- Hi, I'm Jacques Pepin.

- And I'm Claudine Pepin.

- We can't live by bread alone.

- Which is why sandwiches were invented.

- Right!

And the best sandwiches are made from- - The country bread that we buy in the shop next to the store where my grandmother lives.

- So today, I'm going to show you how to make those light country loaves at home and how to turn them into four wonderful sandwiches, each with different fillings.

- Chilled cucumber and mint soup is the perfect pairing with any sandwich.

And will turn day old bread into wonderful galette served over salad greens.

So don't live by bread alone.

- Join us for a great sandwich party.

- Next on Jacques Pepin's Kitchen.

- Encore With Claudine.

(upbeat jazz music) The Great Sandwich Party.

That's what we are doing today, right?

- Sounds good to me!

- But first, of course, for sandwich, what do we do?

Bread.

- Make bread.

- Yes.

And we wanna show you a terrific way of making bread.

So we have all purpose flour here.

How much do we have there?

- About four and a half cups.

- Yes.

And this is a direct method we call, we put one envelope of... Active yeast like this.

And this is a granulated yeast.

You can see like this.

This used to be a tablespoon, number of years ago.

Now, it's actually two teaspoon.

- Oh!

- So it's changed.

The salt, in there.

And a pint of water.

- Just- - And if you don't- - Yeah.

- The water is not too great where you are.

Use the bottled water.

- All at once?

- If you're not sure.

Yes, just pour it in.

- Okay.

- Yeah, that's it.

The whole idea there, is to mix it about 15 second in there.

And my friend Charlie Vanover, who just wrote a book about bread, always say that it has to do with the temperature of the dough.

So go ahead.

- Are we ready?

- Yep.

- Okay.

- That's pretty fast.

(food processor whirring) That's about fine.

This makes a very soft dough.

You can, if you want, add some grain to it.

I have some.

Some time with grain to it.

And you would add it at that time.

You wanna put some in it?

- Yeah.

- All right, so reprocess it.

- Okay.

- A little bit.

It will make it a little drier, but it makes another type of dough.

(food processor whirring) That's fine.

And any type of grain, you know, different type of grain you can use.

So now, we have to put that in there.

This is a real messy situation.

Wait a minute.

No first, let's grab it.

You see this is a very soft dough, you know?

I help you with this part.

- Thank you!

- Here.

In the old method of cooking bread, the real French bread, very crunchy.

In the country, we add those enormous oven in stone inside.

And this is where I'm going to cook it.

One of those stone here, you keep in your oven, you can keep it all the time and cook stuff on top of it.

If you don't have this, you can buy some brick, some quarry tile like that and create it a kind of a floor, you know, in your oven with it.

That's very good.

In addition to that, we used to proof the bread into those type of basket.

Lineup with clothes.

And then you turn it on a pale.

A pale is a big thing in wood and you slide it into the oven on this.

So to imitate that system, we're going to put the bread on something like this.

And here I have... This is parchment paper.

You can use parchment paper.

Those are new things.

Those are silicone mat.

And you can do cookie, you can do anything.

Nothing stick to it.

So this is really great.

So I think I'm going to use one of those and we can slide this directly onto the oven on our stone.

So I leave that here.

How are we doing in there?

- You satisfied with this?

- Oh, you're doing very good.

And at that point, you want to proof it, yes?

So let's- - What does the proofing do?

Does it ferment it?

- It expand it.

It lets the yeast do its work and it start developing, going up, the gluten, which is elastic element in the flour breakdown.

And it start developing carbon, the gas, you know?

- Okay.

- So this has to proof three and a half hours, about the first time at room temperature.

And then after that, it look this way.

I have another one here.

And then what we do, I'll show you one, maybe you can do the other one.

After the first proofing, you wanna bring it from the side, as you can see.

You can probably see here, the all of the- - The bubbles.

- The little tiny bubble here.

- They're pretty big, these bubbles.

- Yes.

That's really proofing.

It smells so wonderful.

Look at the color inside.

You see?

See that?

So you bring that back on itself to deflate it.

- I can hear it.

- Press back.

You can, yeah.

This is great to work with.

But see this is now deflated, push back.

So now, we cover it again and it proof another couple of hours and it get there.

So you wanna do that one?

- Okay.

The same thing what you just did.

- See, it's good to make.

I didn't do it here.

- Wow, look at that.

- To have it... To have your plastic wrap very tight on top of it.

So it doesn't stick to it.

- So I just bring it?

- Yeah, on itself.

That's good.

- Oh wow!

It really looks like the inside of bread!

Which I know, makes sense.

But you know?

- And when you push it down, that's it.

- This is fun.

- Isn't it?

- This is very therapeutic.

- There is something very family like to make bread, you know?

And it smells so good in the house.

And very simple, the direct method, you do it and as I say, you can proof it overnight.

