Ad Hoc at Home
by Thomas Keller
|
List Price: Our Price: $22.95 You Save: $27.05 (54%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $20.02 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Ad Hoc at Home
Book Review: A coffee table cookbook?
Summary: 3 Stars
This book was the only thing I asked for for my birthday. I love cookbooks, have many, and use quite a lot of those. My batterie de cuisine is extensive, and I am not ashamed of my repertoire. The book finally arrived today, and I sat down and read it. The first thing that struck me was the size of the book. This book is much too big to put in the kitchen and follow the recipe. And it is very heavy. It is sized as a coffee table book.
Then I began to read the book. It starts by suggesting that only the most expensive equipment will be good enough. I know the prices of Mr. Keller's recommendations. Then I moved on to the recipes. They do broaden the mind. But this may be Mr. Keller's idea of home cooking, or cooking for the home, but I doubt it is anyone else's. Many of these recipes would take all day, and perhaps more, to make. Much less to serve a whole meal made from 3 or more recipes. Sandwiches begin with homemade bread. Fried chicken needs to be brined for 12 hours. Chicken pot pie has cooked chicken in it, presumably made before the recipe starts. Many ingredients need to be sent for, or looked for in very rare specialty shops. Now, that is fine, and has a place, but this is not a cookbook for every day. And in today's society, it's not really for cooking even on the weekend. It's made for sitting on the coffee table, and being read. This to me is sad. I probably will try a number of the recipes, just to see if they are worth all the extra work, if the recipe is used in its entirety. But I do expect to adopt some of the ideas included in some of the recipes in my general cooking routine.
I was expecting to be totally inspired by this book, and I am not. These are not home cooking recipes. This is very fancy, high end restaurant cooking trying to disguise itself as home cooking and failing miserably.
Book Review: Some Reservations
Summary: 4 Stars
Like most people who pre-ordered the book, I already believed Thomas Keller was a genius, and I hoped this would be the book that made his genius accessible to us mere mortals. Perhaps it is, but don't be deceived by the title. Ad Hoc at Home is the name of a Thomas Keller restaurant, and not really a description of the process which he is encouraging readers to take on. Like Bouchon, there's an interesting tension throughout the book. On the one hand, the dishes are familiar comfort food, on the other hand, he subjects the food to the kind of detail and exactitude that you might expect of a michelin-starred chef. At times, it borders on sadism. For example in the recipe for "Black Rice, Farro and Squash" you need three different kinds of squash--butternut, delicate, and kobacha. Even though they are all diced to the same 5/8" measurements, you're asked to cook them separately in separate pots. The results is delicious, but I would prefer it if there was a little more explanation for why these additional steps might be necessary. I also thought it was funny that he described how to dice the squashes in such great detail, but offered no help when it came to describing how to peel them. So while I consider this book on par with Bouchon, I reserve my five star ratings for books like Judy Roger's The Zuni Cafe, which made me a better cook. I give a more detailed account of some of the recipes at [...]. Writing that in the heat of the moment, I was probably more sarcastic than I needed to be. Ad Hoc at Home wonderful cookbook in many ways. I'm a self-trained amateur, and with world enough and I time I do think I could make every recipe in here and they wood be wonderful. But know what you're getting into. This is not your mother's home cooking--unless your mother is a highly functioning OCD patient with a hired staff of dishwashers.Book Review: An Amazing Resource!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am absolutely certain I will not find adequate words to describe how I feel about this incredible cookbook. I have read other reviews that have expressed my views perfectly. Still, I wanted to put in my five stars and attempt to address why I am so wild about Ad Hoc at Home.
I am a caterer by trade, and for a long time I was mostly self-taught. I have since had some training in particular areas of interest and it has certainly improved my skills. I think, however, that had I had this book in hand ten years ago, I would have achieved a higher level of expertise far more quickly. There's everything here, from tying a roast to obtaining the perfect sear on a divers scallop. It's about respect for great ingredients; simple (and sometimes not-so-simple) techniques that elevate a dish from good to luxurious; it's about the importance of pairing the right components to unite a dish. It's about keeping a well-stocked pantry (and how to do it!) Mostly, however, it is about what love and attention to detail can bring to a meal for family and friends. That is priceless.
I admit to one quarrel with this book: there are a number of recipes that require forays off to several different pages for additional recipes to complete a single dish. I don't necessarily mind one or two, but when you have four or more different pages to go to to complete a part of the ultimate whole, then you begin to frustrate me. Still, although I may swear under my breath when at the fifth sub-recipe to complete a simple dish of meatballs with pappardelle, I wouldn't let anyone take this book away from me for anything.
I think that this cookbook, coupled with "Ratio" and "The Flavor Bible" can bring out the confident, adventurous cook in anyone. Thank you, Chef Keller.
Book Review: A joy to own and use
Summary: 5 Stars
Like a lot of other reviewers of this book, I too, have all to Thomas Keller's titles and I have cooked from them all.
It was interesting to read a comment in one of the reviews of this book being too "American" which from my perspective was somewhat bemusing as this is precisely one of the reasons I bought the book. I am not American nor do I live there (I have visited plenty of times and enjoyed it more and more each time but I digress) but I am very interested in, what at times, has been a much maligned (and unfairly so) cuisine and so when someone of Thomas Keller's stature produces a book that covers some of the aspects of American cuisine it naturally got my attention.
I have found this book to be a delight to read and, at times, found myself smiling whilst I read it which is always a good sign for me and then when reading a recipe finding myself saying out loud "Oh Yum" or "That makes me really hungry". I have done several of the recipes and I have managed to make them look and, I believe, taste like they should. Another good sign for a cookbook for me.
Whilst I have not had the pleasure of eating and any of Mr Keller's restaurants nor have I had a chance to meet him but after reading this book and his others I feel I know him and that I like him. The personal touches in this book, particularly relating to his father, added enormously to my enjoyment of this book.
I can highly recommend this book to cooks at all levels as for the experienced cook there is always something new to learn and for the inexperienced cook if you persevere you will come out a much better cook.
Patience is a virtue particularly when using books such as this.
Book Review: Nothing Ad Hoc about these Recipes
Summary: 5 Stars
Famed chef Thomas Keller uses the inspiration of the staff meals served at his more casual restaurant Ad Hoc, to put together family-style recipes in //Ad Hoc at Home//. Staff meals are usually made from the previous night's leftovers and in the case of a restaurant like Ad Hoc, plenty of extra touches that move it from leftovers to casual //haute cuisine//. There are plenty of "basic" recipes, from fried chicken to an iceberg lettuce salad, seem simple in concept, but become more complex with Keller's upgrades. There are plenty of small lessons throughout the book - just in the chicken section is how to truss one and how to do an eight or ten piece cut of a whole chicken - or odd tips such as cleaning a grill grate with a large yellow onion.
The many recipes cover all the standards one might expect, yet each adds both a layer of complexity and quality to them. Many of them are not causal, spur of the moment meals (the fried chicken requires a twelve hour brine), but for a planned meal, can raise the level of "casual" family meals to exceptional. The photography nearly reaches the level of food porn; many dishes skillfully prepared and artfully arranged for full page pictures. The recipes sometimes require specialty ingredients, requiring access to a specialty grocery store, or using the online index of sources included in the reference section. //Ad Hoc at Home// does have a well organized index, well detailed instructions and plenty of tips on cooking that will help the beginning and intermediate home chefs raise the level of their kitchen skills.