- Be inventive with any ingredient from the supermarket.

There is so many to choose from.

Surimi salad on greens.

I have sour cream, mayonnaise, scallion, shallot.

The surimi in there.

I put some lemon juice.

A little bit of Tabasco.

You mix it all together and you put that on greens.

And you have an absolutely wonderful, wonderful salad in seconds.

Here we are, right in there.

A few black olives on top.

You don't have to wait for crab to be in season.

You can do that year round at your market.

I am Jacques Pepin, and this is "Fast Food My Way".

Happy cooking.

You know, when everything is proportioned in the kitchen, sometimes it makes your life easier, especially if you have a big party to do and you have 30 or 40 people to do.

So today, we're going to do mini savory cheesecakes on arugula salad.

And a steamed scrod package with a sauce made of pimento.

Butternut squash saute, kind of caramelized.

And a tapioca banana coconut pudding.

And I think that- - Hey, don't start without me.

- Oh, okay.

I won't start without you.

- I brought wine.

- Hi!

- How are you?

- I'm gonna cook.

- You went to the cellar?

- I always go to the cellar.

- Okay.

- It's your cellar, not mine.

(Claudine laughs) - So, we are doing those mini cheesecakes.

Remember when we used to do cheesecake?

- Yes.

- Your godfather loves cheesecake, right?

- I know.

Papa loves cheesecake.

- Those are savory cheesecakes, so a bit of the same idea.

But I'd like you to butter it.

- I'm gonna butter it and I'm gonna make you some breadcrumbs, okay?

- Yeah, do breadcrumb on this.

- Okay.

- So, because you want butter on the outside breadcrumbs- - I'm making a mess.

- A thick enough part.

And the reason is that you want to be able to unmold it, you know?

So I have a package of whipped cream cheese here, which is like eight ounces.

- Okay, don't say anything too exciting, 'cause I'm gonna turn this thing on.

(processor whirs) - Okay.

- Why do you use whipped cream cheese and not regular cream cheese?

- It's softer.

It's easy to, and it's very light and airy, you know, so I like it.

- [Claudine] Oh, okay.

- About a quarter of a cup of sour cream in it.

- And I am going to generously butter, because one should always be generous with butter.

- [Jacques] And I'm gonna put two eggs in it.

- And it doesn't matter that you don't beat them before you put them in?

- No.

- Okay.

- And you break them flat, like that, Tetine, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- You know that, right?

- I do.

- Oh, good.

So where is my granddaughter?

- She is at school.

- She's at school - Having a wonderful time.

- Good.

- She's always having a wonderful time.

Is that too much?

You said generous.

- No, no.

No, no.

- No, okay.

- You want to have a lot in there.

Yes.

So that it comes out easier out of the mold, you know?

- [Claudine] Okay.

- So you want that to be, of course, smooth.

You know what, we could do that in the food processor as well.

And you can put all of that stuff.

Okay, so here, salt, pepper in there.

- Very generously buttered little dishes.

But you don't go, when we fill this up, we don't fill it up all the way, right?

'Cause it's gonna be puffy.

- Yeah, it's going to be puffy.

See, up to that point, I could put sugar, I could put whatever in it and I would have a conventional cheesecake.

- Oh!

- But then we get savory here.

- [Claudine] Oh right.

Okay.

- So you wanna give me a little bit of parsley to put in there?

- Do you want me to chop it?

- If you want to chop it, just very coarsely.

I'm going to put a couple of pieces of blue cheese in there.

This is a beautiful blue cheese from around, not too far from here.

- Oh good.

- Yeah.

I put some and we'll put some more in the- - [Claudine] And we'll put some on top?

- Yes.

We'll put some more in there.

Now, you could put other kinds of cheese- - So now you're not gonna put sugar in there.

(chuckles) - Okay.

Good.

You're doing good there.

- I know, your standard, I know.

- You wanna put some in there?

- Do you want all of it or do you want about half of it?

- Well, all of it.

- Okay.

- And there is enough to put on top there.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Just for color.

Good.

- And I wanna taste this, 'cause it does- - Is it good?

- It looks really nice.

- So.

- Mm.

That's good.

- Is it good?

I have a rubber spatula here.

So let's put- - [Claudine] So you wanna have like, I don't know, it's 80% full.

