ad hoc at home #1 revisited: buttermilk fried chicken

Since I was too stressed and eager to eat the first time to take any pictures of the finished product, I made the buttermilk fried chicken again. Since this is probably the quintessential ad hoc recipe, this time I invited the friends that gifted me the cookbook to try it and compare it with the fried chicken they had the week before at TK's ad hoc restaurant. This time, I was much more relaxed, and Mark was around to snap a few more pictures of the process and the finished product.

We were much less messy this time.
And now that we were more aware of the actual cooking time (2-3 minutes more than indicated in the cookbook per batch), our timing was much better. And since we were working in batches - first the thighs, then drumsticks, then breasts, and finally wings - we kept the first batches in a warm oven until the guests arrived.
And voila! Beautiful fried chicken.
Before frying, Mark and I prepared a couple of side dishes.
He made mashed potatoes. I made coleslaw.
The colors were gorgeous on the plate.

ad hoc at home #5: beef stroganoff

As I indicated in my last post, the ad hoc at home braised beef short ribs are a precursor to two other recipes in the cookbook, and the second time I made them, I made extra to use a second day in one of these other recipes. I chose to make the Beef Stroganoff. And it was rich, well-balanced, full of beef and mushroom flavor, and totally yummy despite (1) the fact that I used store-bought pappardelle instead of making my own, (2) I used a hand blender (instead of an actual blender or fine-mesh strainer, can't remember which he called for) so my mushroom cream sauce still had small bits of mushroom, which is totally fine by me, and (3) it turned out looking like this:


Believe you me the pictures do not do it justice. I knew that the mushroom flavor would be the key to this dish, but boy did I underestimate it's power. The rich, beefy goodness of the short ribs combined with the deep, creamy, mushroom flavors rendered my three-day process (day 1: beef stock, day 2: braised short ribs, day 3: beef stroganoff) totally worth it. Needless to say, after hours of cooking, Mark and I devoured it.