Ad Hoc at Home

Starred review from October 5, 2009
Keller, one of America’s most acclaimed chefs (The French Laundry
; Bouchon
), shifts his focus from fine dining to family-style meals for the home cook in this accessible and dazzlingly beautiful book based on the fare served at his Ad Hoc restaurant, in Napa, Calif. He does not disappoint, providing a thorough primer on the foundations of cooking, offering clear and easy-to-follow instructions on techniques such as butchering and trussing chickens and tying a pork loin. He also includes a section on becoming a better cook, which helps fine-tune the cook and instructs on using salt properly, learning to make one really good soup and getting organized. Throughout are helpful sidebars that clarify potentially murky subjects, including brining fish and meat, salad basics and using fats. Dishes such as braised beef short ribs, buttermilk fried chicken, and fig-stuffed roast pork loin highlight a vast array of offerings that range from crab cakes to shortbread cookies. This collection is what legions of Keller fans have been waiting for, a book that allows them to replicate the merest glimmer of his culinary genius in their own homes.

Starred review from September 1, 2009
Noted French Laundry chef Keller planned Ad Hoc, opened in 2006 in Yountville, CA, as a temporary, casual restaurant patterned after the family (staff) mealsa four-course single menu with no choicesof his other restaurants. For home cooks intimidated by Keller's higher-end cookbooks, his new work showcases Ad Hoc's simpler fare, with more than 200 recipes for family-style meals. In the introduction, Keller emphasizes that a great product plus great execution results in great cooking. The recipes begin with his favoritepoultry, followed by meat, fish, soups, salads, vegetables, breads, a hodgepodge of sweet and savory "staples," and, of course, desserts. There are additional recipes for basic dough, sauces, and stocks. The recipes are comfort food with a twist-scalloped potatoes (potato pavé), vegetable soup (vegetable garbure), and grilled cheese made with brioche and Gruyère. These are approachable and doable but are not all for the calorie-conscious cook. Butter, eggs, and heavy cream abound and are combined with fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. VERDICT This beautiful volume continues the well-written and artful precedent set by Keller's "The French Laundry Cookbook" and "Bouchon", delightful to the eye as well as the stomach. With a planned media blitz, this work is sure to be in demand in libraries and will also be a popular gift book. [Nine-city author tour.]Christine Bulson, SUNY at Oneonta Lib.

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