- Well, even if it's full, you know, it goes up like a souffle, but- - Right.

- It goes down after.

What goes up must come down.

- Hey, you know what?

- What?

- We forgot the breadcrumbs.

- You forget the breadcrumbs to put in this here.

- They're right here.

- Well.

- I think it'll be okay.

We can put them on top.

- No, because it's to help you to unmold.

Okay, so if it sticks, it's your fault.

- Okay.

I can live with that.

Do you wanna put breadcrumbs on top or no?

- Well, breadcrumbs doesn't make any difference now, because, as I say, it's to make a coating, so it helps in the unmolding, - [Claudine] But it'll taste really good.

- Well, we can also serve them directly into the container without unmolding it.

Okay.

So.

I went too fast there.

And we put- - You go very fast.

- Let me put a little piece of blue cheese that you push inside here.

- Ooh, that'll be really good.

- [Jacques] Yeah.

Another piece here.

- [Claudine] Okay, so the oven's preheated, and I'm gonna go put this in?

- And now you can put that in the oven, yes.

About 375 degree oven.

It takes about 20 minutes.

- Okay.

- [Claudine] Squash?

- Next we're going to do butternut squash.

About one inch pieces.

Okay.

- Usually I take this, I cut it in half, and I put it in the oven and I don't peel it.

- No, in the oven, this is one of the best recipes, you know.

Just in half.

But you see this is very good too.

- Shorey likes it too.

- Yes?

Well, my granddaughter eats a lot of vegetables, right?

- She does.

She's a good vegetarian.

- Okay.

You're still peeling?

- I'm not, I'm done.

See, look?

- Okay.

- Wow.

Hey.

Okay.

- Here.

Here, let put that in there.

- All right, let me give you some butter in here.

- You want to put a good cup of apple cider.

- [Claudine] Right.

Right now.

- And a couple of tablespoons of, and a couple of tablespoons of apple vinegar.

You wanna put salt, pepper in it.

Okay.

And a dash of sugar even.

- Okay.

Really?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Oh, how about some onions?

- Yeah, that's it.

Onion too.

I'll give you the onion.

You have your sugar there.

And what you would want to do first is to cook it so it's softened, right?

And when it's soft, then we remove the lid and we cook it without the lid until there is no more liquid and it starts to become caramelized, you know?

A great dish for thanksgiving - Where's the, ah.

- Wait for the onion.

Onion goes well in it because there is nothing better than caramelized onion.

- Yes, that is very true.

And onions just goes, I mean, what does onion not go in?

- Okay.

You're on full speed here.

- [Claudine] I'm on full speed.

- Can I clean up your mess now?

- I was, thank you.

- Okay, so you can cover it.

(Claudine laughs) - [Jacques] That's my mess too, you know?

Next we're going to do the fish.

- Okay, I'll go get it from the refrigerator.

- Okay.

So, we're going to wrap that in, I put that in water.

This is just plain water.

You put it as to, it softens in water and it doesn't really take too long.

Less than a minute once it gets wet.

- Okay, papa, I'm right behind you with this.

- You know those, you've used those, right?

- I have, but you know what?

I have to tell you, the ones I find are always square.

- Oh.

- So I don't know how to use those.

I'm sorry.

(laughs) - You have to trim them to make them round.

- [Claudine] But, here, I'm gonna put the fish here?

- No, it's fine.

- Okay.

- When they are wet like that, they continue getting soft on the table.

- Huh?

- Look at that.

So now, what we're going to do, we are going to do those packages first.

- [Claudine] Okay.

- So why don't I give you the fish.

I have one here.

I want you to put a little bit of salt and pepper on the fish.

- Okay, where's- - Put one piece of basil.

- [Claudine] And a piece of basil, I think.

- Then we put a piece of basil.

You want to put salt on both sides.

Remember?

You see, it's soft.

On the other hand- - Yeah.

I'm actually pretty surprised at how soft it- - You don't really want to leave it too long in the water.

The reason is that it becomes so soft and then you have a problem, it tears apart, you know, very easily.

You know what, we have to put the nice leaf of basil.

- A little basil leaf.

- Leaf a basil, and we should put it underneath.

The reason is that when you fold it- - I'm letting you do the folding part.

- In the package - [Jacques] No, look.

