Ad Hoc

So i just got the new Thomas Keller book Ad Hoc. The recipes are fun and exiting. something the home cook. Helpful tips and ideas for the family to use while cooking dinner. Simple recipes that are great to eat and satisfying without the long prep time. Hamburger recipes, beet and potato salad, cobb salad, "ranch" (mmmmmm), soups, fish, desserts, and great cooking tips.

Also I am going for an interview at Bouchon Beverly Hills. Wish me luck.

"Surf And Turf"

When making this all ways remember that you should never ever leave the house and always cover the meat with water and keep an eye on the heat if your oven is off by a few degrees. So in other words I had to make this twice. Just the meat not the fish. I couldn't find fresh cepes or salsify so i just used another mushroom instead. The Meat was great and the fish was good but for me it was laking a little something the fish was meaty and the oxtail was meaty but there was no balance no real contrast i know it was the texture that I was missing if i only had the salsify I think this dish would have been a lot better. I am not saying this is bad I am just saying it isn't the best because it is good. I could see my self making this dish for a group of people.

This dish did take a lot of time to make so unless you have a lot of time on your hand then I recommend that you stay away from this recipe. Also what I realized while making this was that I don't have the budget to do a lot of these dishes. So I am going to change my game plan. I am not quitting I am going to cook out of the Bouchon book and Ad Hoc when it comes out (Nov 6). I will finish making all the recipes just not in the next year but I will continue to cook these recipes and film them. So why stop well money and also I just learned last week that Bouchon is opening in Beverly Hills soon and I am trying to get a job there. If I do get the job then that will take up a lot of my time but also I will be able to work for the man, and also I will be in school and when I finish school I will be working on my days off at another restaurant.

Next to be done I think will be Onion Soup, Creme Carmel, Beet Salad, Frisee Salad with Lardon and Egg, Quiche Lorraine or Beef Bourguignon

But for now here is "Surf And Turf" and Brunoise





Music is Grandaddy: Now It's On







Music is The Beatles: Here Comes The Sun

Red Wine Marinade

This is the normal marinade in the book. It can work with white wine or red wine. In this recipe I am following the red wine because I am making the "Surf and Turf." This smells really good even when there is only 6 things in it. Always remember when marinading food that you always cook off the alcohol that you are using because it does not cook or tenderize meat, cooking does (i.e. heat). If you have ever tried meat like tri-tip that has been marinaded with red wine (without cooking the alcohol off) only you can taste the harshness of the alcohol which is overwhelming. So you learn something new everyday.






Music is Beck: Girl

Chicken Stock

When making chicken stock most recipes are very forward about the flavor profile for ingredients in the stock, i.e. thyme, lots of bones, bay, peppercorns, long simmering times and small yield. In The French Laundry Cookbook you don't get that. You get a light stock, the bones are simmered with aromatics for only 45 minutes and there is a high yield because there is no final reduction. The stock is very clear (when done correctly) and has a light flavor. This was one of the easier stocks to make in the book because of the short cooking time and the prep. Just one problem that I see with people trying to make this stock is getting all the bones for it. It is 5 pounds of bones so unless people are breaking down their own chickens at home then I see this as being a hard recipe to make.




Music is Grandaddy: O.K. With My Decay

Veal Stock and White Veal Stock

So on my first day I have to tell you that I did burn my stock. I know what you are thinking, How? Well the White Veal Stock needed to be reduced down to 3 quarts and I had 6 so I put it back in a pot and turned it on. This was about 7 pm and I was going to go to Knott's Scary Farm and i thought I could just leave it on simmer and come back home at 2 am and it would be fine. As soon as I walked into my house I knew what had happened. I could smell burnt stock. I walked into the kitchen to face my fears and there it was a pot covered in black. I cleaned the pot out and decided to go to bed kicking my self. Next morning I got up and went back to the market to get more bones for the stock, I got 20 pounds because I also had to make Veal Stock. So hint hint, don't leave the house if you have stock going.

I blanched both pots of bones and finished the White Veal first and it was really nice and clear. It went threw the cheesecloth with no problem what so ever. For the Veal Stock in the book it says to strain the stock several times to get out all the impurities so before i did the final reduction of the stock I strained it threw cheesecloth because I know if I didnt then all the little particals in the stock would absorb the liquid and I would have a smaller yield. Both stocks smelled great and they both had nice body to them. In both of these stocks I did add a calf's foot to add more body to them so that helped.

Up next is Chicken Stock.



Music is Pink Floyd: Pigs On The Wing (Part Two)



Music is Coldplay: Clocks

Mushroom Stock

Now for one of the best smelling stocks you will ever make (in my opinion). Mushroom stock is not used much in this book but I can find many uses for it in other recipes. Just like the vegetable stock you have to grind the ingredients in the grinder to get all those lovely flavors out of the vegetables. You can really smell the curry once it is added to the stock but after a while I did start to get back the mushroom sent, that earthy smell. Later on down the line I will make the truffled mushroom stock. The flavor is really concentrated in this recipe because the yield on it is only 3 cups of stock and when you start out with this recipe you have 4 quarts of water.

I don't think this is a stock that should be on anybody's "prep" list at home.







The song for this video is Coldplay: Don't Panic

Vegetable Stock

Now i know this is not my first rodeo. I know what most of the things that I a making are. I just want to give the book justice for my self. I have made a couple of these recipes in this book and have failed miserably but know I am going to be focused 100% on all the recipes. So here is my first recipe.



When making the Vegetable Stock, Keller wants you to really extract as much flavor from every single ingredient as possible but with out having it cloud or ruin the final product, i.e. forcing the stock through the chinois. When making this stock it filled my house with a pleasant sweet smell, closing my eyes and it would have been like listening to angles play the harp on a pillow of honey good, a smell that wasn't to strong but not lost. The recipe makes about 3 quarts and once it has been cooled it freezes very nicely.

The music playing in the video is Beulah: Night Is The Day Turned Inside Out