- Hi, I'm Jacques Pepin.

- And, I'm Claudine Pepin.

Tonight I'm putting on the ritz at my all time favorite dining spot.

- Where is that?

- Well, home, Papa.

Don't you remember?

You invited me home for a dinner party.

- Of course, I did forget.

- So, what's on the menu?

- We are starting with an elegant potato and scallop napoleon in a buttery chive sauce.

Grilled steak with lemon thyme butter are simple and sophisticated.

- [Claudine] And, stuffed butternut squash, flavored with ginger, garlic and scallions.

- [Jacques] And, for dessert, real French vanilla ice cream.

- I love it, Papa.

Stick around, we're putting on the ritz next, on Jacques Pepin's Kitchen.

- Encore with Claudine.

Today, Claudine and I are cooking a special meal for you.

- So, I guess that means we're putting on the ritz?

- We are putting on the ritz.

That's right.

- Okay.

- And, we're gonna start with stuffed butternut squash.

- Mm.

That sounds good.

- And, you know what I want to do with that?

Yes.

I want to do a little bit of a stuffing for that.

- Okay.

- And, you want, I have some scallions here.

- Let me do this.

This is gonna be easier.

- Oh, right.

Okay.

- Do ginger or something that's harder.

- I do this oil.

Your finger.

Your finger.

Against your finger, like this.

Otherwise, you're gonna cut your finger.

- You know what, I'm going - Put that there.

Garlic.

And, I'm going to put that little bit of ginger.

So, you know, this one I'm going to peel.

Sometime, I show you how to scrape it.

One thing or another, this one we are going to peel the end of it.

And, I'll take that knife, because you took mine.

- [Claudine] Well, I'm sorry.

- A little piece like this.

If there is an eye here, dark, you remove it.

(knife chopping) Cutting that.

You know, you can crush this also?

- [Claudine] Mm.

- But, you can also cut it fine.

I think I have plenty here, actually.

How you doing with your- - I'm almost done.

- You're almost done.

Me too.

- (laughs) I'm so surprised.

- Okay.

- During that time the oil is getting hot.

- Okay.

- So, chop it like that.

- Do the scallions go first?

- Yeah.

If you don't like the ginger, of course you can omit ginger.

Here we are flavoring it with ginger.

(pan sizzling) Scallion, beautiful.

Up, up, up.

Forward, that's it.

Good.

- There.

That's good.

- You're graduating.

(Claudine laughs) (pan sizzling) - [Claudine] And, garlic?

- A little bit of garlic.

(knife banging) Okay, that's enough, those two.

(knife chopping) Oh, very fine.

(knife chopping) (knife scraping) - Very nice.

- What we have here is, you see that's cooked?

- [Claudine] Oh, cooked butternut squash.

- Yeah.

- Ildy loves butternut squash.

- Okay.

And, I'm gonna show you how to do that.

But for the time being, this spent an hour in the oven, so it's cooked.

Let's empty it.

But, don't disturb the shell, because we are going to put it back in the shell.

- [Claudine] Oh boy.

- Just cut it coarsely and we want to season it.

(knife chopping) Of course, you do the same idea with zucchini.

(pan sizzling) - [Claudine] Right?

- This is a mess that you did here.

- [Claudine] (laughs) It's not.

- [Jacques] Yes.

- I got, see.

- Alright.

All right.

Give me a bowl.

Give me a big bowl.

I'll give you that.

You can mash that up.

No, that's too small.

- Oh, that's a little bowl.

You said a little bowl.

How about a big bowl?

- Yeah.

That's a big bowl.

You know what?

Mash it up a little bit.

- [Claudine] Okay.

- With a fork or a spoon, like this.

So, here it is here.

- Do I just plop it back in?

- Yes, you, perfect.

- I mean, I don't, that's not the culinary term for it, but.

(laughs) - No.

Oh, okay.

Here we rearrange it in there.

Now it's nice and seasoned.

You could of course put all the things in it, you know.

Saute some onion, saute, well we have garlic.

Use all of it.

And, we want to put a little bit of breadcrumb on top of this, you know.

- [Claudine] Okay.

I have bread crumbs.

- You have breadcrumb?

- Yes.

- You want to moisten your breadcrumb, a little bit there, with a little bit of oil, so that it brown nicely into the oven.

- Okay.

- Put a dash of oil in there.

- [Claudine] Okay.

- A little more.

