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John Ash

John Ash (post #67259)

soupereasy on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 00:16

CooksTalk Project

OK, John Ash. Cooking one on one.

Lovely book, owned it for years.

Made the tuna sauce for pasta last night. Yes I know I am cheating, it requires minimal cooking. We had a lovely dinner though!;)

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by Jean in reply to soupereasy [original] on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 00:41

OK, I have that one, bought it recently, used, and put it on my shelf. Time to take it down ,eh?

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

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A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
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(post #67259, reply #2 of 33)

by soupereasy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 01:04

Yep, this one is good.:) I keep meaning to take it off the shelf.

Asked DH to pick out something for me to cook. Do you ever get home from work and have no inspiration?

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by MadMom in reply to soupereasy [original] on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 01:06

I have that one. I went to the Food and Wine weekend at the Pinehurst resort right after we moved here, and two of the featured speakers were John Ash and a gentleman who had been pastry chef at the White House for a gazillion years. Both were outstanding, and I bought both of their cookbooks. Can't remember the other guy's name, though.

Not One More Day! Not One More Dime! Not One More Life! Not One More Lie!

End the Occupation of Iraq -- Bring the Troops Home Now!

And Take Care of Them When They Get Here!

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by Marie Louise in reply to soupereasy [original] on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 02:15

Owned it years ago. I gave it away but not before gleaming some great ideas and recipes. It is a great book.

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by Lee in reply to soupereasy [original] on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 23:22

I never bought that one, but I bought his earlier book, From the Earth To The Table, years ago when we stayed at Vintner's Inn and ate at his restaurant there. The book is dog-eared from use. I really like his style of cooking.

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by Marcia in reply to Anonymous [original] on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 00:03

Ash had at least one and perhaps two shows on the Food Network in earlier years, which only goes to show how far it has fallen.

(post #67259, reply #7 of 33)

by Lee in reply to Anonymous [original] on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 00:25

Yes, I used to watch it. He's a wonderful teacher.

(post #67259, reply #11 of 33)

by Marcia in reply to Anonymous [original] on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 17:35

Yes, one gets the impression that Ash enjoys teaching, which is at least half the battle. :)

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by kathymcmo in reply to Anonymous [original] on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 04:11

That inn is just up the road from me and my company has events there often. I also get to kisten to him every Sat on local radio for an hour. So I really need to get at least one of these cookbooks!

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by butterscotch in reply to Anonymous [original] on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 07:11

I love the Vintner's Inn and restaurant. John Ash used to write for FC occasionally when I first started subscribing. If the #!* search feature will cooperate, you might be able to find a few of his recipes here.

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by soupereasy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 00:44

Have a question about one of his ingredients. It is for a wild mushroom pate. "Toasted nut oil, such as walnut or olive oil."?

Colour me confused, only toasted nut oil I know about is sesame.

Think it could be an error?

(post #67259, reply #13 of 33)

by Lee in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 00:58

It's not an error unless the the comma before "olive oil" has been omitted in the book. I don't know of any toasted olive oil. ;^)

I use La Tourangelle toasted (or roasted) nut oils.

http://www.latourangelle.com/intl/products.php

Edited 2/6/2009 9:15 pm ET by lee

(post #67259, reply #14 of 33)

by soupereasy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 01:16

Sorry, my omission. So I could just use olive oil. Good to know as I am really not a nut oil user, and it only calls for 2 TBL.

Thank you:)

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by Marie Louise in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 03:22

Kathymo just bought some toasted olive oil-and she lives in the same town as John Ash.

(post #67259, reply #16 of 33)

by Lee in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 03:37

Really? Well, you learn something new every day. I'd love to taste it.

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by kathymcmo in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 05:52

It's quite unusual, so far I have only used it for dipping bread but the vendor at the market told me it's great on roasted vegetables, fish and chicken.

http://www.thesmokedolive.com/index.html

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by Lee in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 16:04

So it's wood smoked, not roasted. Sounds intriguiging.

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by soupereasy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 05:07

The book was published 2004. Were they making it then?

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by Heather in reply to soupereasy [original] on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 00:59

A favorite easy braise of mine is a Peppered Beef Stew of his that I found in a Sunset magazine. I'm not sure if it is any of his cookbooks but it is delicious.

(post #67259, reply #22 of 33)

by ICDOCEAN1 in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 16:46

Is this the one?

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=printerFriendly&recipe_id=600603

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by Heather in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 17:11

Yes, that's it. I do a very slow braise in the oven, rather than simmering on the stove. I also usually sauté some onions after I brown the meat and add those too.

I didn't remember that the Sunset version of the recipe had that strange browning method--I would think that a 20 minute brisk simmer would make the beef very tough.

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by nutcakes in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 10:59

Funny that I chose to make this recipe from the book tonight without seeing these posts. In the book, he calls it slow-cooked beef stew or Peposo and 2 major differences are:

He uses 2-1/2 lbs beef to same amount of other ingredients in the link, I used larger chunks as implied in his pic here, you can do it whole too.

AND

"...it stays in the oven all day. Something happens in the long slow cooking that gives the meat great flavor and texture and mellows the pepper.

So I am cooking it as he suggests, in a crock-pot, and alternate is a 275F oven for 8 to 10 hours.

Already it is 5 hours and it smells heavenly, with the large amount of garlic and basil and pepper.

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by soupereasy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 15:52

Looked it up, sounds like a good dish for tomorrow, my day off. I have everything on hand except the beef. Thanks for the heads up!:)

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by Heather in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 17:27

I cook it at about 250 for a long time, but definitely not 8 to 10 hours! I also usually increase the sauce to meat ratio because my husband likes saucy things. ;-)

I hope you like it as much as we do.

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by kathymcmo in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 17:31

because my husband likes saucy things.

Well then it's good that he has you!

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by Heather in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 17:37

I think so!

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by soupereasy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 21:23

Have it in the slow cooker now. The aroma is really great. The book indicated that the meat could be left whole which I did.

Liked his tip for cracking peppercorns. Put them in an envelope and hit them with something hard. I sealed them in a business envelope and hit them with a hammer. Worked a treat!
I have tried the bottom of the pan method, I give it a thumbs down. I usually have bits and bobs all over the counter, and they are rolling around whole laughing at me.

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by soupereasy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Tue, 02/10/2009 - 22:47

The pot roast was a hit. Very pleased with this recipe.

There was a note in the recipe which said it is traditionally served on slightly stale crusty bread, (Funny enough I had a loaf of that on hand;)), so that is what I did.

Going to make the mushroom pate tomorrow.

ETA. I would have posted pics. but DH has yet to figure out how to get the 5 year old camera to work with my 3 week old computer. My last hand-me-down died. I think this is the first time I have ever had a brand new one.

Edited 2/10/2009 4:51 pm ET by soupereasy

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by soupereasy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Thu, 02/19/2009 - 01:16

Wild mushroom pate, not something I would try again unless I had real wild mushrooms. He said I could use domestic and I added some rehydrated porcini.
Used some of the pate as a spread on the bottom of a tart last night. OK.

Made laurie's broccoli sauce for pasta. :/

If I don't find something as good as the tuna sauce, this book may be history.

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by courgette in reply to Anonymous [original] on Thu, 02/19/2009 - 15:48

I have made the pan roasted chicken with Asian butter sauce in the past and we liked it.

No idea where the italics came from!