- Hi, I'm Jacques Pepin.

- And I'm Claudine Pepin.

- You know, anyone can be a good cook.

Only takes instruction and practice.

- Well, I've been learning so much working with you week after week, but today, I think I'd like to show you a thing or two.

- You mean I can sit back and let you do all the work?

- No way.

I am still gonna need your help.

- Oh, I see.

(Claudine chuckles) So we'll watch the sorcerer's apprentice at work.

- Next on "Jack Pepin's Kitchen."

- "Cooking with Claudine."

(train horn wailing) (bright music continues) - Papa, you've taught me everything I know in the kitchen, not everything you know, but everything I know in the kitchen, and today, I'm gonna cook, and you're gonna help me 'cause I still need your help.

- Ah!

- Today you're the boss?

- Today, I'm gonna be the boss.

- Well, so what are we doing?

- You have to wash the leek (chuckling).

- Oh, I have to wash the leek?

- (laughing) Yeah.

- Do I have to peel it first?

- Yes, take the outside layer off.

- Maybe that first layer, right?

- [Claudine] Mm-hmm.

'Cause it's tough.

- And do I throw that out?

- Yup, and- - What do you mean, trash?

- Or you can save it for stock if you want to, but (laughing) I don't think so.

- Okay.

I take this out.

- That's the tougher part.

- Yes, this, this, this.

- And then- - You think it's about time?

- Uh huh, and then you have to put your knife through it.

- But this is still tough, you know?

So I'm removing that one too.

And now you want me to open it this way?

- Mm-hmm.

- Boy, you're a good teacher.

- Thank you (laughing).

- Wow, I'm learning a lot.

- And now- - And now do I go wash it?

- You better.

- Okay.

So I go wash it nicely inside because it's really inside that you have all the dirt here, in that part.

- But you don't need to split it anymore than that?

The dirt doesn't get any lower?

- Well, when it press very tight here.

You know, At the end.

- And then it doesn't get any lower.

- It doesn't get lower.

So it's like in the middle of an onion.

You know, same thing.

- Okay, and now we're gonna shred potatoes.

I'm gonna cut this.

- Oh.

- You're gonna shred potatoes because we're gonna put them with Chilean sea bass.

- Oh, good.

- And we're gonna put it all in a potato leek kind of crust, which is really easy to do.

I make this for Eldy and it's... She's always very impressed.

- So I won't shred that on the hand further.

- Yup.

(potato scraping) - And if I cut my finger, you have a?

- Well, as long as you're holding it right, you won't cut your fingers, so it should be okay.

Okay, so I have what, a pound of potato here, a pound and a half of potato?

You have two big potatoes.

- Two big potatoes.

- Two potatoes?

That's a good pound.

(potato scraping) You have pound, maybe a little more.

Okay, so this is we have enough here.

- Yup, and I think we probably have enough with this.

I like the green part of the leek.

- Yeah, I think that's plenty.

Yes.

- [Claudine] Because it adds color to everything.

- We mix that in there?

- Uh huh.

Your hands are already all dirty, so you can do that.

- So I mix that in there.

And then what are you going to do?

- [Claudine] I'm gonna use some salt and some pepper.

Well, actually, yeah, I- - This is beautiful white fish.

- This is Chilean sea bass.

- What is it?

- I really like.

- Thick.

White, thick, beautiful sea bass.

- It's really buttery.

It's got a great taste.

I'm gonna put salt on this.

- [Jacques] So I should season that, bit of salt paper in there?

- Yeah, but not too much 'cause I'm also doing the fish.

- Yes ma'am.

Okay.

(Claudine laughing) All right.

- And I am gonna put some, I think I have either safflower or cotton seed oil.

This pan is really hot.

Whatever a light oil would be.

- [Jacques] So it doesn't have too much taste, right?

- So it doesn't have too much taste, and I think that's enough.

- A little piece of butter?

Yeah, that's fine.

- And unsalted butter because salt preserves butter.

And then you can't tell if it's rancid, but I learned that from you, so.

- So what do we do next?