You don't want enough oil so it get gooey, but enough, like when you do, see, get it like this in your, around, that's it.

So that it just moist.

You probably have too much bread crumb anyway.

So, why don't you arrange those on this?

(bowl knocking) Yes, go ahead.

(Claudine laughs) Let it go down and we can spread it out after.

Good.

- [Claudine] Okay.

- We put a little bit of oil on top of it.

I mean, there is a little bit of oil in your bread- - In your breadcrumbs.

- ... so you don't really have to, but.

You want to open the door for me?

- Sure.

- And, that's about 350 degree, 375.

It could take 15, 20 minutes.

(tray clanging) - [Claudine] Okay.

- There we are.

Okay.

- Now- - Now- - Potatoes?

- Potatoes.

- Okay.

- Actually, scallop now.

We're gonna do scallop and potato napoleon.

That is layer.

- Oh.

- I want to show you how to cut one potato.

See, this is a large potato.

You can peel it ahead, but you have to keep it in water so it doesn't discolor.

- [Claudine] Okay.

Here.

- And, I want to cut it with a mandolin.

One of those thing, or with this one.

See, with this one you put your hand flat (potato slicing) and slice this way.

- [Claudine] What is this thing?

Use the- - You get very thin slice of potato.

- With this?

- Yes.

If you don't want to, you can, you know, there is little teeth in there and we can use this this way.

Okay.

- Okay.

- Want to try it on that one?

- Yeah.

- That's another type of mandolin.

That's an expensive one.

It's a very good one.

Okay.

No.

Uh-uh.

Okay, go ahead.

(Claudette laughs) Finish this one.

Now, look at my hand.

You don't do this.

Your finger are going, my hand is flat, you see?

(potato slicing) - [Claudine] Okay.

- So that I protect, I mean, there is a guard for that but you do this.

Right.

(Claudine laughs) (potato slicing) Good.

- Okay.

- So, now this is one potato.

We have a lot of potato.

And, you know, in that recipe you put them on a cookie sheet, even one with a non stick type of bottom.

Or, this one is that special silicone type of thing- - [Claudine] Oh, the magic- - [Jacques] ... nothing stick to it.

- [Claudine] ... baking thing.

- [Jacques] Or, you put some parchment paper.

One or the other.

Here, we just brush it with a little bit of oil and here you can start arranging potato, Claudine.

- [Claudine] Okay.

(brush scraping) On top of it.

Good.

(Claudine laughs) No, because you put four, like this.

- Okay.

- Alright, now look at what I'm doing on top.

I'm putting parsley here.

And now, this one I'm putting tarragon, right?

- Oh, okay.

- We can spread out the leaf like this.

- [Claudine] Oh yeah.

- So, now you do a sandwich.

You press them this way.

The big slice with the big slice.

- [Claudine] Yeah.

(laughs) - [Jacques] You keep them in order.

- [Claudine] Yeah, actually I did.

Perfect order.

- [Jacques] Yes.

And, the other one like that.

- [Claudine] (laughs) Perfect.

- Okay.

Yes.

And, you know what?

We brush the top again with oil, you have to be, press so that, you know, they could be even slightly thinner than that.

Or, you know what?

We didn't put, you sprinkle just a little bit of salt on top of it.

- [Claudine] Okay.

(bowl clinking) - And, when they cook, they will have a tendency to come up a little bit.

So, what you want to do is to put another one of that non stick silicone thing.

If you have another one on top of it, the weight will be fine.

If you don't have it, or if you put a non stick pan, you put another non stick pan on top, or a piece of parchment paper and you put that on top so it hold it for at least, like, 20 minutes so it's nice and brown.

Then, you remove this and the paper and continue browning it.

And, most of the time the one from the outside brown first.

So, you have to remove them first and then, you continue browning the other.

- Sounds good.

- Just put that in the oven.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Right there.

(tray clanging) And, you see those are brown now.

Some were brown before, some after.

- Look at this.

- So, that's what you mean, the outside tends to brown first.

- Look at that.

- Ooh.

- Is that beautiful?

- [Claudine] That's awesome.

- That's right.

This is with tarragon, you know.

And, tarragon.

Look at that.

This is with parsley.

- Oh, that is awesome.

I love that.

- Okay.

So, we leave them on the side.

Now, we're gonna cook the scallop, which goes with it.

And, we could actually serve the scallop as they are, but we could also cut them in half.

Why don't you give me a hand?

We'll cut them in half, so that they are about half inch slide.

