Garlic Confit

I can't say enough great things about Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home cookbook. I would, in a heartbeat, recommend this as a shower gift. Paired with a basic arsenal of cooking equipment, someone who knows absolutely nothing about cooking (okay, maybe absolutely nothing), but anyone with internet access and a desire to learn can make simple and delicious food with very little effort. (The internet is priceless for answering stupid little questions not written into recipes.)

This garlic confit and oil recipe yields garlic cloves that are ever-so-soft and ready to be mashed into anything that needs a jolt of das garlic. This is so simple...well...a cave man could do it.

I will say that if you don't really need a whole cup confited garlic, and want to halve or quarter the recipe - you can. Simply set your oven to 225 and use whatever little bowl you want a totally cover the cloves with oil - this allows you to use less oil and less garlic. Cook the garlic cloves for the 40 minutes outlined in the recipe only . The problem with using the partial recipe over the burner is that you'll probably end up using more oil than you need to. You also run the risk of not being able to control the temperature of the oil because there is so little of it.

Garlic Confit and Oil

Garlic Confit and Oil
by Thomas Keller from Ad Hoc at Home

• 1 C peeled garlic cloves
• About 2 C canola oil

1. Cut off and discard the root ends of the garlic cloves. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch - none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil.

2. Set the saucepan on a diffuser over medium-low heat. The garlic should cook gently: very small bubbles will come up through the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface; adjust the heat as necessary and/or move the pan to one side of the diffuser if it is cooking too quickly. Cook the garlic for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.

3. Refrigerate the garlic in covered container, submerged in the oil, for up to 1 week.

Pavé Potatoes

These little suckers are absolutely awesome. Mashed potatoes are about as generic as it gets. You definitely need a fair amount of time to make these, but in the end the reaction you get from your guests is well worth the effort. This is a wonderful potato option that doesn't include the word "mashed".

Pavé Potatoes

Pavé Potato
from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

• 1 cup heavy cream
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 pounds russet potatoes (3 1-pound potatoes if possible)
• 5 tablespoons (2 ½ oz.) unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon softened and 4 tablespoons (2 oz.) cut into ½" cubes
  

• Canola oil
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed, skin left on
• Minced chives

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

1. Pour the cream into a large bowl and season with 1 tablespoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Peel the potatoes. Cut a thin lengthwise slice off one side of a potato so it will rest flat on the mandoline. Lay a Japanese mandoline or other vegetable slicer over the bowl of cream and slice the potato lengthwise into very thin (about 1/16 inch) slices, letting them drop into the cream. (If you can’t lay your mandoline across the bowl, slice the potatoes, adding the slices to the cream as you go.) Stop from time to time to toss the slices in the cream to keep them coated and prevent them from oxidizing. Repeat with the remaining potatoes.

2. Brush a 10 x 6½ x 3 inch high pan with half the softened butter. (Don’t use a shallower pan – need the depth this size pan gives the pave.) Line with parchment paper, leaving a 5-inch overhang on the two long sides. These extensions will be used to cover the potatoes as they cook and later serve as handles when unmolding. Brush the parchment with the remaining softened butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Trim the potato slices to form a solid even layer in the bottom of the pan and lay them in the direction that works best to fill the pan. Repeat to from a second layer. Dot with a few cubes of butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Continue layering the potatoes, adding butter and seasonings after each two layers. Fold over the sides of the parchment to cover the potatoes. Cover tightly with a piece of aluminum foil (to allow the potatoes to steam as they bake).

4. Bake the potatoes for 1 hour and 50 minutes, or until completely tender when pierced with the tip of knife or a wire cake tester. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Put a weight on top of the potatoes (see note), cool to room temperature, wrap well, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or up to 2 days.

5. To serve run a palette knife around the two longer sides of the pavé to release it from the pan, and use the parchment handles to lift the potatoes from the pan, or invert onto a cutting surface. Trim all sides of the pavé. Cut the pavé into 12 equal pieces and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

6. Heat some canola oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes cut-side down, add the thyme and garlic, and cook, basting with the liquid in the pan, until browned on the first side, then turn carefully and brown the opposite side.