- What we're gonna do is take little piles, four.

We need eight total piles, (oil sizzling) and we're gonna put 'em in there.

(oil sizzling increases) - Here, one, two, three, four, and I have about half of it left, maybe a bit too much here.

I'm putting it here.

- And then I'm gonna take the season side down and put it on top of each of the little piles.

- Okay.

(oil sizzling) I did that once, but I did it a bit more complicated than that.

- Oh.

- I hadn't worked with you before, of course.

(Claudine laughing) Do you want to put salt on this side here now?

- Yeah.

- And then I do the same thing on the other side?

- [Claudine] Mm-hmm.

- [Jacques] Here, I give you some for you here.

You can spread it out.

So now you gotta help me a little bit, no?

- Yeah, maybe just a little.

(oil sizzling) - Okay, it's gonna take, that thickness here, it will take at least five minutes on each side, I would say.

- Oh, it smells really good already.

- On medium heat.

- Medium?

- Okay.

- Okay.

- What do we do next?

- We're gonna make a curry coleslaw.

And I have a cabbage here, which... Ooh, see, it's already happening for me.

I'm gonna take this off and this off, and that, you're gonna get to chop.

- So I do all the work.

- Yup, but first, now you can- - Yes, mon capitaine.

(Claudine laughing) - You know, you're the boss, so.

- But before we do that- - Use my big whisk.

- We should probably make, we'll make the (laughing).

- You wanna make- - The dressing.

- You wanna make the dressing in the middle of this?

- Yup.

- Okay, fine.

So I'm gonna do this.

- A third of a cup of mayonnaise.

- [Jacques] Uh huh, can I help there?

- Maybe.

I have Tabasco.

- You want a bit of Tabasco?

- Yeah, not too much, but some.

I have some sugar.

Probably not too much, but it should be kind of sweet.

- Oh yes, I think even you can put a tablespoon of sugar in there, more sugar than usually.

This is poppy seed, right?

- Mm-hmm.

That's curry powder.

- I put it in there?

- Yup.

- All right.

- And about three tablespoons of cider vinegar, which is about that, I think.

- Yeah, that's about this.

Good eye, good eye.

- I had to learn that somewhere.

And some salt, not too much, some.

- I'm gonna stir it.

- Here you go.

- Oh, I'm the stirrer.

Gosh.

- You have to stir it.

Let me get the rest of the mayo.

- I'm already doing all the work here today.

Tell me, master, whether it's good or not.

- Oh, that is good.

- Good.

So now what do we do?

- Okay, I have a cup- - I shred this?

- Of shredded, and I kept some for decorations- - So you can put it there.

- But I have a cup of shredded carrots.

(knife thudding) Wow, you're really good at that (laughing).

So what I like about this is I can make it at least a day ahead, and it just kind of marinates to make it better.

- Oh, yeah.

Good.

- Put this in here.

(knife thudding) And we'll shred it up.

I'll start.

(knife thudding) - [Jacques] You need all of it, or?

- Maybe not all of it.

You're probably good.

- That's quite a lot already.

Maybe I'll cut this in two.

- Ooh.

- Make it a bit easier to shred it, you know?

- [Claudine] How's the fish?

- [Jacques] The fish, I think, is doing very good.

We're gonna turn it soon.

- I'll hold the bowl, and you can mix.

- Okay, well you can get a... What are we going to present that in?

- Okay, let me get a bowl.

- It is actually a little better if you let it marinate a little bit so the cabbage kind of soften a little bit.

What is that, one portion or the whole thing?

- [Claudine] Put as much... Fill up the bowl anyway.

I like this bowl.

- Yes, it is beautiful.

As much as this?

- That's perfect.

I'm gonna put a little swirl on top and hope it stays, with toothpicks.

- Toothpicks?

(Claudine chuckling) Now I'll put.

Then at that point, put it this way.

- Mm.

- I think that's it.

That's it.

I think one is enough.

- I'll put this here.

- [Jacques] You're gonna damage mine.