- [Claudine] And it'll stay?

- [Jacques] Christmas package.

Yeah.

And you fold it this way.

- [Claudine] That's about as nice as my Christmas packages look.

- [Jacques] You see?

- Oh, that'll be really pretty.

- So let's put this here.

Also, you look at the fish, you see, you see that part of the fish here?

- That's not as pretty.

- See the part which is just under the skin, darker.

This is the part that touched the bone.

You wanna see that part, whiter.

So you put this one here, you can fold that.

Not like this.

Oh, no, I'm kidding.

- That's so mean!

(chuckles) - Okay.

So here it is.

- [Claudine] And then when we steam them, we're gonna put them seam side down?

Right?

- Yes, exactly.

- Okay.

I need a piece of basil.

- So I have this one.

Okay, here it is.

Another leaf of basil like this.

Yeah.

This way.

- [Claudine] Okay.

- You can put tarragon or another type of herb, you know, but that gives you a nice flavor in the middle of it.

So, a large, I have a large bamboo steamer here.

And you know, I'm afraid often when you put stuff in there, it tends to stick.

So you can put a leaf of cabbage or a couple of leafs of lettuce, anything in there.

- [Claudine] And the steam will just come through and it's okay?

- Yeah, yeah.

Because, I mean, look, we are not really covering the whole thing.

- Okay.

If you say so, then it is true.

I do believe you.

- [Jacques] Are you making fun of my accent?

- [Claudine] I am not.

- Okay.

- I would not.

- Okay.

- All right, so that's it.

And then I'm gonna cover this.

- You have salt, pepper, cover that.

And that's it.

- And I will put it - To steam.

- To steam.

- And put the heat.

- I did.

- The heat is on now, right?

- Yep.

- Do you want more water in here?

- So you wanna be sure that you have a wok like this where all of the water is really under the fish itself.

That is, you don't wanna put a small steamer in the middle of that, because all the water boils on the outside and nothing goes into your fish.

- [Claudine] Oh, that makes sense.

- So the sauce.

I have the regular pimento, you know, that we call, you want to cut it into pieces.

Across like this, with a little bit of the juice I'll keep.

Salt, pepper, we'll put in there.

I want you to, yeah, you put that in there.

Pepper.

I'm gonna put extra water in it.

- [Claudine] You can put anything you want in it.

I would like a sip of wine.

- Okay.

And I want to emulsify that, you know, with a hand blender or in a small blender to mix.

(blender whirs) Remember that this is red pepper which has been cooked that you can find in your supermarket, loose sometimes in jars, sometimes in the can.

And it's basically a red pepper, you know?

(blender whirs) - [Claudine] I think this is about good.

- You think so?

- I think so.

- So this- - And I turned on the heat.

Yeah, they're soft.

I'll take two out.

- Well then you can take the lid out of it.

- Okay.

- Put it upside down.

You can put it here.

I am going to warm that up because that should be served.

- Did you put a little bit of olive oil?

I didn't.

Here.

- Oh, I forgot the olive oil.

- It's okay.

I put it in.

- Okay, thank you.

Okay.

Good call, Claudine.

- And I didn't do salt.

- Look at that beautiful color.

- It's really pretty.

- I put salt and pepper.

- Okay, good.

- And then we're going to warm that up.

And after that- - I think it's okay.

- Mm-hmm.

That's soft enough.

So you can see, start caramelizing a little bit on the outside.

- [Claudine] That's very hot.

- [Jacques] It is.

- So this is actually now starting to sizzle.

- Yeah, that's what you want.

- And that's where you're gonna get the caramelization and all of that?

- Yeah.

You want to taste this?

Julia used to say, "Taste, taste."

- Taste, taste, taste.

- Taste some.

- That's really good.

- See, I put water in it, and I put- - I think it needs a little bit more salt.

- Okay.

Okay.

So there.

- Turn that off.

Turn this off.

- Okay.

- So then we're gonna put butter.

- Yeah.

- Why would you, why didn't you put the butter in before?

- Because I have a nice taste of fresh butter here.

Not melted or cooked, you know?

- [Claudine] Are you gonna tell me not to mix it so it can actually caramelize?

- Yes.

- Is that what, okay.

(Claudine laughs) - Yeah, to go the side.

We'll saute it.

