Oh Mr. Keller, how could you?

[Jenise]

A recipe--no wait, let's be honest, a picture, a giant close-up about 10 inches square--of a solid square of pan-seared skirt steak topped with an opulent quantity of golden caramelized shallots plated with a minimally dressed bright green salad in Thomas Keller's bistro-themed book Bouchon gave me one of those one-off crazed foodie obsessions last week that could only be satisfied one way: I had to have that dish.

So I made it.

And it was good.

But like the other kind of porn (or so I'd like to think, not being into that), reality didn't quite live up to the dream. Flavor? Oh man yes, it was all there. The sweetness of the shallots, lightly seasoned with but salt, pepper and fresh thyme, was magical, and it deserves pride of place among caramlized onion-products especially when paired with hot rare beef products.

But the recipe itself was rather incomplete. That is, following it exactly will not get you the results in the picture. Oh no, not even close. Which suggests that even the uncompromising Thomas Keller, Mr. Laborious Technique, can be compromised, will dumb down his recipes for the sake of selling a book to someone with the attention span of Rachel Ray's flea.

Crap.

This is the first recipe from the book I've done, and it does not bode well for the rest.

Here are the two hearts of my complaint:

The shallots. In order to get to the desirable state shown in the picture (and no doubt cooked that way in his restaurant), the shallots must plod away slowly on your cooktop for at least an hour. The 20 or so minutes implied by the recipe will merely yield softness vs. the hardness that went into the pan. But limp and caramelized are not the same thing. Fortunately, I'm a good cook and knew what it took to get the result I wanted, and so the shallots had all the time in the world to get to the desired frenzy-inducing state, and dinner was not held up. But a lesser cook would have been tricked into stopping well short, and as a result would not have achieved shallot-nirvana and most likely been left scratching her head and wondering what the f-word that was all about, and

The skirt steak. Here's where he got me: the instructions recommended a quick stove top sear followed by a quick trip to the oven to finish the steak to medium rare. I took that at face value, fascinated (perhaps wrongly) by the thought of pan-searing and serving whole like a steak a meat I had only considered suitable for grilling and thin slicing, in which state I (who likes chewy, fatty beef) adore it. I had the perfect size piece of skirt, about ten inches wide, which cut nicely into two portions before going into the frying pan. Well, I'm here to tell you that there's a good reason why 'stove top' and 'serve whole' are not phrases that immediately come to mind when cooking skirt steak. It's just too tough a cut. Though cooked to a perfect medium rare, which really is the perfect doneness for this cut and what we go for when we grill it, sawing away at it with a good sharp steak knife is more work than most of us want to go to. Don't try it if you have arthritis in your cutting arm, and be sure not to use your best plates if you ignore my advice and do this anyway. You'll scar them for life, seasawing away to get your next bite while the surface of the plate screams in resistance. So clearly what happens in the Keller kitchen is that they run the steaks through a tenderizer or they'd be impossible for white table cloth service no matter how casual.

But does he mention anything about tenderizing in the book? Oh no. He just waxes poetic about the flavor in these "lesser" cuts, knowing that any mention of special devices sends most home cooks running into the hills.

And so a hero falls. Thomas Keller is imperfect. Commercial. A sell-out. Boo hoo, boo hoo. What's next, a game show on the Food Network?

You nailed it perfectly,]Jenise. I have his tried a few of his recipes and you MUST read completely through them or else you are left in the dust wondering what happened along the way. His recipes are very labor intensive, sadly so, when a few shortcuts would have worked for the busy cook trying to sort through all the directions. In most all recipes that call for caramelizing onions or shallots, I have found that more time, almost double the time, is needed to do it correctly, to achieve that sweetness and color. The process cannot be rushed.

Skirt steak, flank steak and London Broil, IMHO need marinating, of some type to tenderize the meat. I dislike meat run through a meat tenderizer, preferring to let the ingredients in the marinade do the work, and do it better than any mechanical apparatus. Good read....you should do a cookbook!

[Jenise]

His recipes are very labor intensive, sadly so, when a few shortcuts would have worked for the busy cook trying to sort through all the directions.

Thanks for the comments. Actually, though, I may not have made myself clear because I appreciate his laboriousness. His recipes should be read just to learn from his technique and that's why I want his books. But his style of cooking is not for what you called the busy cook--it's about how to get the highest quality result no matter what that takes. The type of cook who is looking for "30 minute meals" should shop elsewhere, and there are plenty of books on the market skewed toward them. I was only complaining about the way I presume--no, I know--this recipe as is will not yield the result shown in the picture or worthy of his reputation.