7. Arrange the potatoes on a serving platter, browned side up. Put a small piece of butter on each piece to melt, and sprinkle with chives.

Serves 6

Note: The easiest way to weight the pavé is to cut a piece of cardboard just smaller than the top of the pan, so that it will cover the top of the pavé without resting on the sides of the pan. Wrap the cardboard in aluminum foil, set it on top of the pavé, and place a few cans or other weights on the cardboard for even weight distribution.

Nantes Carrot Stew

What is it about getting your hands on some really good produce that makes you want to look extra hard for a good recipe? In the past we’ve gotten the Chef’s Garden Family Box and been really impressed with what was sent to us. Because the boxes vary from shipment to shipment, you’re never quite sure what’s inside until you open them. In a recent box we received some rather large carrots that required some breaking down into smaller chunks. The hunt was on for something that cooked utilize carrots in “chunky” form, but more importantly was really tasty.
Not to sound like a broken record here, but the Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home has some monstrously delicious recipes in it. I’ve done a number of his creations in the past and with the exception of one, they’ve all been above average in the visual appeal and taste categories.

For these carrots I chose the Nantes Carrot Stew recipe. The recipe is actually very easy to execute and one of the quicker ones from the book. One of the things I really like is that you can make it the day before and finish the last step right before you serve it. This would be great for a dinner party where you’re already stretched for time.

The Nantes Carrot Stew has definitely been added to my list of “go to” vegetable sides.

Nantes Carrot Stew

Nantes Carrot Stew
By Thomas Keller, Ad Hoc at Home

• 2 pounds sweet carrots, preferably Nantes
• 1 tspn coriander seeds
• 1 tspn caraway seeds
• 4-6 Tbsp (2-3 ounces) unsalted butter
• Kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp dry sherry or Madeira
• 1 cup fresh carrot juice
• Large pinch of Yellow Curry Powder or Madras curry powder

1. Peel the carrots and cut them into oblique shapes.

2. Make a sachet of the coriander and caraway seeds by wrapping them in a piece of cheesecloth and tying it with kitchen twine.

3. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the carrots, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until the carrots begin to give off their juices, about 7 minutes. Lower the heat as necessary to keep the carrots from browning. Add the sherry and cook for 2 minutes. Add the carrot juice, curry powder, and sachet and, and cook, swirling the pan, for 2 more minutes, or until the carrots are just tender. (The carrots can be cooled and refrigerated in the liquid overnight.) With a slotted spoon, transfer the carrots to a bowl. Discard the sachet.

4. Simmer the carrot juice until reduced to a light glaze. Whisk in the remaining 2 to 4 tablespoons of butter, depending on your preference, 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt, add the carrots, and swirl to glaze the carrots. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Serves 6

Asparagus Coins

In the next week or so asparagus should be making its grand entrance at most of the farmers markets here in northeast Ohio. Since we try to buy most of our vegetables from local producers we typically find ourselves scrambling to find good recipes as things come into season. On the whole, I think we’re actually ahead of the game a little bit since we have a couple of seasons under our belt. Always looking to add to the arsenal, this little recipe from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc is about as easy as they come.

I think on the whole the recipe is pretty good; it certainly has plenty of room for free styling if you so choose. I like the fact that there are roughly five ingredients that aren’t oil, salt, pepper, or water. Nothing sucks worse than skipping the mis en place and finding that you don’t have enough of something, (five ingredients make it that much easier to do). Note that the Chive Oil needs to be made the day before. I tried the mandolin on these suckers and found it a little difficult. (I am terrified of shaving off the top of my knuckles.) Make sure you get rid of the toughest parts of the asparagus. If you get thicker pieces they don’t cook up very well. Make sure your asparagus are thin pencil like stalks.

Asparagus Coins

Asparagus Coins
By Thomas Keller Ad Hoc

Chive Oil
1 cup ½ inch pieces chives
1 cup canola oil

Put the chives in a fine mesh basket strainer and run under hot tap water to soften them and remove any chlorophyll taste. Drain them and squeeze as dry as possible.

