Last November I was fortunate enough to attend an event at Boston Metropolitan College in Boston Massachusetts with my Dad Howard. My Dad had been a professor there for many years and being largely involved in various aspects of the college and each year is invited to an evening of cooking and eating with Jacques Pepin. This year Jacques was making recipes from his new book Art of the Chicken.
This was always an event my Mom Lydia always looked forward to. It was one her favorite events of the entire year!
We arrived just a touch late as the traffic was horrendous getting into the heart of Boston not to mention it happened to be a cold rainy night. But when we got there we were seated with a glass of champagne in hand. Jacques was just finishing up a demonstration of how to make his chicken liver pâté. As soon as he was finished with his demo we were all served the chicken liver pâté with toasted bread rounds. I have to be honest I’m not a big fan of anything liver but there was no way I was not going to try a recipe created by Chef Pepin! To my great surprise the chicken liver was delicious, I went back for seconds!
The next course that the chef demonstrated was Deviled eggs with a dijon mustard sauce. I love deviled eggs so I was ready willing and able for this tasting! Each course was done the same way, the chef demonstrated it then we were all served the plate. This was a simple yet delicate dish, the mustard herb sauce brought a huge amount of flavor but still kept it bright with fresh herbs. I had a clean plate!
Next up was a poached chicken salad. I should also mention we were served different wines that compliment each dish. This chicken salad was so moist and tender. Definitely one of the best chicken salads I have ever had. It was so simple but so full of flavor. The chicken was shredded which Jacques said helps to keep all those juices in.
The next course was my all time favorite. It was a cream of chicken vegetable soup. When this dish was served and everyone was taking a Taste our entire table went silent and then everyone at the table almost at the same time said WOW. There is no question people wanted to lick that bowl clean, I know I did. Although this was a cream soup it was still very light, the chicken stock had such a rich full body flavor with added chunks of poached chicken meat and plenty of vegetables to include carrots, celery, leeks and mushrooms.
Our dessert course was a perfect way to end the evening. We were served a meringue with home made whipped cream and raspberries. It was light, fresh and was served along side a dessert wine that complimented the meringue perfectly.
This was an amazing event. To watch Chef Jacques Pepin cook so easily, entertain the group , answering questions was a memorable evening that I won’t forget anytime soon! Jacques is not only an amazing chef , a thoughtful story teller with a great sense of humor but a very talented artist that really shows through with his latest book Art of the Chicken. This book talk’s about Jacques life, growing up, learning to cook, love and laughter through his eyes. The recipes are not written like a typical cook book but you can see through his eyes what each recipe is meant to be.
Enjoy!
Anne
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