Chicken Liver Pâté à la Jacques Pépin

Julia Child's Annual Birthday Tribute

JULIA CHILD’S ANNUAL BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

Chicken Liver Pâté à la Jacques PépinChicken Liver Pâté à la Jacques Pépin

Joyeux Anniversaire Julia Child! It has been an honor, a passion, and a tradition to celebrate the Chef’s birthday on Taste With The Eyes for several years now.

This year I imagine her dear, long-time friend, Jacques Pépin, inviting her over for an intimate luncheon that begins with her favorite upside-down martini. The first course includes his famous chicken liver pâté with toasted baguette, radishes from the garden with Maldon sea salt and European-style butter, cornichons and cocktail onions.

Chicken Liver Pâté à la Jacques PépinChicken Liver Pâté Recipe

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Julia and Jacques’s Gravlax

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home

Julia Child’s Annual Birthday Tribute

Julia Child and Jacques Pépin
Cooking at Home

Joyeux Anniversaire Julia Child! Today would have been Julia’s 110th birthday. It has been an honor, a passion, and a tradition to celebrate her birthday on Taste With The Eyes ever since I started this blog in 2007.

This year, we are watching a super-charming episode of the cooking show Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home “IT’S SALMON DAY!” where they go on to prepare a half-dozen salmon dishes together.

Here we are going to spotlight their gravlax presentations from the show and from their cookbook. Julia calls hers “Quick Gravlax” and Jacques calls his “Instant Gravlax.” Both different and both fabulous.

Screen Shot: Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
Screen Shot: Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home

The television series was the inspiration for the cookbook of the same name. In both, one can sense the pleasure the two have cooking together, tasting, exchanging ideas, joshing with each other, and raising a glass to savor the fruits of their labor.

In this one episode Julia gives Jacques a hard time about using black pepper instead of white pepper in a light colored dish…and he gives it right back.

Jacques asks Julia to add salt and pepper to the salmon tartare they are making together.

“Would you rather have black or white pepper?” teases Julia.

“Black, black without any question,” says Jacques.

“You like speckled food,” declares Julia.

“I do. I also like taste in the food and the black pepper has more taste than the white one,” retorts Jacques.

Again and again they demonstrate that cooking is endlessly fascinating and challenging, and while ultimately personal, it is a joy to be shared!

Julia’s Quick Gravlax

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Yellow for Bri

Organic Mixed Lettuce Salad, Mustard Vinaigrette
Jacques Pepin’s Vinaigrette in a Jar
2 tsp chopped garlic
3 Tbs Dijon-style mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 c red or white wine vinegar
1 c extra virgin olive oil
Put all ingredients in a jar, screw on the lid, and shake very well.
“I make dressing in a jar all the time at home, just like the recipe here. In less than a minute, I have enough for several salads. And if I happen to have a jar of mustard that is almost empty it’s even faster, I just add oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, and shake,” Jacques Pepin. From Jacques & Julia Cooking at Home
Yellow, through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, has come to signify the fight against cancer.
Briana Brownlow is one of 5% of women under the age of 30 diagnosed with breast cancer. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. In August 2007, she started Figs with Bri – a food blog where she shares her creative experiments with wonderful local organic ingredients. A month and a half ago, her worst fears came true. She learned that her cancer has returned and metastasized to her lungs, her lymph nodes and several areas in her bones and is at Stage IV. (from Jugalbundi blog)
The folks at Jugalbundi are hosting a fundraiser to help Bri, a fellow food blogger, with medical expenses. This month the CLICK food photography event theme is YELLOW for Bri.
Godspeed, Bri.