Jacques Pépin: Heart & Soul

Jacques cooks up a party menu of favorites to share, including crab chips with salmon caviar, an egg and herb appetizer, camembert with pistachio crust, a garden-fresh tabbouleh salad and a smoked ham glazed with maple syrup!

Making memories with family is at the heart of Jacques’ kitchen, and daughter Claudine joins him to cook the classic recipes from his mother’s restaurant, including Parisian potage, poulet á la crème paired and instant orange cake.

Jacques raises a glass to his beloved friend Julia Child as he shares recipes and anecdotes from their past. Sole vin blanc, pan-roasted rack of lamb with crusty brown potatoes, and a wine sherbet finale in honor of his friend.

Jacques and daughter Claudine recreate his mother’s restaurant recipes, including country-style eggs and swiss chard gratin, a dish of kale, sausage, ribs and lima bean stew, braised veal breast with pearl onions and artichoke, and more.

Fresh bread is a staple on Jacques’ dining table, so he begins the show with an easy fast fougasse. Then he makes salmon rillettes, a spice-rubbed poussins á la russe, and crêpes with Nutella, lemon or jam for granddaughter Shorey.

It’s easy to fall in love with Jacques’ seasonal menu, starting with a fresh, smooth tomato velvet soup! Then, sliced tomato gratin, tender grilled lamb shasklik, and a colorful red cabbage, pistachio and cranberry salad with bleu cheese.

Trips to Mexico are the inspiration for Jacques’ tasty garlic and pasilla soup. Jacques continues the Mexican-themed menu as he demonstrates his chicken with chili sauce and achiote rice and puts leftover bananas to good use in a dessert.

Jacques’ cooking career includes time in the Élysée Palace cooking for the French President. Now he replicates those dishes, including a first course of morel and shrimp eggs en cocotte and ending with a decadent chocolate souffles.

Jacques and wife Gloria indulge in tuna tartare with bagel chips and radishes. Jacques then prepares a Spanish tortilla, a strawberry confiture, and a velvety caramelized pear custard.

Jacques brings together culinary treasures from exotic cuisines around the world, with Japanese-inspired broiled salmon with miso glaze, South American grilled chicken tenders with chimichurri, and a sabayon with Madeira and grapes.

In Jacques’ kitchen, nothing goes to waste! Today, he espouses the virtues of offal and prepares a menu of several underutilized “variety meats,” including one of his wife’s favorites, chicken livers in mushroom port sauce.

Jacques’ summer itinerary always includes friends, fishing, and cooking the wonderful bounty from the sea, and he prepares top neck clams with vinegar and scallion sauce, Gloria’s linguine with clam sauce, poached cod in light cream sauce.

Jacques lovingly prepares dishes once enjoyed with his dear cooking companion Julia Child, including an oyster chowder with potatoes, spinach and corn, an eggplant-tomato gratin, and a hamburger royale using fresh ground beef.

Jacques dedicates today’s dishes to his wife Gloria and their many years spent together in the kitchen, including pressed caviar canape, corn fritters with smoked salmon, fried eggplant in tempura batter, and Hanoi chicken soup.

SShorey, Jacques’ granddaughter, joins him in the kitchen, to prepare escargots in baked potatoes, stuffed tomatoes, a pain de quatre heures filled with hazelnuts and chocolate, and delicious chocolate-pistachio brittle.

Jacques prepares a meal of wife Gloria’s favorites –a tasty herbed omelet with shrimp, cilantro rice, paired with a stew of calamari with saffron and cucumber, onion and mint salad. And rice pudding with dried cherries and blueberry sauce!

Granddaughter Shorey is back in the kitchen! The day starts with butter, freshly made for a tartine de confiture. Fruit recipes follow with peaches Marty and rhubarb-honey coupe with creamy yogurt sauce. Plus chocolate pistachio biscotti.

Jacques spends some of the winter in Mexico. Today he makes a hibiscus flower cocktail, Yucatán ceviche and fillet of sole Riviera with pico de gallo. Then, beef fillet mini steaks with mushrooms and shallots and grapefruit granité.

Jean-Claude joins Jacques in the kitchen to create a flavor-filled feast, beginning with octopus stew with onions, paprika and wine served over a creamy polenta. Prunes in red wine make for the perfect classical ending.

Jacques showcases four sophisticated seafood servings, starting with an expertly executed tuna á la minute. He then skips the beef and substitutes shrimp for a healthy approach to a classic, with shrimp burgers on zucchini.

Budget-friendly dishes made with inexpensive ingredients are full of flavor when Jacques steps in, including mussels with cream and chives on soft polenta, classic Italian spaghetti á la Bolognese, and a delicate sautéed radicchio salad.

Jacques cooks down memory lane, sharing anecdotes from his childhood. First, there’s a quick tutorial on how to skin a salami. Next, a classic dumpling dish renowned in Lyon. Then a satisfying sauté of rabbit with mushrooms and cream.

It’s a family reunion as Jacques’ daughter Claudine lends a helping hand in the kitchen to cook some of her favorite duck recipes, including duck liver mousse with apples and sautéed duck breast with arugula salad and cracklings.

Jacques demonstrates how home cooking using quality ingredients doesn’t have to break the bank! Featuring black lentil salad with eggs, pork neck and bean fricassee, spinach and ricotta lasagna and a bold yet budget-friendly red wine.