- And then we'll dive in.

- Okay, let me see that.

You see, it will change color here.

- [Claudine] Oh.

(blender whirs) And if we had cooked it that way, that wouldn't have happened?

- No.

- No, okay.

- And it's emulsified here, you see?

This is neat here, you just push on the button.

- Ooh.

- And we can wash this.

- I like that.

- Taste it.

- You want to taste first?

- It's good.

Okay.

- Mm.

- So let's see.

See the outside here?

- Yeah, that's beautiful.

- It doesn't take that much longer.

Now, I didn't time the fish.

Maybe let's check it out.

- I think I can smell it.

- You can smell that it's cooked?

- I can like smell fish.

Now, what are you feeling for when you do that?

- Well, it should go through without too much resistance, although your mother likes it practically raw in the center.

- I know.

- But that's basically done.

- Okay.

- So I think we can- - So maybe we'll do, would you like, should we put this in a dish first or do you want to do the fish first?

- No no, we are going to caramelize it a little more.

- Okay.

- I want more of that crystallization.

- I'm gonna go behind you and I'm gonna put this here.

- Yeah.

I want to get maybe a little bit of, or what do we, do you want to do a chiffonade?

- I'm gonna do a chiffonade of basil for you.

- Okay.

Here it is.

- So.

- See, and I was doing this all nice for the fish.

I was gonna surprise you.

- Look at the color of that sauce.

- That's a really beautiful color.

- Yeah.

Which one looks good to you?

- I like this one.

- Okay.

- Do you want me to put this in there now?

Or do you want to wait?

Oh no, it's to put on top.

- You barely see the, you know, the rice paper outside, you know, because of the, they could become totally transparent, you know, these cooked.

So this is our scrod package.

- It looks beautiful.

- Yep.

And the caramelized squash, I think are fine too.

- They look really nice.

Oh wow.

It smells so wonderful.

It really smells like fall.

- Yep.

- When we have like big fleshy fish like that and the red peppers and everything, it smells like fall to me.

Please don't tell me I'm doing it wrong.

Please don't tell me I'm doing it wrong.

- You're doing incredible today.

Incredible.

And this is of course the butternut squash saute.

Great.

(gentle guitar music) Look out, do you have a place where- - Yeah.

- Whoop.

- Those look beautiful.

- Yeah.

- They would've been a lot better with breadcrumbs.

- Oh, well.

- I know, it's my fault.

- They would only have been slightly different.

See, the outside would be brown there and all that, but otherwise- - Oh, okay, I see what you mean.

- So not much different.

Now, you know, you could serve them, they're still slightly wet inside, which is good.

- Right.

- You know, like a cheesecake.

But we could serve them this way, hot, directly on the plate.

Or then unmold them, serve them on the salad when they are lukewarm, which we can do.

- So, you would either serve them like this or let them rest for a little while and then take them out.

- Yeah, and serve them lukewarm.

Yes.

That's it.

- Is that enough?

- Yeah, I think that's plenty.

- Okay.

- [Jacques] So, you know, I think I can get it out like this.

- [Claudine] You're gonna do that crazy thing.

- [Jacques] And back this way.

Whoop, I lost a piece.

- That's okay.

- This is for you.

This is for you and me.

- Oh good.

- It's too hot.

Yep.

- But that looks good.

- It should cool off a little bit.

Oh boy, I just had a piece of blue cheese here.

- Well, that can't be a bad thing, you have a glass of wine.

- Mm.

Very good.

- Mm.

Ooh.

That is really good.

- Okay.

And this is our mini savory cheesecake on arugula salad, right?

- Yeah.

(gentle guitar music) - Let's do the tapioca pudding now.

- Okay.

- Tapioca pudding.

You know your mom loves tapioca pudding.

- I know.

What is tapioca, by the way?

Like what is the little thing made out of?

The little bead?

- A bit of a tuber, you know?

A tuber, which is a root.

And I have a cup of milk here.

I am putting- - [Claudine] And then you're gonna do coconut milk?

- [Jacques] A cup of coconut milk in there.

So this has to come to a boil, really, so.

Let's bring that to a boil.

And then after that, in there we're gonna put honey, Lime, lime rinds.

- Oh, nice.

- This is- - Are they cranberries?

- Dried cherries, I think.