You can cut them this way, did you know?

- I can't cut over stuff.

I have to cut on a board.

- For scallop, and sometime you look if there is any of those little, - [Claudine] Oh, the muscle things.

- Muscle, which you remove the whole thing before.

Okay.

White wine.

(pan sizzling) This is a hot pan.

Half a cup of white wine.

Put my scallop in there.

(pan sizzling) It cook off the heat.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Salt, salt.

- [Claudine] Pepper.

- Pepper.

And, basically this will come to a boil in about, cook 30 seconds.

You don't want to overcook it.

We could cover that.

I say that will cook pretty fast.

But, what we are going to have in this is some chives.

You want to cut a little bit of chives?

- Mm-hmm.

- Maybe up to here.

We're gonna blanch it.

Now, I'll give you a little bit of parsley.

(herbs crunching) Okay.

You see the way they cooked here?

- [Claudine] Oh my goodness.

They're almost cooked.

- And, they are basically cooked by the time they rest a little bit, you know.

- [Claudine] Oh wow.

- So, I'm going to remove them.

Cook very fast if they are cut this way.

(spoon scraping) We want to let them cool off a little bit.

(spoon scraping) And, we want to do a very fast sauce, which is actually just- - Should I put this in here?

- No, no, no, no, no, no.

You want to blanch this?

- Oh.

- I want it in there.

(spoon clanging) Good.

(Claudine laughing) We're doing an herb sauce.

And, you want to blanch your herb, to soften them and cook them just partially, so they release their essential oils.

So, basically you bring them to a boil, you know?

(pan scraping) Okay.

Okay.

So, I'm putting the juice in there.

And, what we want to do in that emulsion of juice, did I put salt and pepper in there?

- Yes.

(spoon scraping) I can actually even see the pepper still in there.

We put butter in here, right?

- Yeah.

But, I put a dash.

Yes.

Now, you put a dash of butter, a little dash of oil and we want to emulsify this- - [Claudine] Butter.

- [Jacques] Whoop, sorry.

- [Claudine] It's okay.

- Dash of your oil.

Remember you do four people here.

- [Claudine] Okay.

- Do a nice creamy sauce.

(blender whizzing) Okay.

Now, do you want to taste it?

- Yes.

- Mm.

- Mm.

- It good?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

So, we put a bit of sauce in the bottom here.

It could have been emulsified even a little more, I didn't realize.

Your green sauce could be totally green.

And then, we build our napoleon.

There, look at that.

One.

Maybe I put a couple of those on top.

Get that, this one is beautiful.

And, that's, you know, two scallop.

You could go to three scallop per person.

- As long as you don't have to walk very far with the plates.

- I was just thinking the same thing.

You don't want to go too far.

(Claudette laughs) But, that, here we are, you know, the little scallop of, that is scallop and potato napoleon with chive sauce.

- [Claudine] Chive sauce.

(cheerful music) - [Claudine] So, should we make some steak?

- That's a good idea.

(Claudine laughs) - Okay.

- This is a nice piece of steak.

This is a New York strip.

You know what people call a New York strip?

So, they call that a strip steak.

It's also called the loin steak or the club steak, or the Delmonico steak, depending where you're in the country.

So, it's very confusing.

- Yes.

- That way, and, we cutting relatively a small steak.

It's three quarter of an inch.

- Oh that's, that's- - About, at the most.

By the time it's trimmed, about seven ounce, you know.

- [Claudine] Yeah, but that's sizable still.

(knife slicing) - Yeah.

- [Claudine] It's not- - But, then we trimming it completely this way.

See.

Removing this.

And, salt, pepper and a dash of oil on top.

Just so that you moisten the top and we're going to grill it.

Okay.

This way, on the other side.

Thank you madam.

- [Claudine] You're welcome.

- This way.

You see, here is my grill here.

- Okay.

- You see, the line are going this way, you put against the line.

So, I am against the line here (steak sizzling) and there.

And, at that point it is a mistake, often people do a steak and now that the steak is brown, they move it this way.

If you move it this way and you cook the steak, you cook the steak on the same side in two different direction, it cook too much on the same side first.

So, the myoglobin, the muscle tissue goes inside and it start curling up, it's too cooked on this side.

So, what you do- - Ooh.

- ...you cook it this way about 25, then you flip it this way.

So, you cook it so much on this side, so much on the other side.

Then you turn it again, you'll see to have the perfect quadrillage.

I'll show you.

