Today's Gourmet
Having just reviewed a Jacques Pepin cookbook, I scoured the shelves for others. I own two more so they are up next. First is Today’s Gourmet, Light and Healthy Cooking for the 90’s. Yes, I have been watching public television for a long time.
Some may find this hard to believe, but until 9 years ago I did not eat seafood. A traumatic experience between me, an intern teacher on lunchroom duty and a fish stick resulted in what I thought was a seafood allergy for almost 30 years. A visit to an allergist and the encouragement of my husband caused a blossoming adventure with food of the sea.
I bring this up only because the above-mentioned phantom seafood aversion meant I never cooked any of the seafood dishes out of my older cookbooks. I decided to jump in now. Jacques grew up in Provence, and therefore, presents a lot of seafood. I love scallops and find them easy to cook so that’s where I began. I made a meal of Sautéed Scallops with Snowpeas and Pasta with Zucchini. C chose Crab Cakes with Avocado Sauce for his dish.
Sautéed Scallops with Snowpeas: This dish was remarkably unfussy and easy to prepare. Perhaps the snowpeas were slightly overcooked in that European style, but the dish is colorful and appetizing. The only seasoning is butter, salt, pepper and Tabasco. This is what I love about Jacques Pepin. He doesn’t go crazy with tons of ingredients or hard-to-find spices. He lets the food shine with minimal intervention. I’m reminded of little girls in beauty pageants. Little girls are most beautiful with pigtails in their hair and band-aids on their knees. Make-up and sequins can only detract from their perfectness. Jacques’s food does not wear make-up or sequins. Rating: 3
Pasta with Zucchini: I’m always looking for quick ways to prepare pasta apart from red sauce which I make a lot. I’ve tried a few other zucchini recipes, but this outshone them all. Sautéed zucchini, olive oil, garlic, salt pepper, parmesan and some of the pasta water combined to make an almost creamy pasta which was as healthy as it was delicious. I think that the fact that I had fresh garden zucchini made this dish. With winter grocery store zucchini it would pale. I might try perking it up a bit with lemon zest or goat cheese, but really it stands pretty well on its own. Rating: 2
Crab Cakes with Avocado Sauce: C chose this one. I’ll admit I’m not a fan of crab, but I was willing to give this a try. It is very light on the mayo which makes it hard to keep the cakes together, but this dish comes together in minutes. The name is deceiving. I was expecting an avocado puree, but it is not really a sauce as much as it is an avocado and tomato salad. C and I make this salad very often. Jacques adds acid in the form of red vinegar which isn’t necessary for this salad on its own, but which cut through the fried heaviness of the crab cakes very nicely. He seasons his crab with thyme and chives. We added more hot sauce than he calls for, but the dish can take it. I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I might suggest using cornbread instead of white bread for the bread crumbs, but that’s because I grew up in Florida not Provence. Rating: 2.5
Total: 8 Another keeper. One thing I’ve learned from Jacques Pepin is the simplicity and ease of putting good food on the table. Salt, pepper, butter, olive oil and a few herbs can bring out the best food has to offer from vegetables to meats to fish. Complicated sauces, fussy side dishes, multiple accompaniments, all can detract from fresh food. Home cooks need not be intimidated by long lists of ingredients, nor need they shell out money for some celebrity chef’s spice rub du jour. I tip my hat to Today’s Gourmet.
Some may find this hard to believe, but until 9 years ago I did not eat seafood. A traumatic experience between me, an intern teacher on lunchroom duty and a fish stick resulted in what I thought was a seafood allergy for almost 30 years. A visit to an allergist and the encouragement of my husband caused a blossoming adventure with food of the sea.
I bring this up only because the above-mentioned phantom seafood aversion meant I never cooked any of the seafood dishes out of my older cookbooks. I decided to jump in now. Jacques grew up in Provence, and therefore, presents a lot of seafood. I love scallops and find them easy to cook so that’s where I began. I made a meal of Sautéed Scallops with Snowpeas and Pasta with Zucchini. C chose Crab Cakes with Avocado Sauce for his dish.
Sautéed Scallops with Snowpeas: This dish was remarkably unfussy and easy to prepare. Perhaps the snowpeas were slightly overcooked in that European style, but the dish is colorful and appetizing. The only seasoning is butter, salt, pepper and Tabasco. This is what I love about Jacques Pepin. He doesn’t go crazy with tons of ingredients or hard-to-find spices. He lets the food shine with minimal intervention. I’m reminded of little girls in beauty pageants. Little girls are most beautiful with pigtails in their hair and band-aids on their knees. Make-up and sequins can only detract from their perfectness. Jacques’s food does not wear make-up or sequins. Rating: 3
Pasta with Zucchini: I’m always looking for quick ways to prepare pasta apart from red sauce which I make a lot. I’ve tried a few other zucchini recipes, but this outshone them all. Sautéed zucchini, olive oil, garlic, salt pepper, parmesan and some of the pasta water combined to make an almost creamy pasta which was as healthy as it was delicious. I think that the fact that I had fresh garden zucchini made this dish. With winter grocery store zucchini it would pale. I might try perking it up a bit with lemon zest or goat cheese, but really it stands pretty well on its own. Rating: 2
Crab Cakes with Avocado Sauce: C chose this one. I’ll admit I’m not a fan of crab, but I was willing to give this a try. It is very light on the mayo which makes it hard to keep the cakes together, but this dish comes together in minutes. The name is deceiving. I was expecting an avocado puree, but it is not really a sauce as much as it is an avocado and tomato salad. C and I make this salad very often. Jacques adds acid in the form of red vinegar which isn’t necessary for this salad on its own, but which cut through the fried heaviness of the crab cakes very nicely. He seasons his crab with thyme and chives. We added more hot sauce than he calls for, but the dish can take it. I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I might suggest using cornbread instead of white bread for the bread crumbs, but that’s because I grew up in Florida not Provence. Rating: 2.5
Total: 8 Another keeper. One thing I’ve learned from Jacques Pepin is the simplicity and ease of putting good food on the table. Salt, pepper, butter, olive oil and a few herbs can bring out the best food has to offer from vegetables to meats to fish. Complicated sauces, fussy side dishes, multiple accompaniments, all can detract from fresh food. Home cooks need not be intimidated by long lists of ingredients, nor need they shell out money for some celebrity chef’s spice rub du jour. I tip my hat to Today’s Gourmet.