That's basically fine now.

So what we are going to do, is to separate it again, you know?

So maybe I put a little bit of flour and we put it on there and we are going to do four bread out of this.

- Okay.

- Okay?

So I'll cut it.

You know?

This is a bread cutter.

You can also break it with your hand like that.

The baker used to, you know, use their hand like that to break it like this here.

- Oh wow!

- Yeah.

So we have four bread.

Now, my hand is a mess.

One here.

I don't think I calculate too well.

Two here.

- That's okay.

- Three.

- And that's it?

It doesn't have to be more?

- And four.

Now, we're going to press it a little bit down now.

- Oh, okay.

- Okay.

Here, wet your hand a little bit if you want, of flour.

But just like this, we just want to press it.

Just extend it like this.

Very country looking type of bread.

- Just like that?

- Yes.

And at that point, it has to proof again, another time.

And about 45 minutes here.

And to imitate a proof box, you have to cover it to put it in a bag, or do something.

I thought one of the best way I have some proofing here, is to put a cover, a roasting pan, if you have a roasting pan, right on top of it and leave it for your table about 45 minutes.

- Oh!

- And basically, that's what it look like after, you see it?

Proof again.

So now, we are practically ready to put it in the oven.

So we put a little bit of flour on top of this now.

And here it is, you know, like this.

Just to give it another look, the real country look, you know?

And... We put water.

You put the water or the bread?

- I like the water.

- Okay.

So... Put it outside.

First, I have to slide that in the oven, so.

- Oh!

It comes off the tray!

- Okay, go ahead.

(water spraying) That's it.

- That's it?

- You don't wanna lose too much heat from your oven.

What happened there, the water itself will make the bread really stout and proof.

In professional oven, you inject steam directly into the oven, which we don't have.

- I'm gonna put this here.

- I mean like, four-five minute, you do it again.

- Okay.

- Okay?

- All right.

Let's make sandwiches?

- Let's make sandwich now.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Now, here is our bread.

But of course, our bread, which is fine, beautiful.

Look at that.

- Those look so great.

- You can hear a crack.

Look how nice they are.

- Oh wow!

- See under this.

- Oh that looks awesome.

Ooh!

- Okay.

Yeah, you can hear your bread here.

When it's hollow like that, that's how we test bread.

- Huh?

- So you got our full bread.

- Okay.

- Okay.

So Claudine, to cut it, it's good to use one of those knife, you know?

And that's a good one.

Go on the side.

No, look at me first.

You go on the side like this and then you turn the bread.

You don't move your knife, just turn the bread until you get into the first cut again, you know?

- So this is not fork split?

I have to actually cut it, right?

- It is not fork split.

- Okay.

- Okay.

No that's it.

That's it.

You do this.

But I'm gonna start with mine while you are cutting.

And this one is a cheese type sandwich.

And I have two type of cheese.

I've Gorgonzola and Swiss cheese.

I have salsa, I have a mushroom, I have cucumber, watercress and nuts.

So I'm going to start by putting a little bit of salsa on top of it here.

That's it.

Are you doing okay?

- I'm doing really good.

- Good.

On this one... You can do it in any shape, in any form you want.

On this one, I'll put the Gorgonzola.

And the Gorgonzola, you can actually, if it's soft enough, spread it, you know?

Spread it on my bread here.

See, I have a nice spread here.

What are you doing?

- Nothing.

I am making it even.

Oh, good bread.

- You eat all of your mistake in the kitchen.

- Well, yeah.

- So I have Gorgonzola, salsa.

Now, I'm gonna put watercress on top of mine here.

- And I'm gonna start with mustard on one side.

- What are you doing?

A ham sandwich?

- Ham, radishes, basil, lettuce and mayonnaise.

(knife thudding) And then, so I don't have to find- - Cucumber.

- I like a lot of mustard.

And so I don't have to find another one.

I'm gonna wipe this off on here so I can dip right into the mayonnaise.

- Can I take a bit of your paper here?

- Yes.

- Paper on top.

You can really build and have fun building sandwiches, you know?

Maybe a bit of... (knife thudding) One mushroom, you know, left over here.

- I'm gonna put some sliced radishes on here so that they stick.

I'll put 'em on something - When I'm putting- - What are you doing?

- Swiss cheese.

Swiss cheese and Gorgonzola, you know, the two type of cheese- - Oh, man!

- That I'm putting on top of it here.

- [Claudine] I want your sandwich.

- Well, you'll have a piece if you're good.

(Claudine laughing) Remove my cheese to put some walnut there or some pecan rather, right in the middle.

- Oh, that's a great idea to put nuts on a sandwich.

- All right, good.

Or maybe I'll put a little bit of olive oil while I'm here.

Okay.

Okay, second sandwich!

I'm ahead of you.

- Hmm.

Yeah, well I'm thinking.

