COT TAGE CHEESE PANCAKES
WITH BLUEBERRIES
My wife, Gloria, often makes this recipe for
Shorey’s breakfast when she stays at our house.
Shorey always eats fruit for breakfast, and she is
very fond of blueberries, so we mix the berries
with apricot preserves to serve with the pancakes.
You can use honey or sour cream instead or sub-
stitute other berries for the blueberries.
I mix the ingredients in a small food processor and
add the cottage cheese at the end, pulsing it for
only a few seconds so it keeps a bit of its texture.
PANCAKES
2 large eggs, preferably organic
¼ cup sour cream
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cottage cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons peanut, grapeseed or safflower oil
BERRIES
¼ cup apricot preserves
1 cup blueberries
Prepare the pancakes: Put the eggs, sour cream,
vanilla, sugar, salt and flour in a small food
processor in this order and process for about 15
seconds, until smooth. Add the cottage cheese
and process for a few seconds, just enough to
mix it in.
Heat 1 tablespoon each of the butter and oil in
a 10- to 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add about 3
tablespoons of batter for each pancake, making 4
pancakes at a time, and cook for about 3 minutes
on the first side. Flip and cook for 1½ to 2 minutes
on the other side. Transfer the pancakes to a plate
and repeat, heating the remaining butter and oil
and making a second batch of pancakes with the
rest of the batter.
Prepare the berries: Meanwhile, heat the apricot
preserves in a microwave oven for about 30
seconds to liquefy them, then mix with the
blueberries.
Serve the warm pancakes with the blueberries.
Makes 8 pancakes.
Recipes reprinted from A Grandfather’s Lessons, by Jacques
Pépin (Houghton Miflin Harcourt, 2017).
CHICKEN SUPRÊMES IN PERSILLADE
From turkey to chicken to duck, everyone at our house likes the legs best. But when Shorey asked me why the
legs are usually moister and tastier than the breast, I explained to her that the breast is usually overcooked. To
demonstrate, I cooked a chicken breast my way for her, and she loved it. The sautéing process takes only about
five minutes, and then the dish is finished with garlic and parsley, called in French persillade, and some minced
scallions. The parsley, garlic and scallions can be prepared ahead and the chicken sautéed at the last moment,
though after the chicken is sautéed, it is good to let the meat rest for a couple of minutes before finishing the
dish. Make sure you serve this on warm plates.
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts ( 5 to 6 ounces
each), preferably organic
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 scallions, minced (about 1/3 cup)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon water
Heat the peanut oil in a saucepan. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with the salt and pepper, add to the hot pan and
sauté for about 3 minutes over high heat. Turn the breasts over, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook the
chicken for about 3 minutes; it should be nicely browned on both sides and cooked through but still moist. Place
the chicken breasts on warm plates.
Add the scallions, garlic and butter to the saucepan and cook for about 1 minute. Add the parsley and water and
mix well to melt any solidified juices in the pan, then pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.
Makes 2 servings.
reveals. “I have plenty of people around me
who cook. I actually want to be a surgeon.”
Beyond his cooking, Pépin sells customized menus and other original artwork
through
jacquespepinart.com. Over the
last five decades, he has designed homemade menus for dinner parties and larger
events, and he now sells prints of select
menus to raise money for organizations
promoting culinary education and sus-tainability. These include the Jacques
Pépin Foundation (
jp.foundation), which
was founded in 2016 and teaches culinary
skills to unemployed workers; Wholesome
Wave, a nutrition incentive to empower
underserved consumers to make better
food choices by increasing affordable
access to healthy produce; the Boston
University culinary arts program; and the
International Culinary Center.
“For 50 years, when people have come
to the house we make the menu and people
sign on the other page,” recalls Pépin. “I can
look in the book and show Shorey what her
mother asked for her birthday. My life is in
those menus—my mother, my brother,
many of the people who are gone now. It is a
great way of collecting memories.”
And now he has assembled some great
recipes that he has cooked up with his
granddaughter. When asked about their
personal favorites in the new book, Wesen
picks the meringues, arctic char with
tomato sauce and roast chicken on gar-
licky salad. “We have roast chicken a lot at
my house, so it’s a comfort food for me,”
she says.
“I like everything, depending what I’m
in the mood for,” offers Pépin, “from the
cream of tomato soup to the deviled eggs or
the chicken salad. Those are all favorites
through the year. This is what we do.” C
Bryan Reesman is a regular Connection
contributor.
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