[REBROADCAST FROM OCTOBER 8, 2020] Chef Jacques Pépin joins us to discuss his latest cookbook, Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple, a perfect beginner cookbook for a new generation of home cooks looking for advice from one of most trusted chefs in the world. He'll also take listener calls. Originally published as The Short-Cut Cook, Quick & Simple now includes new and updated recipes and photography and original illustrations from the chef himself.

Mom’s Cheese and Spinach Soufflé

Serves 4

I have a very personal attachment to this soufflé. The recipe comes from my mother, who told me that when she was a young bride, she wanted to make a soufflé for my father, who loved them, but she didn’t know how. A friend told her that a cheese soufflé was composed of a béchamel (white sauce), which she knew how to make, grated cheese, and eggs. So she proceeded to make one with these ingredients, not knowing that in a classic soufflé the eggs are separated—the yolks mixed into the white sauce first and the beaten whites folded in later. So she beat the whole eggs into the béchamel and was so happy with the result that she made her soufflés in this manner ever afterward!

This kind of soufflé has many advantages, the most important being that you can prepare the base mixture up to a day ahead, so there is no hectic last-minute preparation involved. Although it takes a little longer to cook than a standard soufflé and has a slightly less airy texture, it rises beautifully, browns well, and is delicious. The soufflé is made in a gratin dish rather than a soufflé mold so that it cooks faster, is crustier, and is easier to divide into portions.

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1¼ cups cold milk

¼ teaspoon salt

¹∕8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¹∕8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups baby spinach leaves

1½ cups grated Gruyère or Beaufort cheese (about 4 ounces)

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley or basil

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the flour and stir with a whisk until well combined and sizzling, then whisk in the cold milk and bring to a boil, stirring and mixing with the whisk so the mixture doesn’t stick as it thickens. Boil for about 20 seconds, mixing continuously with the whisk. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and remove the pan from the heat.

Use the 1 remaining teaspoon butter to grease the bottom of a 3- to 4-cup oval gratin dish. Place the spinach in a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes, or until wilted.

By now, the white sauce should have cooled a little. Add the spinach and cheese to it and mix with the whisk. Add the eggs and parsley and mix well. Pour the mixture into the prepared gratin dish. This step can be done a couple of hours ahead and the dish kept in the refrigerator until cooking time.

When you are ready to cook the soufflé, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the gratin dish on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick aluminum foil for easy cleanup and bake for approximately 40 minutes, until well puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

This is the ideal soufflé to assemble ahead and cook at the last moment.

(Excerpted from JACQUES PÉPIN QUICK & SIMPLE © 2020 by Jacques Pépin. Photography © 2020 by Tom Hopkins. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.) 

He is the winner of sixteen James Beard Awards, a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award and author of twenty-nine cookbooks including Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple, A Grandfather's Lessons, and Essential Pépin. He has starred in twelve acclaimed PBS cooking series and was awarded France's highest distinction, the Legion of Honor. In this episode we discuss what it was like cooking for three Heads of State of France, how a near fatal car accident changed his life and the incredible work of the Jacques Pépin Foundation. Enjoy this episode as we go Beyond the Plate… with Chef Jacques Pépin. 

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Jacques Pépin is a world renowned chef, author, TV personality and educator. His numerous awards include 16 James Beard Awards, a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, and France’s Legion of Honor. Celebrated for his technique and talent, Jacques is widely known for his many acclaimed television series on PBS, including the Emmy-winning, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. Jacques is the author of 30 cookbooks, and the latest, Jacques Pépin Quick and Simple, offers timeless and easy recipes anyone can cook. Join us on this episode of Live to Eat as we chat about Jacques' favorite place in the world to eat, his genius advice for learning how to cook, and tried and true tips for a perfect Thanksgiving turkey.

SPEAKERS

Jacques Pépin
Chef; Author, Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple

In Conversation with Cheryl Jennings
Emmy Award-Winning Journalist; Twitter@CherylABC7

In response to the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, this program took place and was recorded live via video conference, for an online audience only, and was live-streamed by The Commonwealth Club of California from San Francisco on October 8th, 2020.

My guest today is an acclaimed world author, chef, culinary educator, television personality and artist. He has written over 30 cookbooks including “Le Technique”, “The Apprentice”, “Heart and Soul in The Kitchen”, and his most recent book: “Jacques Pepin Quick and Simple” comes out October 6th. His television credentials include the PBS series “The Complete Pepin” and “Fast Food My Way”, among others. He co-starred in the PBS series: Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home”, alongside his friend Julia Child. The program was awarded a Daytime Emmy.

In 2016 along with his daughter and son-in-law, he created “The Jacques Pepin Foundation” to support culinary education for adults with barriers to employment.

Esteemed culinary authority, chef, educator, and television food personality Jacques Pépin joins Daniel for an in-depth look at his fascinating life and unique career. They discuss his childhood and the war years, his stint in Paris, and his move to America in 1959. Also covered is his love for music and the philanthropic work of his foundation.

One of the true legends of the culinary arts, Jacques Pépin, joins us for today's special report, accompanied by the co-founder and executive director of the Jacques Pépin Foundation, Rollie Wesen. The two discuss the prospects for newly trained cooks in a post-pandemic future, and share their advice for cooking with economy and creativity at home during this time of crisis.

Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible.

Please visit the Andrew Talks to Chefs official website.

Jean-Louis Palladin, who came to the United States from France in 1979, was one of the most talented and influential chefs of his generation. From his base in Washington, DC, Palladin, who died much too young in 2001 at age 55, helped forge a network of farmers and purveyors along the Eastern Seaboard, brought an unparalleled artistry and innate gift for improvisation to his cooking, wrote one of the first "coffee table" chef cookbooks, and left his mark on a generation of young Americans, inspiring such then-aspiring chefs as Anthony Bourdain and Thomas Keller.

During a recent tribute dinner at the Watergate Hotel, Andrew sat down with a number of chefs who knew Palladin well: His contemporary and fellow immigrant French chef Jacques Pépin, three chefs who supported him at Jean-Louis at the Watergate--Larbi Dahrouch, Jimmy Sneed, and Jamie Stachowski--and chef of the Watergate's current showcase restaurant Kingbird, Sébastien Giannini.

All of that, plus a bonus conversation with Jacques Pépin about how his hobby of  painting parallels his life in the kitchen.

***EPISODE GUIDE***

0:00 - 7:15 - Intro

7:15 - 27:07 Segment 1

27:08 - 30:42 Mid-Show Break/Housekeeping Notes

30:43 - end Segment 2

***LINKS***

Andrew Talks to Chefs official site

Jean-Louis Palladin NY Times obituary

Jean-Louis Palladin's book Cooking with the Seasons

Jimmy Sneed's blog Product, Passion and Salt

Kingbird Restaurant at the Watergate

On the latest episode of Inside Julia’s Kitchen, host Todd Schulkin speaks with culinary icon and frequent Julia collaborator Jacques Pépin. Todd and Jacques discuss The Jacques Pépin Foundation’s focus and what it means to receive an Emmy® Award for Lifetime Achievement. Plus, Jacques shares many a Julia Moment.

Photo courtesy Jacques Pépin

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