(Claudine laughing) - That's the quality, the beautiful- - Let's put this here.

- Very tangy, invigorating type of first, so what do we do now?

- Now we have to turn the fish.

- Oh.

- And- - So I do it or you do it?

- You can do one.

(oil sizzling) - All right, so you know what?

- So that I can make sure that I can do it.

- You could put your hand on top to be able to hold it from underneath, and twist it gently, hm?

Now look at that.

- [Claudine] Oh, it looks really nice.

(oil sizzling) - You do this one from here.

You have more space.

(oil sizzling) Hold it on top.

(oil sizzling) - Hm.

- That's good.

That's good.

The potato are going to cook underneath anyway.

Now you don't go from this side.

That's it.

(oil sizzling) - Whoa!

Little extra potato here and there.

- Okay, and you know what?

I think we could put a dash of oil around again, and it's on low heat.

I mean low-medium.

That's good.

It has to cook for another four, five minutes on this side, so what do we do next?

- We're gonna make dessert.

- Ooh.

Okay.

- And I would love it if you would cut this cantaloupe, which I picked, and I can tell it's fresh because, and ripe, push in here and you smell it.

And if it smells like cantaloupe, as opposed to smelling like nothing, then it's fresh.

That's how I do it anyway.

Everybody has their own.

- Each time I pick one up, tastes like pumpkin, you know?

They will taste good.

- Mom's good at that too though.

She can- - Yeah.

You know what you can do?

You can cut it... Conventionally people cut it into wedge, and take it out.

You can use a vegetable peeler.

- Wow.

That, I wouldn't- - You know?

To cut it out.

Like, look how green it is.

Or a knife, as you need more of a thickness anyway.

And actually, just peel it this way, you know?

- Whoa.

That I would not have thought of.

- [Jacques] And then you cut it after.

- [Claudine] Huh.

- [Jacques] Am I doing all right?

- I think you're doing very well.

I'm gonna put honey in here and Grand Marnier, because I know you love it.

- All right.

- [Claudine] And it's nice 'cause it dilutes the honey.

- Well, maybe I'll carry it in half and empty it, you know?

- Oh wait, here's a spoon.

- I have that whole bowl here, where I had my potato in it.

- I'm gonna put a little bit more Grand Marnier in here.

- So you need like a couple of tablespoon of Grand Marnier there, right?

- Yup.

- Okay, so for me, I'll cut it this way.

- I mean, I don't think you have to use alcohol.

You could probably just use a little bit more orange juice, (knife thudding) but this is nice.

- How about the size of this?

Is that okay?

- That's perfect.

- I have one of thing here you can use to pick it up.

- Oh, pastry scraper.

- Pastry scraper.

Right, good.

These are great for everything.

- Yes.

So I'll cut again this one the same way, and if you like it.

Did you taste it?

- And I have the strawberries.

- [Jacques] Mm.

- [Claudine] See, I told you.

- [Jacques] You chose a good one.

- These are strawberries that are just quartered.

I mean, I suppose you could do something more elegant with the way you cut the fruit, but this is just fine.

- Well, what?

You're gonna cut a few more like this?

You cut the core out of it, and cut them in kind of four.

- Yeah, I mean, nothing too extravagant.

- Again.

Here.

- That's probably enough.

- I mean, you know.

(Claudine laughing) You make me do everything.

You know, sometime you can do those mixture.

It's good with lime also, as well as orange.

- Oh, yeah, that's true.

- And now I have to do your orange, and that you have here.

Like this?

- Wow, that's very good.

- [Jacques] Okay, this will give you a lot of taste to the shredded thing.

- I need a big spoon.

Can I borrow that spoon?

- Yes.

- Thanks.

- Wait a minute, let me put that in there.

Now I'm pressing it.

- How's the fish?

- The fish is fine.

Fish is very good.

Now I'm pressing that.

I'll treat it with a spoon.

You sure you need a spoon?

You could do this, you know?

- You could do that.

I would use a spoon.

- Okay, you know me how to do that now.

- See?

- Yeah, okay.

- So you want to do this?

