Behold the world’s greatest fried chicken!
Yes, time to celebrate NATIONAL FRIED CHICKEN DAY! And THIS fried chicken is made by America’s greatest Chef!
Food And Wine Agrees!
Food And Wine just released a list of the best fried chicken in the US, and Chef Thomas Keller’s chicken was on the list!
Here’s what Food And Wine said: “To make his juicy and incredibly crisp chicken, chef Thomas Keller soaks it in a lemony brine before frying. The chicken, which is served every other Monday at Ad Hoc, is one of the most popular dishes at the restaurant. “Since Fried Chicken Night only happens twice a month,” Keller says, “people have a wonderful sense of anticipation.”
Here is where you can find the entire F&W list:
http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/best-fried-chicken-in-the-us/13
Now, let’s head to Keller’s restaurant and dig in!
Welcome to Yountville, California and Ad Hoc Restaurant!
Chef Thomas Keller is America’s greatest Chef, with multiple restaurants….I’ve written up an entire post about him, which you can see here:
Or, just enter Thomas Keller in the search line and you will find a number of great stories about Chef Keller, his restaurants, and his cookbooks as well! Author Michael Ruhlman collaborated with Chef Keller on the cookbooks, which are beautiful and full of great recipes…
Schmaltz To You, Ruhls!
Of course, don’t forget to also order Ruhlman’s new cookbook for the iPad: “Schmaltz!” This is a great ibook, check it out on Michael’s site!
http://ruhlman.com/2012/12/schmaltz-ipad-cookbook/
Ad Hoc Fried Chicken!
Back to chicken: Chef Keller’s latest restaurant in Yountville is Ad Hoc, which specializes in a single, family-style meal each day…like the brunch we had one time there…
Yes, the day we were there, they served Keller’s famous fried chicken, served up with waffles! Karen and Bruce joined us for this feast, the centerpiece being the famous Ad Hoc fried chicken…
Ad Hoc is Keller’s treatise on American comfort foods — fried chicken, steaks and chops, – a 4-course meal for about $50, including a cheese course and dessert – And of course, there is a cookbook!
In “Ad Hoc at Home”, Keller showcases more than 200 recipes for family-style meals. This is Keller at his most playful, serving up such truck-stop classics as Potato Hash with Bacon and Melted Onions and grilled-cheese sandwiches, and heartier fare including beef Stroganoff and roasted spring leg of lamb.
Chef Keller Is “Hands On!”
And this isn’t an “absentee Chef” – the picture above is a shot I captured of Chef Keller walking from one of his restaurants in Yountville – either Bouchon or The French Laundry – heading down to Ad Hoc. If you go to Yountville, the odds are you will see Chef at one or more of his restaurants – he is that hands on…
In the “Ad Hoc” cookbook, you can learn how Chef Keller cooked family style. In fun, full-color photographs, the great chef gives step-by-step lessons in kitchen basics — you will see Keller teaching how to perfectly shape a basic hamburger, truss a chicken, or dress a salad. Simple food done right, and tasting fantastic…
Ad Hoc Fried Chicken At Home!
Finally, the legendary Ad Hoc Fried Chicken! Every other Monday, Ad Hoc serves this perfect chicken, coated in a blend of spices and buttermilk after being brined for hours and hours…
It is the best you’ll ever taste, and now you can make it at home – Williams Sonoma sells a “do it yourself” kit!
I’ve made it twice, and it turns out pretty close to the restaurant version…everything you need (aside from buttermilk and chicken) is right there –
The directions are easy to follow, you simply make the brining liquid in the packet and then brine the chicken for many hours…
Then you coat it and cook it up…of course there are more elaborate steps, but the package lays it all out, and the brining makes the chicken incredibly moist, while the “secret blend of herbs and spices” really does make this chicken pop!
The only thing I’ve had to live with is frying it in a large pan versus being able to deep fry it…which really is something a professional kitchen can do much easier than I can at home…but that is a small price to pay when you get to eat THIS:
Still, you can do a very good approximation in your own kitchen…especially since Keller’s blend of herbs and spices is impossible to replicate…
I made a nice platter of chicken, and served it alongside garlic mashed potatoes and baked corn – a recipe I bastardized from Michael Ruhlman’s website…he makes a velvety baked corn that I add sauteed garlic to, as well as some mozzarella cheese over the top…
I don’t think it tastes as good at home as it does at the restaurant – because, to be honest, how can you compete with a professional kitchen like this?
But it is close, and who doesn’t want to DREAM about eating Chef Keller’s fried chicken any day of the week? I know I do!
Addendum!
And if you don’t have time to make it yourself, head to Yountville, where a small building behind Ad Hoc, called Addendum, sells the fried chicken Thursday through Saturday all summer long!
Categories: Books / Media, cookbooks, Food, Food Review, Recipes, Restaurants, Technology, Travel, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized, Wacky Food, wine
johnrieber 
Reblogged this on johnrieber and commented:
I’ve been on a bit of a fried chicken binge lately…this could be why
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