Blackberry Butter Food

SALMON WITH BLACKBERRY BUTTER

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, place the shallot, half of the minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, and blackberries.
• Over high heat, reduce the liquid in the mixture to approximately 1 tablespoon, stirring, careful to not let it scorch or burn.
• Add the white wine and let it reduce again to approx 1 tablespoon of liquid.
• Add the port and reduce for until the mixture is syrupy (about 2-3 minutes).
• Lower heat to medium and gradually whisk in the butter (all but 3 Tbsp), a bit at a time, whisking continuously.
• To keep the butter from separating, the sauce must be kept warm but not hot.
• Remove the blackberry butter from the heat as the last of the butter is whisked in and immediately strain it into a small ceramic bowl.
• Season with salt to taste and divide into two portions; keep in warm place until ready to use.
• Melt the remaining 3 Tbsp butter in medium skillet; add the remaining minced garlic and sauté 2 to 3 minutes.
• Season the salmon with salt and pepper to taste, then over medium-high heat sauté the salmon for 3 to 4 minutes per side; remove fillets to plate (salmon won't be completely cooked).
• Return one portion of the blackberry butter to the skillet and re-heat over medium-high heat.
• Return salmon to skillet, cover, and cook an additional 2-3 minutes per side (carefully turning to keep fillets from breaking apart) or until cooked through.
• Garnish fillets with chopped chives and serve with remaining portion of blackberry butter (re-heat for 45 seconds in microwave) in a small serving container on the table.
• Serve with good, crusty bread, pilaf, and sugar snap peas or other veggie.

BLACKBERRY BUTTER

Steps:

• Stir jam into butter; cover and chill 8 hours.
• Serve on waffles, pancakes, or ham.

BLACKBERRY BROWN BETTY WITH PECAN CRUMBLE

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: In a small saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla bean pod and seeds to a boil over medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, cover the pan, remove it from the heat, and let steep for 15 minutes.
• In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch together until very thick. Slowly drizzle one-third of the hot milk into the yolks, whisking constantly. Remove the vanilla bean pod. Return the yolk mixture to the saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, whisking continually, until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue whisking while the mixture boils for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Remove from the heat. Whisk slowly until the mixture cools a bit, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time.
• The pastry cream needs to be chilled before using. One method is to cover the surface of the cream with a sheet of buttered parchment, or butter wrappers, and refrigerate it until it is very cold. The other method, which I prefer, is quicker: Set the bowl of pastry cream in a larger bowl filled with lots of ice and some cold water and allow it to sit until very cold. (Think of chilling a bottle of wine or champagne-you need some water to ensure even cooling.) If you choose this method, stir the cream occasionally for even cooling. The pastry cream can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated.
• For the crumble topping: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let cool. Coarsely chop 1/4 cup of the pecans.
• Put the remaining 3/4 cup pecans in a food processor along with 1/2 cup of the cake flour. (The flour will help keep the nuts from turning into pecan butter.) Pulse the pecans until they're very finely chopped. Add the rest of the flour, the confectioners' sugar, turbinado sugar, salt and baking powder. Pulse until mixed, 3 to 4 times.
• With the machine running, add the melted butter and vanilla. Pulse until large clumps form. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the reserved 1/4 cup chopped pecans. Refrigerate until chilled. The topping can be made several days in advance and can also be frozen for up to 1 month.
• To bake the betties, heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready eight 6-ounce ramekins or baking dishes.
• Divide the chilled pastry cream evenly among the ramekins. The cream should fill just under one-third of the ramekin. I like piping the cream into the ramekins, but using a spoon old-school works just as well.
• Evenly portion the berries on top of the pastry cream. Remove the crumble from the refrigerator. Break off clumps about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter, keeping the clumps about the same size, and divide them evenly among the ramekins.
• Arrange the ramekins on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake until the berries start to bubble and the topping turns golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 to 15 minutes, and serve dusted with confectioners' sugar. You can also serve the betties topped with ice cream, whipped cream or creme fraiche, or you can pour a little warm heavy cream into each betty.

BLACKBERRY COBBLER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 3-quart baking dish with butter.
• In a medium bowl, whisk 1 cup sugar with the flour and milk. Whisk in the melted butter.
• Rinse the blackberries and pat them dry. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle the blackberries evenly over the top of the batter. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the blackberries. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 1 hour. When 10 minutes of the cooking time remains, sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over the top. Top with whipped cream or ice cream . . . or both!

