Jacques Pépin is Amazing

I just really like his cooking. It seems as if everything I make from him turns out amazing.

This week I used a couple of his recipes: a spinach/macadamia nut/raisin side and a lamb curry made in a pressure cooker. That curry was effen crazy good.

And the guy is a master of cooking eggs.

Btw, here is the lamb curry recipe. I must say that adding a banana and apple to it seemed strange.

k.

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Lamb Curry

4 servings

2 pounds lamb stew meat

2 cups diced onions (1-inch pieces)

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic

1 1/2 cups coarsely diced tomatoes

1 apple, cored but not peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 banana, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño or to taste

1 cup coconut milk, well-stirred

2 1/2 tablespoons curry powder, or more to taste

1 teaspoon ground cumin, or more to taste

1 teaspoon salt

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup fruity white wine

2 tablespoons instant flour, such as Wondra

Hot cooked rice

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Bottled chutney

Shredded unsweetened coconut

Roasted nuts

Put lamb, onions, garlic, tomatoes, apple, banana, jalapeño, coconut milk, curry powder, cumin, salt, bay leaves and wine into a pressure cooker. Sprinkle the flour on top and mix well.

Bring to a boil over high heat. Secure the lid on the pressure cooker and cook over high heat until 15 pounds pressure (high pressure, if your cooker does not register pounds) is reached. Reduce heat and cook for 25 minutes, maintaining desired pressure.

Decompress the pressure cooker according to the manufacturer's instructions; remove the lid. Remove and discard bay leaves. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Ladle over rice; pass cilantro, chutney, coconut and nuts at the table to sprinkle to taste.

We started gifting copies of La Technique and La Methode to our crews when they first came out. I've always loved his stuff. He makes everything approachable .

one of several great events in my life involved cooking for or with Jacque. Cooked him and Claudine a special dinner when I worked at Barmouche in Phoenix . Was a judge in a Recipe contest with Jacque when I was the Executive Chef at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan and my all time favorite was cooking for Jacque and Julia at the very early years of my chef journey. One of my favorite human beings. quite a good painter also.

So many of my recipes are Jacques Pepin stuff slightly tweaked for technique and ingredient availability. They always work great, and they always impress. He is the best.

I love Jacques Pépin, and quite frequently watch reruns of his show on PBS.

Cooking for him must have been a nerve wracking experience, Son!

Actually, he was the one of the nicest persons I ever met. He came up to me with his camera and was taking pictures of us working, when he suddenly started laughing. I look up to see a stranger in my kitchen taking pictures. It dawns on me that guy is Jacque Pepin. He says to me ," Good, you are still smiling, remember when you quit smiling it is time to get out." I have never forgotten that advice. Sad thing is I quit smiling in the kitchen along time ago. Been trying to get out for awhile now. He is a genuinely nice guy and has forgotten more about food than most of us will ever know.

Do you remember what you made?

Truthfully, I don't remember all of it.. He came in with Claudine during a very busy Friday night. We had no idea he was popping in. The owner Mark Tarbel was a "celebrity chef" and was doing some charitable event or something the following day and Jacque was giving a demo. I want to say that we made French butter lettuce salad, with Roquefort cheese, walnuts and a simple vinaigrette ,Sole Meuniere with tourneed potatoes and julienne vegetables and a Grilled Wild Boar tenderloin with something. For Dessert, I think we made a tart citron. Very simple and classic. Went over very well. He was impressed by the fact that we didn't make a special fancy meal for him. We didn't try to impress him with all the bells and whistles. Some of the guys wanted to, obviously. They fought me on it but, I know many times chefs just want to eat something simple and comfortable. It worked out right.

He's one of my heroes. You're so lucky to have cooked with him. I hope I can meet him one day.

His are my go to recipes. I watch his video when I need help. Cooking lamb shanks and white beans tonight.

here's a a recipe for me to try next time. thank for haring this great recipe.

