Photo by Deborah Jones

In this latest cookbook “Ad Hoc at Home” he celebrates the art of home cooking, his way. Ad Hoc at Home mimics the same philosophy that chef Keller put to use when opening the restaurant of the same name -  family style meals reminiscent of home.  I know I wish every home I step into would serve dishes like these. Chef Keller’s process is methodical and detail oriented, often times the recipes will take you far longer than you would expect, even for some of the simplest dishes, but the end results are breathtaking - his recipe for Beef Stew is by far the best I’ve ever made.

Since time is always of the essence I haven’t had a chance to work my way through too much of this cookbook, but one dish that I could make over and over again are the Grit Cakes with the Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce (see below).  My daughters and I love corn grits and make them frequently at home, but this recipe takes them to an entirely different level.  Home style cooking done right with one of the world’s greatest chefs, it doesn‘t get much better than that.

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Grits Cakes

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• 1 garlic clove
• Kosher salt
• 3 1/2 cups Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock
• 2 cups coarse stone-ground white grits
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick; 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
• Freshly ground black pepper
• About 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups finely ground panko crumbs
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Canola oil
• Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce (see below)
• Deep-fried oregano

Crispy polenta is an easy, satisfying dish, and it gave us the idea of trying a similar preparation using grits instead of cornmeal. When we make polenta, we sometimes enrich it with Italian mascarpone. For these grits cakes, we replace it with all-American cream cheese, and the result is crispy on the outside and creamy in the middle. These will work as an appetizer as well, topped with a small dollop of Tomato-Basil Marmalade.

Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (or a quarter sheet pan) with parchment paper. Cut a second sheet of parchment the same size and set aside.

Finely chop the garlic. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and work into a paste, chopping and scraping the garlic with the side of a chef's knife.

Combine the garlic paste and chicken stock in a medium saucepan, season with salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and slowly whisk in the grits. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally to keep the grits from sticking to the bottom of the pan, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until all the stock has been absorbed and the grits are tender with just slight resistance; when a spoon is dragged through the grits, the bottom of the pan should remain visible.

Stir in the butter until it has absorbed, then stir in the cream cheese until well combined and smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spread the grits evenly in the prepared pan. Cover with the second sheet of parchment paper. With your hands, smooth and compress the layer of grits. Top with a second baking sheet, weight with cans or foil-wrapped bricks, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm, or overnight.

Remove the top pan and the parchment from the grits. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen them and invert the pan onto a cutting board. Peel off  the parchment paper. Trim the edges and cut the grits into 12 equal pieces.

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet.

Spread the flour in a shallow bowl. Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Combine the panko crumbs and parsley in a third shallow bowl.

Line another baking sheet with parchment paper. Dip each cake into the flour, turning to coat and patting off excess, then dip in the eggs, letting the excess drip off, and coat well in the panko crumbs. Set on the baking sheet.

Pour 1/2 inch of oil into a large nonstick frying pan and heat over medium heat until the oil just begins to shimmer. Carefully add as many cakes as will fit in the pan comfortably and cook until golden on the first side, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook until golden on the second side, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to the rack and put in the oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining cakes, adding more oil if needed. If at any point there are burned panko crumbs in the oil, discard the oil and replace it with fresh oil before continuing.

Coat a serving platter with some of the tomato sauce, arrange the grits cakes over the sauce, and sprinkle with the oregano leaves. Additional sauce can be served on the side.

SERVES 6

Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

Excerpted from AD HOC AT HOME by Thomas Keller (Artisan Books). Copyright 2009. Deborah Jones photographer.

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup minced leeks (white and pale green parts only)
• 1 cup finely chopped fennel
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Two 28- to 32-ounce cans San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 Sachet (see below)
• Freshly ground black pepper
  

This is a convenient tomato sauce because it's all done in the oven-you don't need to spend time tending the pot on the stovetop. Use San Marzano tomatoes, from the eponymous region in Italy that grows the best plum tomatoes for sauces. This version is excellent with grits, polenta, or meatballs.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine the oil, onion, leeks, fennel, and garlic in a large ovenproof

Dutch oven or a baking dish and sprinkle with salt. Put in the oven and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the vegetables are tender and beginning to caramelize.

Stir in the brown sugar and vinegar and return to the oven for another 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, drain the canned tomatoes and remove the seeds.

Coarsely chop half the tomatoes. Puree the other half in a food processor. Add the tomatoes to the vegetables along with the sachet, season with salt and pepper to taste, and return to the oven for 1H hours, stirring every 30 minutes. The sauce should be thick and have a full rich flavor. Run the side of a spoon through the sauce-if it runs back together immediately, it is too thin. Return it to the oven and cook until thickened.

Discard the sachet and let the sauce cool to room temperature.

Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 1 week.

MAKES ABOUT 2 1/2 CUPS

Sachet

• 1 bay leaf
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled
  

Sachets are used to flavor cooking liquids. A cheesecloth sachet encloses small herbs and spices such as peppercorns and cloves, and works like a tea bag. Once the contents have added their flavors to the cooking liquid, the sachet can easily be removed and discarded.     

Lay out a 7-inch square of cheesecloth. Put the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, and garlic near the bottom of the square and fold the bottom edge up and over them. Roll once, tuck in the two ends of the cheesecloth, and continue to roll. Tie the cheesecloth at both ends with kitchen twine.

MAKES 1 SACHET

Win a copy of Ad Hoc At Home

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