From Apprentice to Master; Jacques Pepin is Essential

I love Jacques Pepin. His auto-biography The Apprentice captivated me. Reading it was pure brain candy. I loved being transported back to France and learning about his culinary rise from the South of France, Lyon specifically, to the top restaurants in Paris culminating with him acquiring the top post of Head Chef for Charles de Gaulle. Good stuff I tell ya. Good stuff.

At thirteen years of age he knew his vocation was in the kitchen. Rare breed. Most of us don’t even know what we want to do after we graduate college. Thirteen, it’s impressive.

He loves his family and devotes himself to his mom and dad’s restaurant endeavors from town to town while juggling the demands of school. He reminds us that being an adventurous outdoorsman by fishing with his siblings, while learning to fry his first catch, can give lasting memories.  Today, if that experience is to be had, it’s probably a virtual SimCity or Farmville simulation.  Lastly, when he moves to America he stows away his earnings and eventually quits his job to return to France to treat his family to a month-long vacation in Spain, which his mother had never been able to do.  What a good heart.

His vivid descriptions of the Parisian kitchen atmosphere makes you feel as if your standing alongside him listing to the head chef bark out orders through a mega-phone.  His tenacity never let a difficult relationship or a professional detour like military service take him away from what he loved most: cooking. I really admire that.  It’s easy to get derailed in life.

His observations of American food preferences versus the French, provides interesting cultural insight. And his friendships with some of the great culinary legends are fascinating.  Such a private window into the personalities of famous characters like Julia Child, James Beard, Helen McCully, and Craig Claiborne.

His escapades with Craig Claiborne the NY Times food columnist were the most entertaining.  Craig’s southern charm and laissez-faire approach to entertaining brought some hilarious story moments.  My personal favorite was Craig using his NY Times ‘street cred’ to get access to the most sought after crystal.  The Baccarat company never lent their stemware out, but he worked it. Worked it for an extravagant beach clam bake party in the Hamptons.  Pepin was so nervous, he meticulous cared for each one, only to have a pot fall from the ceiling rack and take them all out in the middle of the night.

After turning down the White House Chef position for future President Kennedy, Pepin decided to work for Howard Johnson Hotels to help in food standardization.  This was another interesting foray into a company that wanted to guarantee that a dish served in Los Angeles would have the same taste and quality as in Minneapolis.

Pepin shares how he evolves as a person through his life experiences to the chef and teacher he is today.  I know one thing, the 2011 Essential Pepin Cookbook is on my Christmas list.  Santa, are you listening?

Before I sign off, I must share one recipe that I was particularly attracted to.  It was his mom’s cheese souffle. This souffle is not prepared in the classical way, but the results are no less than beautiful just slightly less airy.

I paired this with a mixed green vinaigrette salad and a glass of Grenache Blanc (excellent) from local Winemaker William Allen of Simple Hedonisms and some whole wheat eggnog kamut bread (which was to die for).  Pepin inspired, and I had to deliver.

Maman’s Cheese Souffle

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus more to butter a 6-cup gratin dish

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups cold whole milk

1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

5 extra-large eggs

2 1/2 cups Swiss, cheese, preferably Gruyere

3 tablespoons minced chives

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Butter a 6-cup gratin dish, and set it aside.  Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour, and mix it well with a whisk. Cook for 10 seconds, add the milk in one stroke, and mix it in with a whisk. Keep stirring with the whisk until the mixture thickens and comes to a strong boil, which will take about 2 minutes.  It should be thick and smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in the salt and pepper. Allow about 10 minutes for the white sauce to cool.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into a bowl, and beat well with a fork. Add the eggs, the cheese, and the chives to the cooled sauce, and mix well to combine.  Pour into the buttered gratin dish and cook immediately, or set aside until ready to cook.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until the souffle is puffy and well browned on top. Although it will stay inflated for quite a while it is best to serve immediately.

Whole Wheat Eggnog Kamut Bread

2 teaspoons instant yeast

3/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

1 1/4 cup eggnog

1 cup bread flour

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 cup Kamut cereal

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt

Directions

Pour eggnog, water, bread flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, kamut cereal and cover and let stand for sixty minutes.  Stir in the instant yeast, followed by the fine grain sea salt and butter.  Begin to knead in your mixer add  the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time. Knead for five minutes. Dough will be sticky and slightly wet.

Clean and grease a mixing bowl. Allow to ferment and double in size. Degas the dough and shape into a 9×5 bread loaf pan. Leave at room temperature until dough has risen 1 or 2 inches above the level of the pan.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.  Bake loaf in the oven until it’s golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. Cover with foil if the crust is browning too rapidly. The loaf is finished if the sound is hard and hollow when thumped, or 185 degrees. Remove loaf from oven and place on the wire rack to cool.

Makes 1 9×5 loaf.