660227 Sat Oct 17 06:34:51 -0700 2009 12 31 Home Cooking 0 5109984 Am thinking of adding this one to my burgeoning collection. Does anyone have it? Any reviews? It looks good; I don't own any of his other cookbooks (should I?). Have you cooked anything from it? Thanks! Sat Oct 17 06:34:52 -0700 2009 253735 bayoucook 1 5110073 I checked out the Amazon reviews and there are nothing but happy words for this book. To paraphrase one reviewer, it'll make you a better cook. I tend to buy cookbooks for the photos; I'm sure this book has lots of beautiful ones. Price-wise, it's not out of line, either, $31 and change. I have a lot of books on my wish list (and in my collection) but this one is at the top of the list right now. Sat Oct 17 07:45:04 -0700 2009 5109984 1095104 bushwickgirl 2 5110145 I saw it on Amazon, too. Great reviews. I think I'll order it next week. Sat Oct 17 08:22:59 -0700 2009 5110073 253735 bayoucook 1 5110213 Here’s the starred Publishers Weekly review: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6699036.html I’m sure the recipes are marvelous, but I’m getting a wee bit tired of oversized, overproduced (overpriced) doorstops from Artisan. And I wonder if I really need yet another book that tells me how to truss a chicken and brine meat. I’ll eagerly await your reviews of the book (and hope you’ll post once you start cooking from it). In the meantime, here are some recipes to sample: Chocolate Chip Cookies Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Caramelized Sea Scallops Leek Bread Pudding http://www.foodgal.com/2009/06/tantalizing-preview-ad-hoc-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-by-thomas-keller/ Not sure if this is in the book, but it’s the fried chicken recipe from the restaurant. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lemon-brined-fried-chicken And I'll bet there will be a lot more online as the usual bloggers begin to dip into it. Sat Oct 17 09:00:40 -0700 2009 5109984 11407 JoanN 2 5110280 I hope so, it still looks good to me. My tendency on this is to wait until it's out for a while and get a barely used one (I have so many cookbooks I try to be frugal :-{ ). Will certainly post recipes if/when I get it. Thanks so much for the info. Sat Oct 17 09:42:12 -0700 2009 5110213 253735 bayoucook 1 5115667 Received my copy a few days ago but haven't cooked anything. It looks very good and has tons of interesting recipes I will try. Therrecipes are simpler than in the Bouchon and TFL cookbooks (which I also really like) but still are not simple (cooking several different vegetables separately for a soup etc.). There is a interesing discussion on egullet about the book with some good reviews at the bottom. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/129314-thomas-kellers-ad-hoc -at-home/ Mon Oct 19 17:00:04 -0700 2009 5109984 13239 honkman 1 5200330 I would love to make the leek bread pudding recipe from this book that has been all over the internet. But, while I don't exactly want a low-fat version, 3 cups of whole milk AND 3 cups of heavy cream on top of the butter and eggs and cheese makes me feel kind of sick. I'm sure I'd love it if I ordered in the restaurant, but sometimes, well, you don't want to know what they put in the sausage. Any ideas how to tone it down a bit? Sun Nov 22 12:17:53 -0800 2009 5109984 292341 smgord 2 5200394 You are aware that the recipe is for 10-12 people as a sidedish which means that the amount of heavy cream per person is not that high. In addition (as TK) often mentions fat is important part of dishes to combine the flavors. I wouldn't try to change the recipe if you want the full taste (otherwise why even bother to make it). (I also never understood this fat-phobia in the US). Sun Nov 22 12:46:01 -0800 2009 5200330 13239 honkman 1 5200401 I got this book last week. So far I've made the fried chicken and biscuits which were absolutely amazing however a bit heavy on the amount of salt suggested. All the recipes look great and I can't wait to try out more this week. There's a lot of great tips included too. Sun Nov 22 12:51:03 -0800 2009 5109984 236136 AndrewK512 1 5200559 I picked it up last week. I agree that it's a bit unwieldy - it's a coffee-table sized book, and not exactly handy for propping up in the kitchen as you cook. It's also not something for casual cooking; most of the recipes require a certain amount of planning and prep. That said, it's also not one of those restaurant cookbooks that requires you to spend two days reducing a lobster stock to add a tablespoon to a sauce - it seems designed to bridge the gap between regular home-cooking cookbooks and fancy restaurant cookbooks. I agree with bushwickgirl's paraphrasing - it seems as if it will help make me a better cook if I go through it and really try to up my techniques. Though it I'm not sure it will get as much use as something like Bittman's How to Cook Everything... He does go a bit heavy on the salt, which seems to be common in restaurant-inspired dishes. I'm going to cut back a bit as I'm don't like highly salted food. Otherwise, it does look promising. I made the brined pork tenderloin a few nights ago and my wife called it a 'taste explosion'. I've got a nice free-run chicken in the fridge waiting for his roast chicken and root vegetable recipe for Monday night. I'll be reviewing these on my own recipe review website, but I can also pop back here and update on the chicken. Sun Nov 22 14:13:19 -0800 2009 5109984 1117857 Andrew_Cookbooker 1 5201243 I bought it a couple weeks ago. Sadly, right before I started dieting. The only thing I had a chance to make from it were the brownies, and they were wonderful. It's from scratch cooking, but not overly composed like The French Laundry recipes. That, of course, makes me want to try every recipe. He's flexible in ingredients, saying that many of the recipes are just platforms for your own interpretation of it. Add your own flavors, ingredients. Another thing I really liked was that he'd have a recipe for a roasted chicken, then the next recipe was for chicken pot pie or chicken and dumplings using the leftovers. I rarely see leftovers being utilized in cookbooks. I LOVE this cookbook. If 1200 calories per day stretched a little further, I'd be making many more of his recipes. Sun Nov 22 20:09:17 -0800 2009 5109984 258252 Azizeh 2 5202118 Ive done the Beef Stroganoff, which was unreal. Did the shortribs for this one, they were perfect, and made my own paparadelle for it. Amazing comfort food. Also did the Buttermilk Fried Chicken, which is unreal...the amount of times the recipe has appeared on the net should speak something ot it taste. The brine is out of this world. I love this cookbook......and when cooking from a cookbook such as this.....you CANNOT be worried about the calories or fat content. There are plenty of diet cookbooks tro choose from, this is not one of them. Mon Nov 23 08:10:30 -0800 2009 5201243 191689 RodVito 1 5202276 I have been cooking a lot out of this book since receiving it a few weeks ago and have had nothing but great results. Some of the recipes do take longer than I would normally spend making a weeknight meal, but I will usually do a lot of the prep the night before. The biggest hit so far has been the cauliflower soup which was simple to make and had a lot of flavor. The potato paves were also great, especially for a dinner party because most of the prep work is done ahead of time. They make for a great presentation, a nice change from regular scalloped potatoes. Of all the other recipes I've made the only one which was a little blah was the tarragon chicken (forget what it is called in the book). It was easy to make but a little bland and no different than any other sauteed chicken. Mon Nov 23 09:05:03 -0800 2009 5109984 159436 potato or yam