Great comments Jenise. I have been reading cookbooks very differently in recent years. Much more critically and it is appalling what passes muster. Sadly, the sell out factor is pervasive and inexperienced cooks will be disappointed. They serve best as a basic outline of the idea but lack the attention to detail about ingredients and technique that make all the difference. I don't have any Keller books but after your post would want them only for the photos and ideas

The skirt steak. And here's where he got me: the instructions recommended a quick stove top sear followed by a quick trip to the oven to finish the steak to medium rare. I took that at face value, fascinated (perhaps wrongly) by the thought of pan-searing and serving whole like a steak a meat I had only considered suitable for grilling and thin slicing, in which state I (who likes chewy, fatty beef) adore it. I had the perfect size piece of skirt, about ten inches wide, which cut nicely into two portions before going into the frying pan. Well, I'm here to tell you that there's a good reason why 'stove top' and 'serve whole' are not phrases that immediately come to mind when cooking skirt steak. It's just too tough a cut. Though cooked to a perfect medium rare, which really is the perfect doneness for this cut and what we go for when we grill it, sawing away at it with a good sharp steak knife is more work than most of us want to go to. Don't try it if you have arthritis in your cutting arm, and be sure not to use your best plates if you ignore my advice and do this anyway. You'll scar them for life, seasawing away to get your next bite while the surface of the plate screams in resistance. So clearly what happens in the Keller kitchen is that they run the steaks through a tenderizer or they'd be impossible for white table cloth service no matter how casual.

I wonder if he even wrote the book or the recipe. I know of no competent cook that would serve either flank or skirt in a whole sheet! Unless it is at a rustic Rio Plantense parillada where one eats off of wooden planks and uses the sharp knife that one carries in the belt or sash to do the cutting!

Reminds me of the "Frugal Guy" or the marketing partner of "Silver Palate" fame . In both cases I found their recipes best used as "lists" of ingredients. Forget the timing or the quantities!.

I have found that the timing given in many recipes is off. Even with 15,000 BTU burners I have problems matching the timing.

You guys have neatly elucidated some of the problems with celebrity chefs in pro kitchens writing cookbooks for amateurs in home kitches (even very devoted amateurs in very expensive home kitchens).

It's interesting that two of the chef/cookbook authors I rely on most for dependable "the way it looks and sounds in the book that actually gets replicated the way I think it will" are John Ash and Biba Caggiano (from Bibba's restaurant in Sacro, and with about eight or so books, primarily on Italian cooking).

I have never....not one time...had a recipe from either one of these people fail to work largely as described, and to taste largely as expected. And to point out, clearly, every step of the way, with hints and tips to do things right the first time.

Too many times a master chef isn't a very good teacher (which is what a cookbook writer is, or should be, unless it's just coffee table vanity, which most of those are). So he gets some published to put out some glossy overpriced show book that really isn't a cookbook anyway. For that to work, you'd have to have a professional chef and kitchen staff to cook it for you, then have a very good professional food photographer to take a picture of it so you could remember how beautiful it was.

Thomas Keller makes some beautiful food. Actually, TK and his very large staff make some beautiful food. And he makes a beautiful coffee table book. But I don't think he does good cookbook.

Along these lines, here's an entertaining piece in Slate on a cookbook smackdown between Thomas Keller and The Pioneer Woman.

It's interesting that two of the chef/cookbook authors I rely on most for dependable "the way it looks and sounds in the book that actually gets replicated the way I think it will" are John Ash and Biba Caggiano (from Bibba's restaurant in Sacro, and with about eight or so books, primarily on Italian cooking).

I have never....not one time...had a recipe from either one of these people fail to work largely as described, and to taste largely as expected. And to point out, clearly, every step of the way, with hints and tips to do things right the first time.
.

Any particular favorite John Ash book? We've had great success with Biba, so your comparison makes me curious.
Despite being a celebrity, I think Ming Tsai also does good cookbooks (though I dislike the "master recipe" that is then used multiple times conceit of his second book, preferring Blue Ginger).

I

Dale, I like them all for different reasons.

If I had to pick one, probably Cooking One on One because it's specifically intended to be a teaching book rather than just a book of recipes. And thus far it has been flawless.

But From the Earth to the Table is a classic, and the book on game and "fire" cooking is good too.

I echo Hoke; like what I've read from John Ash's books and From the Earth to the Table is a classic.

From the Earth to the Table is also one of our favorites. Try the recipe for scallops with vanilla!

From the Earth to the Table is also one of our favorites. Try the recipe for scallops with vanilla!

Wasn't somebody asking about lobster and vanilla just a few months ago?

Wasn't somebody asking about lobster and vanilla just a few months ago?

Now that you mention it, I think that's correct. I've never had the lobster version but the scallops are wonderful with it.

[Jenise]

Wasn't somebody asking about lobster and vanilla just a few months ago?

Now that you mention it, I think that's correct. I've never had the lobster version but the scallops are wonderful with it.

Yeah, Gary Bobier was going to do a version in his extravaganza dinner that should be happening any time now. I did a version of the dish once myself--got a bit too much vanilla in it, and I was surprised at how easy that was to do.

thanks guys, ordered Earth to Table as a first try.