Put half the chives in a Vita-Mix, add oil just to cover, and blend for 2 minutes. Add half the remaining chives and oil to cover and blend for another 2 minutes. Add the remaining chives and oil and blend for another 2 minutes. Pour into a container and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Place a piece of cheesecloth over a bowl and secure with a rubber band to make a smooth, tight surface. Pour the chive oil onto the cheesecloth and let sit for an hour to allow the oil to drip through.

Remove and discard the cheesecloth; do not wring out the cheesecloth, or it may cloud the oil. Refrigerate the oil in a covered container for 2 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
Makes about ½ cup

Parsley Water
6 Tbs water
1 tsp canola oil
1 Tbs honey
3 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems, washed and patted thoroughly dry

Pour the water into a small bowl and freeze until the water is ice-cold.

Heat a medium frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the honey and heat to melt and lightly caramelize it for a few seconds. Add the parsley with the honey and wilt it, about 30 seconds. Transfer the contents of the pan to the ice-cold water to chill the parsley leaves.

Transfer the parsley and liquid to a Vita-Mix and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh basket strainer into a storage container. The parsley water can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
Makes a scant ½ cup

Asparagus Coins
1 ½ lbs. pencil-thin asparagus
3 Tbs chive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup Parsley Water

Divide the asparagus in half and bundle each with a rubber band. Snap off the bottom of 1 stalk of asparagus to see where it breaks naturally. Cut across the bunches to trim all of the spears to the same length.

Slice on a Japanese mandolin. Alternatively, you can slice the asparagus with a sharp chef’s knife.

Put the tips in a large frying pan, add the chive oil, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat, swirling the ingredients together, until the tips are coated with oil and begin to sizzle, 1 ½ - 2 minutes. Add the asparagus rounds and cook until the edges look cooked but the centers are still raw. Add 3 tablespoons of the parsley water, stir to coat, and cook until the asparagus is tender, 1 ½ - 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the remaining parsley water, and stir to coat.
Serves 6

What to do with a Monster Cauliflower

Yeah, all of that is from a single head of cauliflower

At the Shaker Market I laid eyes on one of the most incredible heads of cauliflower I'd ever seen. They were big and absolutely filled with florets. Usually when I buy cauliflower you get a smaller head and thirty percent of it is usually waste, for this thing I'd say it was closer to fifteen percent. In fact, the one I picked up was just over four pounds and was enough to make this recipe (which calls for 2 heads totaling 4 to 5 pounds.)

Is there a better way to spend a Sunday morning?

Like most everything I've made from the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook, this one is a keeper, (admittedly the only stinker was the chocolate chip cookies, but I think the problem was the amount of flour. I hate baking recipes that use volumes for dry ingredients.)

While this soup is not exactly low fat, it is an irresistible bowl of goodness. I've always found cauliflower to be a pretty boring veggie that is difficult to find good recipes for. As was the case last weekend, the locally grown vegetables at the North Union Farmers Market continues to dwindle, but all of the items used in this recipe can still be found here in Cleveland. This soup is one that should have broad appeal. It's sophisticated enough for the foodie, yet homey enough that my dad wouldn't be afraid to eat it.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Red Beet Chips
by Thomas Keller from "Ad Hoc at Home"

