Monday, January 25, 2021

Sauteed Steak - Jacques Pepin / Youtube

 

Haven’t we all made surprising changes to our lives during the Pandemic. Me, I never watched cooking videos one after the other in a trance-like state until recently. 

Certainly Jacques Pepin is one of the best out there to watch. What a terrific teacher! What a terrific guy And I rarely ate or cooked red meat (no pun intended). I never bought a steak in the US. I ate mostly veg + seafood. Moving to France changed that fast. Under Confinement I’ve developed a hankering for hunks of red meat - needing more iron maybe? 

Watching Jacques Pepin sauté a steak it was clear I was doing it all wrong. Thank you Jacques 👏👏

I’m learning the names of French cuts of meat

Next challenge I’ll get the nerve to visit a proper butcher like Le Boucherie Gardil on the Île. 

I used to see Jacques Pepin now and then at the James Beard House, when I was a volunteer house photographer. We shot for our supper several nights a week and I sketched the chefs as well. When I had a Chef portrait exhibit at the house, I painted the chefs on a jacket to wear to the opening. 

Guests wanted the painted chefs jacket, not the portraits = my newest profession. The top chefs offered dinner at their restaurants instead of payment. I ate very well that year.

 I’m still sketching ‘chef’ bears for the January letter.

Along with watching cooking videos, I’m obsessed silly cat videos. Are you?

And painting their portraits among other things. 


32 comments:

  1. So funny, I just finished two days of solid cooking shows! Rarely am able to see Jacques Pepin. Loved him with Julia and in later years with his daughter,
    Would that be a photo you you sporting your signature red lips? By the way what brand and color do you use?

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  2. Wonderful, Carol! I too love cooking videos...you learn so much. I follow Jacques on Instagram where they post short videos of him cooking. He seems like a really lovely person besides being a great chef...what technique!.

    Love seeing you in those early photos in your chef’s coat. What an interesting life you have had. You need to write a book. Happy cooking! 👩‍🍳 🍳

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  3. Gardil is SO lovely and I miss going in there to plan our Noel and Reveillon suppers! They dole out tons of advice and tips and tricks, like most French butchers, I think...

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  4. How is your French Gary?
    I have heard they are lovely...such an imposing shop.
    So many awards and medals
    Maybe next week...

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  5. I love the cat videos, too!
    I'm also loving your Chanel cat in a bag, very classy cat.
    Have a great week!

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  6. Jane Gaban12:02 PM

    OF COURSE I watch cat videos!!!

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  7. YOUR SKETCHES ARE ADORABLE.
    HUGS, BUGS

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  8. Fun to learn more from these little snippets of your past - what a
    life you have lived!! So happy you are still living and learning and
    enjoying every day.

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  9. What fun, love to learn! Very surprised how much I have enjoyed
    Pepin's 'fast food' cookbooks. Turns everyday ingredients into Real
    Food, and of course, some things we ordinary mortals do not have
    access to...

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  10. Yes Jacques inspires you to DIY instead of buying processed foods.
    I like his Fast Food videos too

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  11. What a glorious, ingenious, and hard-working life you’ve had. Your most gracious for sharing it.

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  12. Marilyn1:43 PM

    Do you find since last March that you change your obsessions maybe every two months. I like Pepin’s accent.

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  13. Enjoyed this. I tried to go to the Boucherie Gardil on one of our visits and I've never in my life been so intimidated.
    No chance at all of making a purchase!

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  14. Mary, we will march in together !

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  15. Most definitely visit that “proper” butcher on the Île. And, wear your chef’s jacket. You will be treated like a Queen! (btw: liking your long tresses in the photo

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  16. Chatty1:52 PM

    Just can’t get into watching cat videos. I know that it would be a rabbit hole I might never climb out of. Adore your cat in the Chanel bag. She has so much character.

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  17. Whenever I visited a French butcher shop, I would look up the words online and write down on paper what I needed to hand to the butcher. He was very patient with me and I (mostly) got what I wanted.
    We cooked more than we had anticipated.
    Thank you for your blog.
    I love visiting Paris vicariously.

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  18. I highly recommend listening to The Apprentice, the memoir of JP's childhood and his early days as a chef. It is merveilleux!

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  19. Such a good portrait of Pepin

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  20. Thank you Susan,
    Especially on my left flank in the rear view... Would that be a flank steak? :))

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  21. Of course I love cat videos! And Jacques Pepin. He's so lovely and I enjoy watching him cook. Love your chef's coat and the portraits -- they're delightful. I can see why people wanted to buy it off your back and I hope you sold it for beaucoup bucks back then!

    I started painting again after too long a hiatus and it felt so good. A dog portrait -- and a complicated expression and I nailed it! Do you ever pat yourself on the back and go, "This one is really good!"? I did that last night!

    Happy week!
    j

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  22. I adore those bear chefs! Not a big fan of cat videos but can sit and watch chefs cook for morning to night.

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  23. I love your drawings of chefs on that jacket! Any chance you still have it?? Very darling picture of you looking sideways 😀. So pretty!

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  24. Hi Carol, I'm curious about the fishers in your last photo....do people catch fish in the Seine? Is it clean enough for them to eat the fish? Here in Sydney people fish along the rivers and harbour but there's a lot of water moving in & out so probably pretty clean. They also fish off the rocks by the sea where I live and not infrequently get washed off! All for a bit of seafood...😯

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  25. Who could resist that kitten? And what an inspiration....sketching chefs on your chef's jacket, or working smock....
    I'll share with our artist daughters.

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  26. Great post, Carol.
    Fun seeing you again in your chef jackets
    , fun memory's when Louise and I used to visit you in NY City.

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  27. Love the cooking videos, plus the cat and dog videos. It's wonderful to watch someone like Jacques create food, and animals are just cuddly.

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  28. Jacquelyn2:31 AM

    Love the kitten. Looks like my first kitten as a child !

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  29. In the time of no travel, I am so glad that I found you. You brought reminders and memories of Paris to my home. Thanks so much!

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  30. My French is pas mal, but I thin k they are likely used to all sorts and it wouldn't surprise me if there was a little English lurking in the backround... but even with my pas mal Francaise I take one other commenters advice and usually go in somewhat prepared for what I want to ask for.

    The house made ham, thinly sliced (chiffoné)is wonderful charcuterie. Also love their paté de campagné, and really miss being able to get a Morteau sausage (impossible to export, and wonderful around Christmas...)

    EVERYthing I've ever bought there was excellent, and they are so helpful. Among my prized possessions is the elegant linen shopping bag emblazoned with their name that they gifted me one year when I dropped a lot of cash planning for our Noel repas!

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  31. The kitty--be still my heart. Adorable!

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