(Claudine laughs) People, you see the steak this way, it goes in that direction here.

So now, this is in the same direction than the line.

- [Claudine] Mm-hmm.

- And, after it will go this way.

(steak sizzling) I'm not sure you understand what I'm saying, but... - I'll see when you do it.

Because this, honestly, I always mess this up.

- This way, here.

(steak sizzling) Now, it goes this way.

You see?

(Claudine laughs) Wait, look, this way.

So now- - [Claudine] Right.

So, now it's- - It was this way.

- Right.

- Second time, this way.

- Uh-huh.

- Now, it this way.

Let me turn that for the fourth time.

- Oh, see.

- This way.

And, I just make, like, - [Jacques] Yeah.

- [Claudine] ... a map of a city that you can't get around in.

- No, no.

Here you have, you know, whether that direction, you have your quadrillage.

And again, this is small quadrillage.

Here and here.

You know what?

The butternut squash will take another two or three minute, and this should rest a couple of minutes.

So, let's wait and have a glass of wine.

- Sounds good.

- Good.

What do you think?

- I think we should plate everything and have dinner.

- Good.

I think it's rested enough.

So, you wanna go get the butternut squash?

- [Claudine] Sure.

- I think they are fine.

(pans clanging) How are they?

- [Claudine] They're really nice.

- Oh, good.

Do you need a hand?

- No, no, no.

I can do it myself.

- Okay.

You can put it right on the stove here.

- [Claudine] Okay.

- [Jacques] Good.

- [Claudine] They look nice.

- Yeah.

See, they are beautiful.

Yeah.

Okay.

They are hot.

So, you know, we could serve (gasps) half of one per person, like this.

(knife cutting) Oh, I'm through.

- [Claudine] How about- - It's hot.

Can serve this like this, you know.

- Oh.

- Half for one person.

- [Claudine] Or, you could leave it whole.

- [Jacques] You could leave it whole.

But, that's one for two, you know.

- [Claudine] Yeah.

- Our steak.

Ooh.

You see the way they rest, the steak.

- Oh, wow.

- When they rest, you see the liquid coming out of it.

I'll show you for the sake of it.

This one, you cut the steak in half like this.

You see the color of that steak?

- [Claudine] Mm.

- [Jacques] Should be just about- - [Claudine] Yeah.

That's- - ... how it should be.

- Unless you like steak well done.

But, I don't.

- Yes, of course.

But, we can present this one this way.

- [Claudine] Should I put butter on top?

- Little bit of the natural juice.

Never forget this, yeah.

Okay.

And, you put a little piece of butter on top.

Yes.

Lemon thyme butter.

That's it.

Do the same thing here (dishes clanging) and there.

And, here we are.

The grilled steak with lemon thyme butter and the butternut squash.

(outro music) And, for our dessert, a real French vanilla ice cream.

You know why it's French vanilla?

- Because, no, (laughs) I have no idea.

- Okay.

According to USDA, you know, French vanilla is an ice cream made with eggs.

I'm chopping one vanilla beans.

This one is done with eggs and milk, you know, like a creme anglaise.

In fact, it's a creme anglaise we're going to do.

And, here I have vanilla beans.

I put the vanilla beans directly in there- - And, I put about- - ... to give taste.

- ... three tablespoons of sugar.

- Yeah.

(blender whizzing) And, we do a nice powder here.

Now, we want to strain the vanilla.

And, that's why you want to do that separate.

otherwise you lose all of your vanilla.

What we're going to do here is to put this in there, - Smells good.

(pan clanging) - ... with a third of a cup of cream.

And, we bring that to a boil and we put it on the side to cool off.

I have it cold in there.

And, this is two cup of milk that I have here, six egg yolk and the sugar, that we have in there.

All together, we have, like, a third of a cup of sugar.

And, now you mix that.

You see, you have to mix that.

If you were to leave your sugar and the yolk like that, it will cook the yolk and it get granulated.

(whisk beating) - Oh, wow.

- You have to stir it at least to that extent.

- Hm.

- Now, that mixture of egg yolk, sugar, vanilla, give me some vanilla extract in there.

- Okay.

- About a teaspoon.

- Stop moving.

- But, why?

(Claudine laughs) Doesn't make any difference.

Just pour it.

(whisk beating) Okay, good.

- [Claudine] Is that good?

Okay.

- And, I wait until the milk boil.