You want me to fill it up?

Are you going to have a garnish to put on top?

- I have these beautiful borage flowers.

- Oh, borage from the garden.

- Yup, from a British- - The more you can get from the garden, the least expensive is, you know?

- It's from a lovely British friend who taught me, you take this fuzzy part off, and hopefully this will work.

And you just kind of pull here the fuzzy part.

- No kidding.

- Oops.

- [Jacques] Show me another one.

I didn't see that well.

(Claudine chuckling) - [Claudine] And that one flew.

Okay.

- [Jacques] Those are nice.

- They're really pretty.

- So this is eatable?

- [Claudine] And then you take the front and you pull.

- [Jacques] Oh, you pull the- - The fuzzy part.

- You pull the pistil?

Or not the pistil, the- - I don't know.

The bottom?

- The callus.

The callus, right?

- The bottom fuzzy part.

- Okay, and here it is.

It's a beautiful dessert, I think.

- Yeah.

Thank you.

- You wanna check on our fish?

- Definitely, and get this out of the way.

- Fish is beautiful.

(oil sizzling) And especially if your fish, you know, you may or may not want to serve it right away, but you have to realize that if you do a dinner, you may keep that warm a little bit for five, 10 minutes while you're doing the rest of your thing.

So it's good to keep it slightly underdone, but, see, this one is just about done in the center, the way it separates, the way I go with my knife, very tender.

So this is a very firm fish.

We're putting that on top?

- Mm-hmm.

(oil sizzling) - Yeah, look at that.

Let's see if it's browned.

Browned, beautifully browned on the one side.

- Ooh.

- The other side- - See, I would've just poked it.

- Well, no, but that's what I did.

Basically I poked it.

- So it's like six minutes on each side, five minutes?

- Yeah.

For that thickness, yes.

It may be a bit less for other times, you know?

I suppose you wanted me to take it out, right?

- Yes.

Thank you.

- Oh, maybe we can, you know.

- Ooh.

- Kind of maybe open it a little bit like this, you know?

- Wow.

- Do a little bit of a.

- Even though you've certainly taught me a whole lot, you always teach me something new.

- Yeah, well maybe we put two like this, right?

Time to do a little bit of flowers in the middle.

You know what we used to do that with?

We used to cut the scallion like that and eat that with fresh cheese and garlic.

- Mm.

Oh, that sounds lovely.

- That's what we have here.

- Oh, ta da!

- And this is a beautiful sea bass in a crust of potato.

So which one you want to buy?

- Well, usually I just buy your basic globe eggplant.

- Right.

- But I don't know much about these.

- Well, you see, they are different.

See, those are actually, the one with the green here, refer to a Italian eggplant, and they are small one.

But you looking eggplant, to touch it like that to see whether... You don't want them soft.

- Do you want it soft?

- No.

No, you want them firm and all that.

You see this one here?

It's got a different head.

This is black.

This is actually what they call a Japanese eggplant.

You have those type of round one here, the globe one, very, very firm.

They get soft actually when they get cooked.

See, this one is cut.

And this is the Thai one.

You know, a lot of seed in it, but they are very sweet.

- Do they all taste the same?

- And you can still fry it.

- [Jacques] Pretty close to.

There are difference in textures when it cooks.

And look at the color of those.

Those are really beautiful.

- [Claudine] Mm, wow.

- Those are Chinese eggplant, although some store they call it Japanese eggplant or Oriental eggplant.

And then finally you get your globe eggplant.

This is what we are using in the recipe today, you know?

You know, and again, you look at them to see if there is a lot of seed in there.

You will notice that some of them at the end are long and some are round, you know?

- Mm-hmm.

- One is a female, the other one a male.

(bright music) Usually the male has less seed than the female.

I see you're beautiful eggplant here.

What are we going to do with it?

- Well, to start off our menu, we're gonna do eggplant cushions with breadcrumbs on top.

Just gonna take the eggplant.

Now you have to do exactly this with your eggplant.

- All right.

- I already did mine.

- Sure.