- Mm.

Oh, that's gonna be really good.

- Or you can put dried cranberries, dried cherries.

And then banana.

When that thing comes to a boil, sprinkle it on top.

Like this.

- [Claudine] Oh, so you, okay.

You pour it and whisk it at the same time?

- Yeah.

You know, I think I need a little more tapioca here.

Where is it?

- Okay.

- Give me like another, well, yeah, for that.

- Like this much?

- Yeah, go ahead.

- There you go.

- Good.

Okay.

- [Claudine] I have a beautiful microplane here.

I should be going this way.

- Yep.

This is it.

- That's really, oh wow.

It's done.

- Yeah.

No, that's why it's called minute tapioca.

- [Claudine] Yes, okay.

It's not called two hour tapioca.

- Okay.

And, what I'm going to do, I'm gonna cut in front of you.

- Okay.

- Put that in ice, just to cool it off, you know.

It'll cool it off in a few minutes here, then we can continue.

What you wanna do after- - We're gonna do zests?

- Is to put your rind.

- Yes.

- And we're gonna do some honey.

- I add some of this, some honey.

- Does it matter?

I mean, I know with the zest it doesn't matter, but will it matter with the cherries and stuff, if we put it in when it's still hot?

- No, not really.

- Oh, okay.

- But- - Do you want more?

- [Jacques] Yeah, put a little more.

Wait till room temperature, so here.

- Wait, that one escaped.

- Okay.

- And then you're gonna- - I'll put the honey later.

You see, it's cooling off.

- Wow.

- It's thickening a little bit already.

- You've made soup and you've used tapioca.

- Yes, at La Potagerie.

- Which I really like.

- [Jacques] Yeah.

Morning soup with tapioca.

- [Claudine] Yeah.

Which is one of, definitely- - Okay.

- My favorites.

Do I get a spoon?

Can I taste it?

- Well, it's gotta- - It's done, it's ready?

- Well.

(Claudine laughs) You want to eat it around room temperature, you know, so, - Mm.

It's good.

- It's good?

- It's really good.

I really like the lime.

- I'll put the honey in it.

Remember, there is no sugar so far.

Want to stir it.

Watch out, yeah.

- [Claudine] I think I'll just hold on to this And then we'll slice a banana in here?

- Yep, then we're gonna slice a couple of bananas.

- I think this is really nice.

- How is the temperature?

- It's cooling down.

It's nice.

- It's lukewarm?

- It's lukewarm now.

- Well, lukewarm- - I mean, I know that you would want it, you'd want it cooler, I think, by the time- - Well, about room temperature, lukewarm.

Yeah.

That's good.

Okay, let me taste it.

- I think you're gonna be very pleased.

- Oh yeah, that's set, it's even- - Yeah.

- I think it's practically cool.

So there.

Banana.

- Hey, you slice banana.

I'm gonna get you a glass of wine.

- No, you slice a banana.

- Okay.

- And I slice a banana.

You need a knife?

- I would, yes.

I would be very grateful.

I'll take this little one.

Please don't tell me it's a race, 'cause I've already lost.

(laughs) Ooh.

You know what?

If mom ever looks for this knife, it might be gone.

I like it.

It's little.

- [Jacques] That knife is very good, yes.

Okay.

- And I'm doing the slow motion version.

I do, I feel like I'm your instant replay.

- Okay, Tetine.

- All right.

I think that's probably enough.

- Yes.

Maybe I'll put a little strip of that on top.

- Oh, nice.

- Let's maybe do a- - Oh, I thought you were gonna do that thing where you cut it and then you fold it through, which I've- - Oh, I forget about it.

- Really tried to do a couple times and I can't.

- Oh, you can leave it like that cutting too.

- Oh, that'll be nice.

- And a spoon.

- Hm-hm-hm.

Oh, geez.

Oh, this is gonna be so good.

It smells so good.

- Yeah, the kids like this, you know?

- The adults like it too.

- Okay.

Whoop.

That's it.

- There.

- Good.

And this is tapioca banana coconut pudding.

- [Claudine] Mm-hmm.

(gentle guitar music) - The best way to really know people is by talking and sharing food at the table.

- Absolutely.

- Happy cooking.

- Happy cooking.

- Let's have some wine.

- Yes.

- Good.