- I'm putting a little bit of- - Okay, this is the top so this will be fun.

- Olive oil on top.

Crack the bread.

- [Claudine] Why am I pushing this down anyway?

- [Jacques] To make it hold together.

- Okay.

- I'm ahead.

I'll spray it.

- You spray.

Okay, so I have some cilantro, also, some anchovies.

- It's already hot, huh?

- Okay.

- [Jacques] Beautiful.

- Just gonna put some tuna on here.

- That's it.

- And then break it up.

- Tomato here.

- And ooh, egg.

Which I'm gonna slice in the nifty egg slicer 'cause then the slices come out nice and even.

- Maybe I'll put, I have the red onion here and I'm gonna put some chopped black olive.

That good too.

I think it want a little bit of vinegar.

I think it was James Beard, who said once, "Nobody or not many people understand a great sandwich."

I think he was right.

- What did he think a great sandwich was?

- That's what we are doing here.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Here is arugula on top of it here.

- I've got lettuce.

- I'll put a little bit of oil again.

And... I am ready.

- Well, I'm almost ready.

- I'm gonna start cutting my sandwich.

So I'll cut them.

- Okay, you can cut all of them.

How's that?

- [Jacques] This way.

- I have some anchovy fillets.

You know what?

I think I'll use some of the oil too.

- Oh, you have to use the oil of the anchovy.

- I think that'll be really good.

- Cut it in four like this.

- Sounds good to me.

Pour some of this oil on here.

It should be really yummy.

- [Jacques] Okay.

- [Claudine] This.

- [Jacques] Okay, so I'll cut that one too.

- Okay.

And I'm gonna do something that you showed me how to do.

I'm gonna use the vegetable peeler to slice slivers of garlic, instead of trying to actually cut.

- Yeah, that's a good idea.

It's pretty hard to cut it very, very thin.

But you're doing a good job there.

You have enough garlic there.

Okay, some cracked paper.

Put your salad.

Okay, so flip it.

Go ahead.

- Yeah.

Ah!

- That should meet this here, okay?

Okay, why don't you do the salad?

- Okay.

Just a green salad.

I'm gonna put some- - Start with it, just mix it fast.

- Vinegar.

- All right, here we are.

So we have our four delicious sandwich here.

- Some sherry vinegar on top too.

- Serve one piece like this.

Here.

Here we are.

And now, why don't you put your salad right in the middle of it?

That's it.

Just pile up a bit of salad.

Okay, done.

And more.

- That looks so good.

- You know, you wanna do some architectural cooking here.

That's it.

Now, look at that.

- This looks fantastic.

- This is a great sandwich.

You know, if I had to choose one cheese, I don't know which one I would choose.

Really, because I love all the cheese, but maybe I would choose a so-called Swiss cheese, you know?

Because I use it.

I love to eat it.

I love to make fondue with it, as you know, cook with it, cut and all this.

But you see all of the different type of Swiss cheese, so-called Swiss cheese with the hole, those are the big hole inside.

Those are made by carbon dioxide, you know?

Little air bubble which develop and the big one, he's really, you know what they call the Swiss cheese, Emmental you know?

Emmental.

- Aahan.

- But you have the Beaufort, you know, Emmental, the Comté you know, Schabziger, Emmental, and this is Gruyère.

Gruyère is richer with less holes.

There is holes still.

Here she is, little hole.

- Just one?

- But much smaller.

Yeah, much smaller.

And all that richer still.

It melt in fact, better than that one.

- Oh!

- You know.

And of course, Blue cheese.

With the Blue cheese, you see the mark here, of the needle.

They inject Penicillium to turn the mold, you know, which comes out of it.

And some of the... This one is a Gorgonzola.

- Is it still just as strong, the taste of it?

- Well it shouldn't be that strong.

A Gorgonzola should be very mild and delicate, you know, with the taste.

You want a little piece of that?

- Yeah.

- Charlesburg.

- Hmm.

- That's good, huh?

- That's really good.

- Absolutely.

- One thing we like to do with leftover bread, is make galettes.

So- - So leftover bread.

- Leftover bread with water, right?

- We have two cup of bread, half a cup of water in there to soak it.

And if you don't wanna put water, you can put other things.

I'm going to give you, if you have too much water, yes, let's see.

No, that's fine.

You can, you know, press it out.

I have a bit of mushroom chopped, some shopped onion, some zucchini.

You can start mixing it.

I give you some pepper here.

- My hands or with a spoon?

- Well, whatever you want.

- I'll start with a spoon and then move on to my hands I'm sure.

- Okay, I'm going to give you some chives here.

- Ooh!

- I think you're going to have to crush it with your hand, Claudine.

- Oh, there we go.

- Okay, here is this.

- Messy Marvin.

- I'm gonna give you a piece of garlic.

And of course, all kind of variation you can do with this.