You have to put it back on the stove to cook it, because the lecithin in egg yolk, which is a thickening agent, is going to thicken at 170 degree.

This is pretty crucial, because if you get to 180, you're going to have scrambled eggs.

So, you have to be very careful.

And, this is why I have this ready cold, because at the last moment- - It's going.

It's going.

It's going.

- Thank you.

(milk steaming) Good looking, Claudine.

- Hey, that's usually, it usually happens to me.

- Oh yes.

(whisk beating) Okay.

So, now as you see, beside the mess, I put that back in there and you have to cook it back on top of the stove and be very careful.

So, you clean that up a little bit- - Yeah.

- ... and you bring this right there.

Now, you see the foam on top?

- [Claudine] Yeah.

- Because, I beat it with the whisk, I incorporate air, and air is in the form of foam.

When that reach 180 degree, about, that will disappear.

The foam kind of disappeared, it's getting thick, which is about now.

- [Claudine] You can even hear it- - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Now, and I strain it.

Hold the strainer here.

Hold the strainer here.

Hold the strainer.

And, you see the bottom of that pan is already starting to curdle.

- Wow.

- But, that goes into a cold liquid.

So, it stop the cooking, because now I know it's cooked enough.

You see?

- Wow.

Oh, that's very good.

- Okay.

And, at that point, this coat the spoon, you see coating the spoon.

I put it this way, I run my finger through it.

- [Claudine] Uh-huh.

- [Jacques] You see, it doesn't get together?

- [Claudine] Nah.

- That's coating the spoon.

So, you stir this.

Now, remember I have the vanilla in underneath here, those black little specs are the vanilla.

And, of course it should cool off preferably more.

And then, you do your ice cream.

Yes.

That's it.

- Okay.

- And, if you put flour in it, then you have a pastry cream.

That's it.

Put it on 15, 20 minutes.

Here, it takes time.

(machine whirring) I think it's done now.

- [Claudine] Finally.

- You can hear it.

- Yeah.

- Can you hear it, the machine?

Why don't you get the ice cream scoop now?

- [Claudine] Okay.

- During that time, I'll taste it.

- [Claudine] Ah- - Well, I'll get it right out of there.

Look at that.

- [Claudine] Here's a lovely bowl.

- [Jacques] It's good when it's just out of the thing like this.

- Yes.

- You want to serve another little ball on top, or that's enough?

- [Claudine] I want to put one on top.

- One of those.

Mm.

(Claudine hums) Claudine, what is that?

- This, rose- - [Jacques] Rose petal.

- [Claudine] Mm-hmm.

- Yeah.

That's good.

You put it right in there.

It's beautiful.

Look at that.

Okay.

- Okay.

- And, this is our French vanilla ice cream.

And now, the best part of the meal, the dining room.

Kitchen is good, but- - Kitchen's a lot of fun.

- But, the dining room is a lot of enjoyment.

- Is nice.

- Definitely.

- Yes.

And now, look at that little napoleon.

You know, in napoleon, we have puff pastry and the puff pastry develop an multilayer effect.

That's why we call it a napoleon when you have different layer like this scallop and potato.

- It looks really beautiful.

- Yeah, it's very elegant.

- Mm-hmm.

- So, this is more elegant.

This is a bit more mundane.

You know, a simple steak, grilled.

But, the thyme butter, I mean, bring it to another level maybe.

- Definitely.

And, the squash with it.

- Squash.

- The butternut squash is very kind of, for me, it reminds me of the fall.

- [Claudine] Yeah?

- I guess.

Yeah.

- That's great.

You can stuff it with a lot of things.

And, your regular ice cream, you're always ready for ice cream, right?

- Yeah.

I don't know how regular that is.

That's gonna be really good ice cream.

- [Jacques] Yes, yes.

- So, thank you very much.

- So, I'm going to have a Gigondas here, which is a Rhone Valley wine, very heavy, powerful, fruity, with my steak.

- And, I'm gonna have a Chardonnay, from Santa Barbara.

- [Jacques] Uh-huh.

- And, it's gonna be wonderful.

It's a fruity, kind of delicious melon- - Melon like, from Santa Maria Valley.

- Yeah.

- Well, it is always nice to be with you.

It's not just what you cook.

If you are with loved one and you've set a beautiful table, you can be putting on the ritz at every meal.

(Claudine laughs) - Thank you Titine, for cooking with me.

(classes clink) - Thank you.

- And, happy cooking.

- Happy cooking.

(cheerful music)