Ad Hoc at Home; Part 1

Even before Thomas Kellers' new book, Ad Hoc at Home came out, I knew there was going to be a class based on it. The second I had the book in my hand and flipped through it, there was no doubt in my mind.
When ever I get a book like this, i get so excited that I cant wait to cook out of it. Last summer, we received a few sample pages from the book with a couple recipes, just to tease you. The first recipe was the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. How do you say no to that, especially when it's a Thomas Keller recipe.
For people that now me, they know that to me, Thomas Keller is the Chef among Chefs. I met him once. It was a bit embarassing. It was the first time I was completely speechless. But that's neither here nor there. Lets talk food!

Ad Hoc at Home is Chef Kellers attempt to make his haute cuisine more accessible to the home cook. This is not to say it's for beginner cooks. VERY motivated beginner cooks maybe. The book is full of amazing recipes that can range from simple to complex. We decided to do two separate classes based on Ad Hoc at Home. This is Part 1.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup
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Iceberg Lettuce Slices, with Blue Cheese Dressing, Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Bacon, and Brioche Croutons
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Crispy Braised Chicken Thighs, with Fennel, Garlic and Lemon
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Upside-Down Pineapple Cake


There is a LOT to talk about, so Lets get started.
First up the soup. Earlier in the day I made a full flavour chicken stock with raw bones, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, looks, thyme and bay leaves. For the soup, we started by sauteing finely diced bacon on medium low heat with a touch of oil. It was interesting that it was done on a very low heat. The main objective for this is to render the fat, but not crisp the bacon. after a few minutes, I removed the bacon and added in finely diced carrots and onion. It was again gently sauteed on the same heat for 15 minutes. This recipe, as with all the other recipes in the book, takes care in not over cooking, or cooking too fast, the ingredients so they keep the best colour and texture.
Once the vegetables were done sauteing we added in a bit of curry powder which right away gave it an amazingly sweet smell. Then the puy lentils and stock. I allowed it to simmer for about 20 minutes. The recipes suggests 45 minutes, but due to time constraints, I had to cut it short. It very well could have used the extra time, but the lentils were tender enough.
In a separate pot, we simmered the diced sweet potatoes in water, thyme, bay, garlic and peppercorns until just tender. This is a great idea because if the potatoes were cooked with the lentils, they would surely become over cooked. This ensures they are perfectly done.
Just before the soup was done, i crisped up the bacon I removed in a small saute pan and added it into the soup. Seasoned with salt, pepper and a splach of vinegar. This was a really interesting addition. I'm a big advocate of using a form of acid as a seasoning, but you never see it in any books. Along with salt and pepper, the acid, weither it be vinegar or citrus, add a different taste sensation that really rounds out the palate.
I have to admit, I think I could have added more liquid to the soup. I didn't really follow the recipe for quantities. Also, I wasn't as pretty as I had hoped for, but I think it's because I didn't take the time to make it that way. I think I was rushing a bt because I didn't want to fall behind too much. Also, I forgot to take a picture of the freshly poured soup. I was lucky enough to have some left, so this picture was of soup that was sitting for a while. You get the idea. But the soup was hearty, very tasty, and fairly simple compared to the soup we will do tomorrow. More on that later.

Next was the Iceberg Lettuce Slices. This is a salad of Steak House tradition. Any steak joint in Florida, this will be on the menu. This salad is fairly straight forward, but needs some preparation well in advance. The day before, I started with making some creme fraiche for the dressing. It's easy to buy, but I figured i would make it. Cream mixed with a bit of buttermilk left overnight on the counter. Easy enough.
The morning of the class I prepared the oven roasted tomatoes. Quartered roma tomatoes were put on a baking sheet and slow cooked at 275* for 5-7 hours. I've done this many time before and is really easy. But they became my "tray of shame" as one customer lovingly called them. I'll tell you about that later.
The Iceberg lettuce was sliced and layed on a platter. The bacon was diced and rendered off in a pan over medium heat until crisp. The brioche was diced and toasted in the oven until brown.
The dressing had, aioli, buttermilk, creme fraich, onion and garlic powder, lemon juice, parsley, chives and blue cheese crumbled in (my favorite, Bleu Benedictine).
The dressing was poured over the lettuce, bacon and croutons scattered and then I realized. Sh*&!!!! The tomatoes!!!
I had left the tomatoes in the oven. When the tomatoes were done, I turned the oven off and left them in it. When people came, I turned the oven back of to preheat for the cake, not remembering they were still in the oven.
In all honesty, this is the first time I've ever burnt anything in class. It was really embarrassing. But I figured the rest of the salad was so tasty anyways, especially this dressing, that the tomatoes would not be missed. And by the time we finished the salad, the burnt tomatoes were a lost memory. Except for the fact I kept them on the counter to remind me of what a dolt I am.

On to the Crispy Braised Chicken. This one I have to admit is very simple. It's a one pot meal great for any day of the week.
We started by searing the chicken. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs were seasoned with salt and pepper and browned, skin side down in a medium heat pan until nice and golden. Flipped and continued to cook for another minute. Once removed, we added in some sliced onion and garlic. Sauteed until tender and then sliced fennel was added. We cooked it gently for 10 minutes, until the fennel was tender but crisp. Then we added in some white wine, pepper flakes, big green olives, thyme, bay leaves and lemon zest. Cook until the wine has reduced a bit then add in some chicken stock. Once the pan came back to a simmer, we added back in the chicken. This time skin side up, and into a hot oven for about 20 minutes to finish off the chicken.
One Pot.
After 20 minutes, it was nicely done. The fennel had an sweet smell, and with the pepper flakes, it added a slight tickle of spice in the back of the through for nice balance. The chicken was crispy and moist. It was a very simple main course that I'm everyone liked. The flavours were subtle and soft. a Crowd pleaser for sure.

The general consensus around the table was that Upside-Down Pineapple Cake has not been eaten by anyone in 30-40 years. So it was a big night!
The last time I made this cake was in cooking school, 10 years ago. So I was excited to see how this one turned out.
First was making the smear for the bottom of the cake pan. Butter, brown sugar, vanilla, rum and honey were creamed together and spread into the bottom of the pan.
We carefully fanned out pineapple slices over the smear. Then we prepared the cake. This base is a fairly standard cake base. The difference is that it used cake flour rather than all purpose. This results in a much finer, crumbly cake. Butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and a bit of vanilla were mixed together and again, spread into the cake pan over the pineapple. Into the oven for 45 minutes and it was done. We allowed it to rest 10 minutes and then the nerve racking flip. But you know what, it came out really easily and looked so great. The time we took to fan out the slices of pineapple really made a difference. Not only did it look good, but it tasted great too. The great thing I find about Thomas Keller desserts is that they are never too sweet. The sweetness is not in your face and balances really well with the whole dessert.
A dollop of creme fraiche on top and dessert was served.

It was a good night. The recipes were put together pretty easily. With the proper preparation, all these dishes came together very quickly.
I have one more night to cook out of this book. Final thoughts tomorrow.

Up Next; Ad Hoc at Home, Part 2