CHUNKY BLACKBERRY AND PEANUT BUTTER CRUMBLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and place a rack in the center of the oven.
• Place the berries in a 12-inch high-sided skillet or braiser set over medium heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the flour, 1/4 cup of the sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon and the lemon juice. Cook until all the juices release, 5 minutes.
• To make the crumble topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, peanut butter, brown sugar, the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar and the remaining 3/4 cup flour. Mix with a spoon until combined. Pour the butter into the dry crumble mixture and stir to achieve a crumble consistency. Spoon dollops of the crumble mixture over the berry mixture. Bake until the topping is crisp, 20 minutes. Cool the crumble for 5 minutes, then serve.

BLACKBERRY BUTTER TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place tart shells on a baking sheet.
• Mash blackberries and lemon zest together lightly in a small bowl. Divide blackberry mixture evenly into the bottom of tart shells.
• Whisk brown sugar, honey, egg, butter, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl; spoon mixture evenly over blackberries in shells.
• Bake in the preheated oven until filling is bubbly and shells are golden, 22 to 27 minutes.

BLACKBERRY BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl;
• Stir in blackberries.
• Whisk together sugar and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl until thoroughly blended.
• Add to flour mixture, stirring just until blended.
• Pour batter into a lightly greased 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.
• Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes.
• Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

BLUEBERRY BUTTER TARTS

Steps:

• Roll out pastry and cut to fit tart tins (I use mini tarts but you can use muffin tins-this will increase the cooking time) preheat oven to 375°F.
• In large bowl, whisk egg, syrup, lemon juice and vanilla.
• In medium bowl, mix sugar and flour.
• Stir into egg mixture with butter.
• Divide berries into uncooked pastry shells.
• Pour egg mixture to top of shells.
• Bake 18-23 minutes.
• Remove tarts from tins immediately or the sugar will harden and they will stick tarts will firm up as they cool.

BLACKBERRY BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Place blackberries in a blender; cover and process until pureed. Press through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl; discard seeds., In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in vanilla and salt. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Add blackberry puree; beat until blended.

BERRY BUTTER

Steps:

• In a food processor, blend all ingredients except butter until berries are pureed; add butter and process until thoroughly mixed with berries.
• Place berry butter in a pastry bag with a star tip; pipe rosettes onto pan lined with waxed or parchment paper; refrigerate until butter sets; serve on cracked ice.

CHEF JOHN'S BLACKBERRY BUCKLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Stir blackberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vanilla extract together in a bowl; let rest, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Whisk flour, 3/4 cup sugar, almond meal, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Stir milk into flour mixture until batter is just combined.
• Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; pour into the bottom of a 8x12-inch baking dish. Pour batter over melted butter into the baking dish, using a spatula to gently distribute batter without mixing it into the butter, leaving a 1-inch butter border around the sides of the dish.
• Scatter blackberries over the batter and spoon any accumulated blackberry juices over the top.
• Bake buckle in the preheated oven until crisped and browned around the edges, about 1 hour.
• Melt remaining butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir almonds in hot butter until golden brown and toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle toasted almonds over blackberry buckle and cool buckle to room temperature.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES WITH BLACKBERRY-BLUEBERRY BUTTER AND CINNAMON MAPLE SYRUP

Steps:

• For the basic buttermilk pancakes: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
• Whisk together the eggs until smooth, whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet to the dry along with the butter and the optional ingredients, if using, and mix until just combined. (Lumps are ok). Let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes before using.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Heat a griddle, nonstick pan or cast iron pan over medium heat until evenly heated, about 5 minutes. Brush with butter and add a few teaspoons of oil.
• Drop scant 1/4 cups of the batter onto the griddle or into the pan and cook until the bottom of the pancakes are golden brown and the top surface becomes slightly dry and bubbles begin to form, about 3 minutes. Carefully flip over using a fish spatula or metal spatula and cook until the other side is lightly golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. Serve immediately slathered with the butter and drizzled with the syrup...or transfer to baking sheets in even layers and keep warm in oven.
• For the blackberry-blueberry butter (compound butter): Combine the berries, sugar and 1/4 cup of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the berries break down and the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and transfer to a bowl to cool. This mixture can be made 3 days in advance and can be stored, covered, in a bowl in the refrigerator.
• For a chunky butter: Combine the fruit, butter and salt in a bowl and mix until combined. For a smooth butter, combine the fruit, butter and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.
• Serve at room temperature or scrape into a bowl, cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze up to a month.
• For the maple-cinnamon syrup (flavored syrups): Combine the syrup, cinnamon and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove, cover with a lid and let steep for at least 1 hour. Can be made 3 days in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator. Bring to a simmer before serving and remove and discard cinnamon sticks.