't recommend this book highly enough if you are serious about food or a home cook wanting to improve.

This book is humbling. That's the best way I can put it. I adore the premise of the book. A celebrated chef sharing home cooked recipes that inspired him to create his world class restaurant in Yountville.

Lets take the famous fried chicken recipe. It doesn't start with a simple set of ingredients and steps on how to do it. It first will train you on how to use the basic tools in your repertoire. Then it will take you through the process of choosing the right ingredients and how to manage them (think spice dating). Then comes the crucial part of choosing the right bird. Then cutting the bird so it will walk you through the various ways of cutting the chicken and how it will impact various meals you will prepare on your own and through this book.

The best thing about this book is that it will teach you to be a better chef with the recipes you are already familiar with and cooking on a daily basis as well as introduce you to a wealth of recipes that will truly expand your horizons. Truly a masterpiece.