Remember what we used to do with that too?

- Oh, 'cause we can make this into dessert too.

- Right.

For breakfast, you know, you can, after putting water, you put- - Milk!

- Milk, you know?

And then you put a bit of sugar in it and then you put leftover, a banana or whatever fruit you have leftover.

You cut it, mix it, couple of eggs, the same way.

And then you do it in the same.

(spoon clinking) Okay, a couple of eggs.

- Mix?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Now I'm putting- - Salt, pepper.

- Now, we put pepper.

And there is salt in the bread.

Well, maybe less of salt here, right?

You okay?

- Yeah, I'm great.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- You have enough for like four or five pancake here.

But see, we'll do a good one here like this.

This.

And this has to cook couple of minutes on each side.

You see, it start.

- Oh, wow.

- Touching this stuff.

- Oh, that's gonna be good.

- Yes, that's good.

Okay.

- Okay, let's make dessert?

- Then we're gonna make dessert during that.

Okay?

- Let's go.

- Okay, so what do we have?

Banana dessert.

You like banana?

- I love bananas.

- We slice banana.

Very easy.

We slice banana, put them in the freezer, they get hard like a rock.

And I took those out of the freezer a little while ago so they are not too hard.

Otherwise, they won't work in the food processor.

And I will put that in the food processor for you, right here.

- I'm gonna add- - Very simple.

- Some sour cream.

- And I'm going to add some mint, you know, for fair.

And I'm going to put a little bit of honey.

That's fine.

And then you can start processing it.

About a quarter of a cup of honey.

- That's it?

- And that's about all there is to it.

- Okay.

(food processor whirring) - That's fine.

You can actually let it turn a bit longer and it get a bit, you know, to put some air in it, a bit creamier.

- Oh!

- But you see now, it's still a bit soft.

So what you have to do is, really, to put it back in the freezer, you know?

I know you wanna taste it.

(Claudine laughing) Isn't that good?

- Oh wow.

- It's good, huh?

So why don't you put it in the freezer?

And there is another one which is out during that time.

I may see whether this need to be turned.

(bread sizzling) Looks good.

Could be a bit longer, you know?

But I'm going to turn it, this one.

And look at that.

- Oh, that looks beautiful.

- So let's cook it on this side.

Go ahead.

- Okay.

- With that, this is hard.

You have this, and I'm going to do a little bit of a sauce with this very fast.

Some orange juice.

First, some apricot.

Orange juice, I mix it.

- Mm-hmm.

I love orange juice.

- Raisins.

Little bit of rum if you want.

- Oh, okay.

- Dark rum goes well with banana.

Okay, you wanna serve your ice cream.

Okay, so that's fine.

- No more?

- I think that's fine here.

Now again, put my sauce on top of it.

You wanna put a spring of mint?

Yeah, stick it in like this.

And that's it, ready.

Good!

That's a nice dessert.

- That's a wonderful dessert!

- And now let's see with this here, it's practically ready.

- Okay.

- We wanna do a bit of a salad with this.

- Yeah.

- It's nice to serve on salad to vinegar, a dash of oil, salt, pepper.

You stir it.

- You're gonna get me a plate?

- I get you a plate.

- Nice.

- This makes a great lunch.

You know, leftover bread.

And as we were saying before, even for breakfast or brunch, you know.

Okay, that's it.

That's more than enough.

And I have that.

- [Claudine] Mm-hmm.

- [Jacques] Stick on this side.

Here we are.

- Ah, that looks great.

- And this is the bread galette on salad green, leftover bread.

Now, when you make bread, it smells so good in the house, you never know who's going to drop by.

Hi, everyone.

- Hi, Jacques.

- How are you?

- Hi, Claudine.

- A lot of people to eat our sandwich, huh?

- Absolutely!

But along with the sandwiches, don't forget, we have the vegetable galette and we also made a mint cucumber soup with yogurt and Tabasco and salt and pepper in the food processor, in the fridge ready to go.

And of course, the beautiful banana ice cream and mint dessert.

So it's gonna be awesome.

- And of course, with sandwich, with that, we have beer, we have wine.

I have a beautiful Vina I Qu, very lemony here from Italy, and a deep Pinot Noir from the Santa Maria Valley.

So to each his own.

Oh, why don't you serve?

Joe, come and serve the white wine.

- I'm gonna have some beer.

- Well, a little bit of Pinot Noir.

Mike, you want some Pinot Noir?

- Yeah.

Yes, sir.

- And June, you want some white wine, right?

- White wine.

- Claudine, you're drinking beer.

- I'm drinking beer.

- Oh, gosh!

Your grandfather wouldn't be happy.

Well, I hope you're going to cook with your friend, cook bread, as we did with Claudine today.

And until next time- - Happy cooking!

- Happy cooking.

(upbeat jazz music)