• 2 heads cauliflower (4 to 5 pounds total)
• 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 3/4 C coarsely chopped leeks (white and light green parts only)
• 3/4 C coarsely chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon Yellow Curry Powder or Madras curry powder
• Kosher salt
• 2 C milk
• 2 C heavy cream
• 2 cups water
• Peanut or Canola oil for deep-frying
• 1 medium red beet
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• Torn Croutons (see recipe)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Remove the leaves from the cauliflower, and cut out the core. Trim off the stems and reserve them. For the garnish, trim 2 cups florets about the the size of a quarter and set aside.
2. Coarsely chop the remaining cauliflower and the stems into 1-inch pieces so that they will cook in the same amount of time. You need 8 cups of cauliflower (reserve any extra for another use).
3. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, curry, and coarsely chopped cauliflower, season with 2 teaspoons of salt, cover with a parchment lid, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are almost tender, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard the parchment lid.
4. Pour in the milk, cream, and water, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off the foam from time to time.
5. Working in batches, transfer the cauliflower mixture to a Vita-Mix (leave an opening in the lid for the steam to escape). Begin pureeing the cauliflower on the lowest speed and blend, slowly increasing the speed, until smooth and velvety. Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed. Transfer to a large saucepan and keep warm. (The soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
6. Fill a small deep pot with 1 inch of peanut oil and heat over medium heat to 300 degrees. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Line the rack with paper towels.
7. While the oil heats, peel the beet and slice off about 1/2 inch from the top. Using a Japanese mandoline or other vegetable slicer, slice the beet into rounds that are slightly thicker than paper-thin. Reserve only the full rounds.
8. Carefully add a few beet rounds to the oil and fry, turning them with a wire skimmer or slotted spoon as the edges begin to curl and pressing gently on the chips to keep them submerged. You will see a great deal of bubbling around the beets as the moisture in them evaporates; when the bubbling stops, after 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, the beets will be crisp. Transfer the beets to the paper-towel-lined rack and season with salt. Fry the remaining chips in batches. The chips can be kept warm in a low oven.
9. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the vinegar and the reserved cauliflower florets and blanch until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. The vinegar will help keep the cauliflower white. Drain.
10. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter turns a rich golden brown. Add the florets and saute until a rich golden brown. Set aside.
11. To serve, reheat the soup. This is a thick soup, but if it seems too thick, add water to thin it to the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
12. Pour the soup into a serving bowl or soup tureen. Top each serving with a few cauliflower florets, several torn croutons, and a stack of beet chips. (If the beet chips sit in the soup, they will become soggy and discolor it.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper. Serve the remaining florets, croutons, and chips in separate bowls on the side,

Torn Croutons

• 1 loaf of country bread
• Garlic Oil from Garlic Confit (see recipe)
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter

1. Cut the crusts off of the bread. Tear the bread into irregular pieces no larger than 2 inches. You need about 3 cups of croutons; reserve any remaining bread for another use.
2. Pour 1/8 inch of the the garlic oil into a large saute pan and heat over medium heat until hot. Spread the bread in a single layer in the pan (if your pan in not large enough, these can be cooked in two smaller pans.) Add the butter. The oil and butter should be bubbling, but if you hear sizzling. the heat is too high. Adjust the heat as necessary, and stir the croutons often as they cook. Cook until the croutons are crisp and a beautiful rich golden brown on all sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Move the croutons to one side of the pan and keep warm until ready to serve. Torn croutons should be used the day they are made; you can reheat them in a low oven before serving if necessary.

Garlic Confit

• 1 C peeled garlic cloves
• About 2 C of canola oil

1. Cut off and discard the root ends of garlic cloves. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch - none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil.
2. Set the saucepan on a diffuser over medium-low heat. The garlic should cook gently: very small bubbles will come up throught the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface; adust the heatas necessary and/or move the pan to one side of the diffuser it is cooking to quickly. Cook the garlic for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with the tip of knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.
3. Refrigerate the garlic in a covered container, submerged in the oil, for up to 1 week.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup

Unlike Thomas Keller, I don't have the Central Valley's bounty beckoning at my back door. Each week as I peruse the ever shrinking offerings at my local farmers market, I'm constantly faced with the question of what to make with fewer and fewer locally available vegetables.

There comes a point where you just get tired of the same base seasonal dishes that have only a small twist to them. I'm not saying it has to be "Fancy Food", as some people call it, but give me something different and tasty.

I can't say enough great things about Keller's "Ad Hoc at Home". Armed with the limited number of vegetables that were available to me, this Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup fit the bill for different, tasty, and locally available Ohio fall vegetables.

I originally decided to make this for my wife, but after tasting it myself I was more inclined to stash it away for myself. Trying to taste this thing with your eyes does it no justice. The combination of the bacon fat, the small amount of mild curry, and the punch of the red wine vinegar really creates a satisfying taste to the dish.

When it's all done this soup is more like a quasi-chili than anything else. The lentils absorb nearly all of the stock so it ends up being fairly thick.

