Jacques Pepin

It astounds me that there are so many people who don't know who Jacques Pepin is, so I am going to tell you right now. :)

Jacques Pepin is my favorite chef. He's been around for a very long time, is extremely talented, and seems to be very down to earth. He cooks very complicated fancy food, and very simple food. I have two of his cookbooks, and I use them often. They are "Fast Food My Way" and "Simple and Healthy Cooking". He has a brand new cook book out called "More Fast Food My Way", and there is a television series based upon the recipes on public television. Although I don't have the techniques to make food quite as fast as he, the recipes are certainly doable as weekday evening meals, and many of them are nice enough to be presented as special meals as well.

My favorite recipe from the books I own is from "Fast Food My Way", and it is Stuffed Scallops on Mushroom Rice.

I don't own "Jacques Pepin Celebrates", but in this book, he shows you how to cook a fish in pastry that you shape and mark like a fish, as well as how to make a Buche de Noel, which is a Yule log cake. He shows you how to make chocolate bark for the log, made a branch, and even meringue mushrooms.

He is renowned for his techniques, and his book, "La Technique" is a textbook at the French Culinary Institute where he is the Dean of Special Programs, as well as anywhere the fundamentals of French cuisine are taught. In this book, for which there is also a video, he shows basic techniques of cooking and lots and lots of knife work. In one of my favorite segments, he shows you how to carve fish out of mushrooms as a garnish.

Public television gets all its money from its viewers, and they offer incentives to get you to pledge money. Well, a few years ago, I was so sorry that I wasn't rich. They were offering a day of cooking with Jacques Pepin, then dining with him, with wines paired with each meal... for $500 per person. Ah well. Maybe when I win the lottery.

If you'd like to know more about Chef Pepin, you can read the entry on Wikipedia, which is very informative http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Pepin, and his books are all available at bookstores and on http://www.amazon.com/.