American Chef and Restauranteur Thomas Keller presents a big beautiful book about the art and joy of cooking. This book has elegant pictures and an abundance of recipes. I had not heard of him until I read a restaurant review for a new place in the Twin Cities and they made reference to his fried chicken recipe which if you are a fan it sounds wonderful and easy. This book is for people who love to cook and aren't afraid to try new things. It will solidify your cooking skills. The person who rarely cooks won't enjoy it. It also gives primers on cutting up a whole chicken-the best way to purchase according to Keller, making stock and pie crust; something he highly recommends because it will expand a cook's repertoire. He also gives his advice on which kitchen products are essential like a Japanese Mandolin Slicer. This book is one of those to savor slowly as it has 300 pages and is oversized. I loved it even if the text was a bit small. Beautiful book, excellent technique and lots of very useful instructions with photos on basic but necessary cooking skills, like cutting up a chicken properly for frying. He is also dead on about being prepared for cooking in the intro to the book (read the beginning of the book!): Measure out all your ingredients and have them lined up on the counter before you even start with your recipe, and i can tell you as a cook who tends to be ADD in the kitchen, this will save you from starting a recipe and realizing halfway through that you're missing a key ingredient or don't have enough of one, like eggs or something, so now it's all for naught. However, Keller somehow manages to turn even the simplest recipes into something overly complicated. I understand the need for perfection, that's why he's one of the greatest chefs working today and his restaurants are critically acclaimed. But this is pushing it as a cookbook for the home chef. I do enjoy a lot of the recipes, especially the preserving section, and his technique for cooking prime rib was fascinating and I'm eager to try it. I will probably buy this book for my home library for it's reference qualities, but I don't see myself making every recipe.If you want a truly amazing famous-chef-whose-recipes-are-amazing book to cook from that you will ACTUALLY cook from, then get a copy of Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook. I've yet to find a book that is so incredibly straightforward, accessible and useful with instructions like the Les Halles book is.
What do You think about Ad Hoc At Home (2009)?
A little too nice for everyday cooking, but gorgeous photos that will make you hungry.
—kijack
I love this man's cookbooks - they are brilliant - and this book is just awesome.
—kmx
A bit more complicated recipes but I like how he lays it all out and teaches.
—Karen
