Ad Hoc at Home
by Thomas Keller
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Book Reviews of Ad Hoc at Home
Book Review: Accessible Thomas Keller - Worth the Effort!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have previously owned The French Laundry Cookbook and it was difficult to cook through the recipes as they required ingredients that weren't super easy to obtain and a time effort/success ratio that was lower than my expectations.
So you can imagine my joy when I received this book as a gift during Christmas 2010. It is definitely still not for beginners, but suitable for any home cooks that want to try something new and not afraid in spending a little extra time. I have cooked a few recipes now from it and happy to report the results are great and definitely worth the time spent. In fact I even started a blog: [...] - to help fellow cooks and also share my experience I try all the different recipes.
So far my favorite has been the buttermilk fried chicken, what can I say, such a comfort food that's made right. It was a huge hit with my friends and I will definitely be making it over and over again.
Book Review: Perfect in the right hands
Summary: 5 Stars
It's a beautiful book and a wonderful instrument for the right person. I love it and have read it cover to cover. Anyone can take something away from it. However, if you're looking for a library of "almost homemade", meal in minutes, cooking light or solutions for weekday meals you can quckly put together without much thought into prep, then skip it. In contrast, if you have even the tiniest bit of interest in expanding your culinary skills and love preparing fresh ingredients, then this book is a must have. If your bored with the same old mind numbing recipes we all put together day after day and you've had the desire to try different skills but have been too afraid to mess up, this book not only takes you by the hand, it puts a fire under you. Anything from brining, to pan roasting to trussing a whole chicken, Ad Hoc has it. It breaks it down so the home cook with the desire to learn and apply, will do so with delicious results. IMHO, the recipes are a collection of comfort food, just stepped up. Love this book!!Book Review: Great tips, but...
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is well worth getting just for the cooking tips. Lots of very practical advice just on how to get around in the kitchen. Stuff I thought I knew how to do but he shows me a way that is so much better. That said, I have not liked any of the three dishes I've tried making from the recipes in this book. The first one I tried was that buttermilk chicken. It seemed like it was can't miss, I like buttermilk and love fried chicken. Gastly. Way too doughy. I tried making it three times, thinking I was the problem. Terrible each time, every mouthful was horrible. Same way with the beef stroganoff and this one desert I forget the name of that involved fruit on a pastry. I'm sure this is just personal taste thing, not my cup of deal sort of deal, but the recipes contained in this book do not float my boat even a little bit. The cooking tips are fantastic though, the sorts of things you feel like you should have known all your life but nobody told you for some reason. I'll always love this book for those parts.Book Review: Easier than Under Pressure but some things I really wonder if he cooks for his family
Summary: 5 Stars
Overall this cook book is easier than other high end chef's cookbooks. The premise of the book is for family style meals. There's a lot of great stuff in here. But still there are some things that I think "Who really would cook this for their family?". Not to say that the food sounds bad. But the prep time and such. There are a few dishes that require you to make something a day or so in advance then finish the next day (Potatoes pave I think).
There are a lot of good tips on how to be a better chef and why things matter that they call light bulb moments. Those are pretty cool. I like shows like Good Eats and Americas Test Kitchen as well as books like What Einstein Told His Cook. So the understanding of why is excellent.
I'd recommend this cookbook to anyone really. You can learn better technique, new flavors, and better understanding as to why you do certain things. But you get the flavors of a high end chef which is great.
Book Review: My new go-to cookbook
Summary: 5 Stars
I had heard many good things about this cookbook and was really excited when I received the book from my brother-in-law for Christmas. This book is accessible to cooks at all levels - I have had culinary training and love the book and I have given recipes to friends who are at a very basic cooking level and they love them too.
One reviewer said that the book was too basic and it is true that many of the recipes are for family staples that you already may have recipes for (garlic mashed potatoes, buttermilk fried chicken, etc.) Don't let this stop you from buying this book because you will never taste better food than what you will create by following these recipes. My husband is still raving about the garlic mashed potatoes, saying that they were the best potatoes he had ever had (which I second). Plan ahead with the recipes, many have parts that can be made ahead of time, which helps on busy weeknights after work.