- (laughing) And I want them- - You did yours when I wasn't looking, right?

Do you want me to peel it with a vegetable peeler or with a?

- Whatever you think is easier.

- What did you peel it with?

- I did a vegetable peeler.

- Oh, okay.

So I have to do exactly the same thing.

I'm gonna do it with this.

- And you cut them into slices, like this.

- [Jacques] This is big.

Do you have to peel those?

- You don't have to.

I just think that sometimes it cooks a little bit easier, and I really don't like underdone eggplant.

- Oh, I like it very done too.

So do you have the Japanese eggplant?

You want to use that too?

- This?

Yeah, but this don't peel.

- [Jacques] So you just put like little cushion like this?

- [Claudine] Yup.

- [Jacques] So they are fairly thick, right?

- [Claudine] Yeah.

- Yes, I think usually we do them like a bit thicker than that even, do like four slice pair eggplant.

So because they kind of, they tend to kind of shrink, you know?

- [Claudine] On a baking sheet?

- 'Cause when you cook eggplant, if you cook that in a skillet, saute that, I mean, this can absorb like a cup of oil or more than that.

- And that's why this is much better.

- So how do we do it?

- Put oil on here.

Now I always have to mess up my hands.

You can spread it around.

(baking sheet clanking) (Claudine chuckling) - I think you're going to need maybe a little bit more, right?

- Yeah.

- So maybe a good tablespoon, tablespoon and a half.

- And we're using olive oil because it'll be a very nice taste.

- Oh, good.

So you know what?

I'll put salt in the bottom.

It will already salted.

We put them in there, rub them on one side.

I put all of them on one side, right?

- [Claudine] Yup.

- [Jacques] All of those.

- The little ones.

- This is thicker.

- I like the little ones.

- That's too thin.

Forget it.

So you did this here.

We turn them on the other side now.

So you see, you can see there is a little bit of oil on top of it here.

- But not so much.

- And they're, just again, from the bottom, but that's about one of the best way to cook them for the minimal amount of absorption of oil.

And you do need a little bit of salt on top.

Okay, so we're gonna put that in the oven.

- Yup, I think they're- - And what do we put on top, the breadcrumb?

- Yeah, but after they've been cooking for about, what, a half an hour or so?

Until they're kind of soft.

- Yeah, 400 degree.

So let's put that here, and let's do the breadcrumb, right?

- Yup.

- So what do you have?

- We have kind of, well, it's not fresh, but it's not old bread.

- Okay.

So you put that in there.

- About, I don't know.

- You have garlic.

- About a cup, cup and a half, yes.

- You want the garlic with it?

- Yes, please.

- Do I separate it?

- Yes.

(Jacques' palm thuds) - [Jacques] Is that separated?

- (chuckles) Yup, and you can peel one clove.

- One clove.

- Maybe two, depending on how you're feeling.

- This is big one.

- Yeah, that's good.

- All right, so here.

- That'll be perfect.

(knife thudding) - It's peeled.

- Thank you.

- So you put that, you can put that directly with your- - Which is just perfect for me.

- What do you have?

Here it is.

- [Claudine] I have it.

(processor whirring) - [Jacques] Have fun, and the- - [Claudine] Five.

- Five?

This?

- Parsley.

- So let's put that in there now.

You wanna put it this way?

You want to use the- - The scissors?

It's easy.

- Yeah, put there.

I have some chives on top here.

- [Claudine] That's perfect.

- You have enough?

I don't put the stem.

The stem I keep for stock.

- Of course you keep it.

- Right?

- Yup.

- And you mash it together.

- It's better not to put... Watch out that your parley is not too wet.

(processor whirring) Watch it.

Otherwise, it water your bread too much.

That's plenty.

- Okay, in here, I want you to put about two tablespoons of olive oil, and I'm gonna put my breadcrumbs in there.

- Good.

This is pretty coarse breadcrumb.

I mean, you can do it bit finer if you want, right?

- Yeah, but I think they look nice this way.

It's kind of very tempting.

