Food Therapy with Thomas Keller

With March Madness pushing me to the edge of sanity, I truly did need my Food Therapy. I chose to give myself a personal day from work and life to spend at home.

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As one could imagine, my expectations were very high for these first kitchen encounters with Ad Hoc a Home. Beginning with the Pistachio Butter earlier in the day, I decided to also break in this beaut of a book by tackling:

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AD HOC'S SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

Meatballs and Pappardelle

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OVEN ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE

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I am a huge, and I mean HUGE, fan of homemade tomato sauce. Thomas Keller offers, what is for me, a rather unique variation...from its ingredients to its cooking method.

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Some unlikely ingredients:

Leeks, Fennel, Red Wine Vinegar, Brown Sugar

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Unusual cooking method: Oven Roasted in my Le Creuset

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This very easy, no fuss sauce and done all inside your oven!

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I did venture off Keller's directed path just a bit. The recipe actually directs you to drain some canned tomatoes and chop them up, removing seeds. Now if you ask me that sounds like a lot of unnecessary work, so instead I just dumped the two cans directly in and used my masher to break them up. I also added just a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.

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Another override was to not use the herb sachet, which is just an herb/spice bundle wrapped up in some cheese cloth. At this stage in my cooking, I do not have cheese cloth on hand, have actually never bought it...not sure I'd know where to look for it! Instead I improvised...

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HERB SACHET UNDONE

Whole Black Peppercorns - Fresh Ground Pepper

Fresh Thyme Sprigs - Dried Thyme

Bay Leaf - Dried Bay Leaf

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Everything simmers uncovered in the oven until thickened (about 1.5 hours). Now just walk away...this super simple sauce works itself, only requiring you to stir a few times during the cooking process (Keller says every 30 minutes). Just remember to remove the bay leaf before serving.

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MEATBALLS AND PAPPARDELLE

(or rather Bucatini)

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I didn't find any Pappardelle at my grocery store and didn't really feel like trying to make it myself, since I don't have a pasta maker to make easy the rolling/thining part.

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Instead I decided to substitute Bucatini, which is like a spaghetti straw. The nice part of this pasta is it traps the saucy yumminess inside.

*Since I had the day to myself, I made a special trip to the meat market (aka butcher shop) in the next town over. Keller calls for chuck, sirloin, pork butt, and veal. As I informed you in my pork cutlet entry, I cannot seem to bring myself to buy veal and decided to override yet again by replacing the call for veal with extra sirloin.

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Another first-time of this cooking session was pulling out our wedding gifted meat grinder!
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All of the meats are cubed, salted and run through...then run through again.
Absolutely awesome!!
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Sauteed onions/garlic, panko breadcrumbs, parsley and egg are mixed in.

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Baseball sized meatballs are rolled, stuffed with a cube of fresh mozzarella, and baked in the oven.
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The pasta is mixed up with melted butter, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

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Finished meatballs plated atop the oven roasted sauce.

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These are GIGANTIC and filled with melted cheesy goodness!

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Ad Hoc's Spaghetti and Meatballs at home.

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DELICIOUS!

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Keller does not disappoint with these two recipes.

They are both rather easy and super tasty!

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Onto the next Ad Hoc attempt...

thinking about some cupcakes with buttercream frosting.