Is this the way Keller intended the soup to look like? I don't know. There wasn't a picture in the book, but I bet it came pretty close.

One last thing, don't forget to make some extra bacon. The crispy saltiness makes the perfect bite!



Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup
from Thomas Keller's "Ad Hoc at Home"

• 8 oz. applewood-smoked bacon
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 C thinly sliced carrots
• 2 C coarsely chopped leeks
• ¾ to 1 tspn Yellow or Madras Curry Powder
• Kosker salt
• 1-½ lbs. sweet potatoes
• 2 Sachets (1 bay leaf, 10 peppercorns, 1 peeled and smashed garlic clove, and 3 sprigs of thyme wrapped in cheesecloth)
• 2 C (about 8oz.) Spanish Pardina or French de Puy lentils, small stones removed, rinsed
• 8 C Chicken Stock
• 1 to 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• Freshly ground pepper
• Cilantro leaves

Cut the bacon into lardons that are 1 inch long and ½ inch thick.

Heat the canola oil in an 8 to 10 quart stockpot over medium heat. Add the bacon, reduce the heat to low, and render the fat for 20 to 25 minutes. The bacon should color but not crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and set aside.

Add the carrots, leeks, onions, and curry powder to the pot and stir to coat in the bacon fat. Season with salt, reduce the heat to low, cover with a parchment lid, and cook very slowly for 30 to 35 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Remove and discard to the parchment lid.

Meanwhile, peel the sweet potatoes. Trim them and cut them into a ½ inch dice. Put the potatoes, one of the sachets, and 2 teaspoons of salt in the large saucepan, add cold water to cover, bring to a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and spread on a tray to cool; discard the sachet.

Add the lentils, second sachet, and stock to the vegetables, bring to a simmer, and simmer for the 30 to 40 minutes *mine went every bit of 40 minutes*, until the lentils are tender. (At this point, the soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 day.)

Spread the bacon in a small frying pan and crisp over medium-high heat.

Add the vinegar to taste to the soup, then add the potatoes and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup garnished with the bacon and cilantro leaves.

An Evening with Thomas Keller and Ad Hoc

I love cookbooks. Last week I ordered Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller and Johnny's Iuzzini's Dessert Fourplay. I was pretty excited when they arrived today in the mail. I had actually looked at both of these books a couple of weekends before and thought they were certainly worth buying.

Quite honestly, I'm not a chef. I don't pretend to be, which would explain why I had chose not to get the French Laundry cookbook. It's not that I don't think I could do the recipes. I can. The problem is that it takes a lot more time for me to do it, than it would for someone with better skills and equipment. Ad Hoc at home is the antithesis of The French Laundry. The majority of the recipes have minimal ingredients with way fewer processes than TFL.

Honey-Glazed Cipollini Onions

With a bowl of cipollini onions from Snake Hill Farm sitting on the counter, I figured there was no time like the present to test drive one of Keller's recipes. An easy to follow recipe with just six ingredients, the Honey Glazed Cipollinis were delicious.

If you haven't seen this book, you've got to take a look. Not only are the recipes relatively easy, but there's a lot of "how to" info also included.

Honey-Glazed Cipollini Onions
by Thomas Keller from Ad Hoc at Home

• 1-1/4# Cipollini Onions (about 14 ), about 2 inches in diameter
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed, skin left on
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1/2 C Chicken Stock
• Kosher salt and freshly ground block pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Peel the onions. Cut off the top of each onion to create a flat surface for browning. Trim the root ends. If any of the onions are noticeably larger than the rest, peel off an outer layer so that they are closer to in size.
3. Heat an oven proof frying pan large enough to hold the onions in a single layer over medium heat. Add the canola oil and heat until warm.
4. Add the onions cut-side down and cook until browned, swirling the pan from time to time for even browning, about 6 minutes. Turn and cook to lightly brown the second side, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and honey to the pan. The honey will bubble up; once it stops, add the chicken stock and swirl the pan to incorporate. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring just to a boil.
5. Transfer to the oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until the onions are tender and the liquid has reduced to a thick glaze. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Transfer the onions to a serving dish and spoon the glaze over the top.