- And all you want to do is to moisten it with bit of oil, right?

- Yeah, you don't wanna put too much because we don't have too much oil already in the eggplant, but we do have some and in this some, but they do need to be kind of lightly coated.

- And if you don't put any oil, then it end up burning in the oven, right?

- Yeah.

- Instead of browning nicely.

Am I doing a good job?

- I think you're doing wonderful.

- Oh, okay.

So let's put this one in the oven.

And I have one which has been cooking here.

So we put that in the oven.

(baking sheet clanking) - Do a little swap.

- We remove this one.

You see?

It's still sizzling nicely.

So it's hot.

So we start putting it on it?

- Yup, but you don't wanna put them back under the broiler until about 10 minutes before you're gonna serve them.

- [Jacques] Oh, yeah, so you can do that stuff ahead then?

- Yeah, you can just kinda leave it like this until people arrive or whatever.

- You know, I put that type of thing on the leg of lamb, it's good too, but it's good with vegetable.

And if you think about it, you know, if you want put some dill in it instead of parsley.

If you want to put some, I don't know, what, a bit of tarragon maybe, a bit of different type of herb?

It's fine.

- How about rosemary?

- Rosemary would be good too with a roast chicken.

We love rosemary.

Then you have those tiny one.

They're already cute.

(Claudine laughing) You can use that for- - I have cute eggplants.

- Yeah, you can use that for little hors d'oeuvres or in garnish of.

Well, so we put this one here.

We're not putting it in the oven right away.

- No, we're gonna get one.

- We have one ready under the broiler.

- [Claudine] I'm gonna open the door.

You're gonna pull it out.

So I don't have to burn my fingers.

So that's good.

You can do it ahead.

- Let me get a plate.

- Oh!

They look absolutely beautiful.

Okay, and then?

What do you serve, two, three per person?

- Two?

Why don't you put two, maybe three, but put a little one in there because they're cute.

- Oh, look at that.

I mean, this is really cooked.

This is the way you like it.

- Yeah.

- They are.

- [Claudine] I definitely don't like undercooked eggplant.

- Soft.

Wonderful.

Soft here.

Maybe I put those three here and one of those tiny one in the middle here, okay?

- And then- - You wanna put a little bit of a garnish here?

What a great arc it in.

That's good.

Okay.

- There.

- So this is a beautiful eggplant cushion.

Well, we have a beautiful table here.

I don't think I'm gonna teach you anymore.

- Oh, Papa, you're always gonna teach me.

You're gonna teach me everything that I need to know in the kitchen, and when I don't know something, I'm just gonna call you.

But to start off dinner tonight, we have eggplant with the beautiful breadcrumbs on top, which just came out of the broiler, the Chilean sea bass and the potato crust, which is really, really nice and and easy.

And then the curry coleslaw, which I really love.

And it's nice because you can still make it ahead, and, of course, fresh fruit with a little bit of jazz for dessert.

The honey and Grand Marnier is gonna be really nice.

- You know, this is a nice well-balanced menu.

- Thank you.

- You know, you have a lot of very interesting taste, very good taste.

I love to have an aperitif, the port wine.

This is a port wine, a Tawney port from Australia, and it's really very silky and rich and velvety.

And you can either add that as an aperitif, or it'd be perfect for the dessert with the honey, you know?

And, of course, for the main course, we have a Chassagne Montrachet from a small village, the village of Chassagne-Montrachet, you know, per Burgundy.

And this is very deep.

At the same time, it's very crisp and fragrant.

It's going to be perfect with our fish and even with our first course.

So I would like you to taste it.

(wine pouring) - I would be more than happy to.

- I would like to toast you because you already gave me a good lesson today.

- Oh, thank you.

- [Jacques] I learned a lot.

I thank you very much.

- Me too.

- So don't be intimidated.

I love to cook with Claudine.

I learn with Claudine as well as she learn from me.

And I'm sure that if you cook with your family, you will learn from one another.

So get into the kitchen, cook together.

Claudine and I love to make it for you.

Happy cooking.

- Happy cooking.