Thomas Keller is most known for his landmark 3 Michelin star restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California. French Laundry food is famously exquisite, requiring an insane amount of preparation for each dish (if you’re curious about just how insane, check out Carol Blymire’s now retired French Laundry at Home blog in which she cooked her way through the restaurant’s cookbook.) A few years ago Keller launched another restaurant in the area, ad hoc, for patrons who wanted quality, without all the fuss. Home cooking, done incredibly well.

Out of the restaurant came the cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home which made its way to our home last fall, and into my father’s hands. Now, normally my dad shows only a mild interest in the various cookbooks that come our way (unless it’s a cookbook featuring sauerkraut and pork, in which case he’s all over it), but this time, not only did dear old dad read the book cover to cover twice, but he enthusiastically tackled Keller’s roast chicken with root vegetables, cooked in a cast iron pan. (I’m guessing it’s because the recipe calls for rutabagas and turnips, dad’s favorite food group next to sauerkraut and pork.) But for whatever reason, it’s now the only way that dad will roast a chicken (at least for the last 5 months).

Continue reading "Keller’s Roast Chicken" »