zvant's Profile

Joined: April 6th, 2010

Chipotle Buffalo Wings with Blow-Your-Mind Blue Cheese Dip from High Flavor, Low Labor: Reinventing Weeknight Cooking

The wings were fantastic and the blue cheese dip lived up to its name. The wings are twice-fried, which takes some time, but well worth it. My only complaint is the chipotle sauce -- I wasn't a fan.... read more >

recipe reviews (29)
book reviews (0)
useful review votes (23)

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zvant's Reviews

16 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 16Sort by: Title | Date | Rating

Ad Hoc at Home

By Thomas Keller
Artisan - 2009

Delicious. I'm a big pork tenderloin fan and have tried lots of recipes. This one is easy, with two exceptions -- the brine and the cured lemons. I recommend the cured lemons whole heartedly, but am not sure if the brine is worth the effort.

Keller's recipe stands apart because of the cured lemons. Go the whole nine yards and make the cured lemons in advance. They are well worth the effort and add a unique, exciting taste to the pork. I used Keller's recipe, but made a half batch of the lemons. I can't wait to find more uses for the leftover cured lemons.

I also made the pork brine, and found the pork very slightly over salted. Even with Diamond Crystal, I would recommend cutting the salt by 10% (I may have sprinkled too much salt on before searing, so that may have been the problem). At the end of the day, I'm not sure if the brine is worth the effort. I might do brine and no brine pork side by side in the future so I can see if it really makes a big enough difference to warrant the extra step.

useful (0)  

Light, fluffy and buttery biscuits. Taste delectable straight out of the oven, or they can be warmed in the toaster to re-create the out of the oven experience. I used round cookie cutters (ateco has a nice set), rather than buying a biscuit cutter.

The recipe made 15 biscuits, rather than 12 (as stated in the recipe), so I may consider halving the recipe in the future. The biscuits also puffed up and slightly out in the oven, so be sure not to overcrowd the cookie sheet when baking.

useful (2)  

Good recipe, but not amazing. The steps do allow you to do certain portions in advance, which is helpful. I blanched the cabbage in the morning, and then cooked it later.

It also took me more than 3 batches to cook everything (you carmelize the cabbage in batches) -- I was using an 11 inch pan. In the end, I feel like there must be an easier way to have carmelized cabbage than the method used in this recipe (but I could be wrong).

Finally, I used 3/4 of the suggested amount of butter in the melted onions, more butter would have been too much in my opinion.

useful (0)  

Easy and delicious. As Keller suggests, this dish goes well with the pan roasted halibut. The halibut and this dish are simple, and can easily be made on a week night. I substituted another type of wild mushrooms (I believe they were trumpets), with good results. You can probably use any type of mushroom, so don't feel compelled to track down (and pay for) chanterelles.

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Tasty coffee ice cream. Keller relies on the typical cream, milk, egg yolk, sugar ice cream recipe, but his had more eggs yolks than most recipe. Results were delicious. There was also a robust, but not over powering, coffee flavor, achieved from soaking crushed coffee beans in the milk and cream.

Also, FYI, the key to creamy ice cream is letting it cool completely (for example, overnight) before putting it in the ice cream maker. If you are in the market for an ice cream maker, Cook's Illustrated just named the Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker ($49.95) as their best buy (beating out a more expensive Cuisinart model).

useful (0)  

Can I please give this recipe 6 stars? It is truly an excellent, memorable recipe. The corn combined with the hint of lime and cayenne is a perfect summertime dish. It has sophisticated flavors, but is very easy to execute. The chives add a hint of color and a bit of kick. I plan on making this recipe again and again over the summer. I'm hooked.

useful (2)  

Love, love, love. These are easy to make, but takes two weeks to cure in the refrigerator. The cured lemons add a unique, bright lemon flavor to any dish, which shines through other strong flavors and adds a complex level of flavor.

I've used them in the brined pork tenderloin recipe from the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook and Moroccan dishes that call for preserved lemons.

useful (1)  

Delicious. I've never tasted anyting like it -- the cake has a clear, bright grapefruit flavor. It is sweet, but not too sweet. I have made this grapefruit cake several times, and all my friends are always impressed by it.

I have two comments on the recipe directions. First, the cake needs to bake for approx. 20 minutes longer than the 1 hour directed, so make sure to test it with a toothpick before removing it from the oven.

Also, let the cake cool completely in the pan after adding the grapefruit syrup -- adding the grapefruit sugar syrup moistens the cake and can make it difficult to remove from the pan while the cake is still hot.

useful (1)  

Perfect burgers. The proportions of meat I used were a little off, because the butcher didn't give me exactly what I asked for, but results were delicious nonetheless.

I also suggest certain additional safety precautions when grinding meat (especially in the summer heat) --I put the grinder in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to grinding the meat and put the meat in the fridge between the first and second grinding. Martha Stewart and others have detailed safety instructions. Don't let these safety concerns scare you away from grinding your own meat, grinding at home is much safer than buying ground meat from the store as Keller states (see also, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31meat.html)

useful (1)  

This dish was perfection. Although I've never had anything like it, it felt like comfort food. The leeks seem to be a great addition to bread pudding.

I used an italian loaf (crust removed), rather than the pullman's loaf or brioche called for in the recipe. If you are not cooking for a crowd, this dish also tastes great the next day, either cold or re-heated in the microwave.

useful (0)  

Yum! Cheese! Meatballs! Genius! If you have a kitchenaid mixer, the grinder attachment works great. As the recipe states, these can also be frozen, and they still taste great. I served them with homemade papperdelle, but used a family recipe for the tomato sauce (Keller's oven roasted sause sounds simple and interesting though).

Keller's tip on making sure all the meat gets through the grinder is especially helpful and works (he suggests running a wad of plastic wrap through the ginder, holding on to one end, the wad works its way through the grinder pushing meat forward to the blade, but the blade suprisingly does not slice the plastic wrap).

useful (0)  

Very good. This is a simple dish that is easy for a beginner and can easily be made on a week night. I did not develop a good crust on the fish, but that may be due to the quality of the pan I was using. Also, I cooked it on the second side a bit more than the "kiss" suggested by Keller.

useful (1)  

This is not a traditional panna cotta. If you are looking for something traditional, don't bother. The recipe has a yogurt-flavor tartness (think pinkberry ice cream). It is refreshing and summery.

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A lot of work for potato hash, given the number of steps, but the results were amazing. Who doesn't love butter, potatoes, bacon and onions? Also, I used about 3/4 of the suggested amount of butter in the melted onions, more butter would have been too much (fyi -- the savoy cabbage recipe also calls for melted onions). I took this to a brunch pot luck and people loved it.

useful (1)  

Easy, simple recipe. The combination of butter, wine reduction and garlic was delectible.

However, the shrimp were a bit salty. I think there was too much salt in the brine, I used less than the suggested amount because I was using a finer sea salt, rather than Kosher salt. If I were to make this recipe, I'd cut down the salt.

useful (2)  

A great potato pancake. Very tasty. I cut the recipe in half, and made 2 pancakes that were a bit smaller (maybe 6-7 inches each). This size was only slightly tricky to flip, but it was very do-able. Even with the smaller size, I cooked them for about 9-10 minutes on each side (which is longer than the 6-7 minutes per side recommended in the recipe).

useful (2)