I like to watch on pbs as well. What is the best book to get?

sachem allison said:

one of several great events in my life involved cooking for or with Jacque. Cooked him and Claudine a special dinner when I worked at Barmouche in Phoenix . Was a judge in a Recipe contest with Jacque when I was the Executive Chef at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan and my all time favorite was cooking for Jacque and Julia at the very early years of my chef journey. One of my favorite human beings. quite a good painter also.

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My high esteem for you just went up a couple of notches Son!

I've watched and learned from Pepin on screen but haven't got any of his books. Which one do you Pepinophiles recommend?

Most of all I like the simple elegance in the way he cooks.

I often think about JP when I see a 'young and wild' guy using the tip of a chicken breast for a sous vide dish and discarding the rest of the animal (or something like that...). Actually, I am pretty sure, many of those guys could not make an omelette. Of course, none of these guys are on KKF I just love JP's experience and frugality to turn every single piece of the beast - or the veggie - into something I would want to eat.

Stefan

I think Pépin said his last meal would be a good piece of bread with some fresh butter.

Love him.

Johnny.B.Good said:

I think Pépin said his last meal would be a good piece of bread with some fresh butter.

Love him.

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Honestly, there's not too much better than fresh bread with a good fatty European butter.

He was the guest judge on Top Chef last week. I don't think I've ever seen the cheftestants so flustered. He asked one of the chefs that happened to have immunity if he thought he should resign himself since it was his two dishes that were the worst and one of his teammates was going to go home because of it. He looked very disappointed when douchenugget said no.

The book I have is Essential Pépin. It comes with a CD that I've about worn out. Simple stuff to complicated.

Johnny.B.Good said:

I think Pépin said his last meal would be a good piece of bread with some fresh butter.

Love him.

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I remember that quote, and can't say I disagree with him. I should try his bread in a pot recipe one day. The only problem is that I don't have a medium-sized non-stick pot.

k.

mr drinky said:

I remember that quote, and can't say I disagree with him. I should try his bread in a pot recipe one day. The only problem is that I don't have a medium-sized non-stick pot.

k.

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Cast iron would work too, doesn't have to be non stick.

Mrmnms said:

We started gifting copies of La Technique and La Methode to our crews when they first came out. I've always loved his stuff. He makes everything approachable .

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How does "Complete Techniques" compare to these two? Supposedly it is based on them.

I'm pretty sure Complete Techniques combines and updates them. Easier to find .

60 lbs ago

Nice.

I own a couple of his books, and actually got my most recent one based on the recommendation of chef who I admire, but some of you might not. Haha. I love everything Pepin. Has anyone else read "The Apprentice"? It's a fantastic book.

Chef Andy said:

Cast iron would work too, doesn't have to be non stick.

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Gasp. I don't have any cast iron. Maybe my enamel dutch oven would work.

k.

mr drinky said:

Gasp. I don't have any cast iron. Maybe my enamel dutch oven would work.

k.

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It prolly would work, I don't see why not.

This is a Pepin recipe I make regularly: http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/3586/macaroni-beaucaire.html Nothing real fancy, but it's bloody delicious. I use a Fontina instead of Cheddar.

I got my feet wet with Graham Ker's show the Galloping Gourmet, then it was Julia and when Jacques came on the scene he really inspired me to get my game on. I still watch him on PBS and I still learn something almost every time.

29palms said:

I got my feet wet with Graham Ker's show the Galloping Gourmet, then it was Julia and when Jacques came on the scene he really inspired me to get my game on. I still watch him on PBS and I still learn something almost every time.

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I think I might ask for the DVD set for a gift. My parents love giving that sort of thing.

Thanks for the recipe Jacob. I'm going to try that out.

k.

EdipisReks said:

This is a Pepin recipe I make regularly: http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/3586/macaroni-beaucaire.html Nothing real fancy, but it's bloody delicious. I use a Fontina instead of Cheddar.

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Bookmarked.