Hot Blueberries From Jimmy Steinmeyer Food

BLACK AND BLUE BERRIES

Steps:

• Put 1/2 cup each of the blackberries and blueberries in a saucepan and add the sugar, blackberry jam, honey, lemon zest, vanilla extract and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Using a potato masher, mash the berries gently until they are good and broken up.
• Add the remaining 2 cups each blackberries and blueberries to a mixing bowl. Pour the warm berry mixture over the fresh berries and fold everything together with a spatula until well coated. Allow everything to cool 10 minutes or so before serving. Serve atop your favorite dessert.

HOT BLUEBERRIES (FROM JIMMY STEINMEYER)

Steps:

• In a large skillet, over low heat, melt the butter. Add the berries, sprinkle with the sugar and cook until they give off their liquid and collapse, about eight minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Serve hot over the vanilla ice cream.

WOLFGANG PUCK'S SALMON WITH CELERY-ROOT PUREE

Steps:

• To make the sauce, heat two tablespoons of the butter in a large saute pan until the butter is foamy. Add the shallot, garlic and tomato and saute at medium-low heat for about five minutes, or until the shallot is translucent.
• Add the wine and vinegar and cook over medium-high heat until reduced by half. Add the chicken stock and reduce again by half. Finish the sauce by stirring in the remaining four tablespoons of butter, one tablespoon at a time. Season with salt and freshly round pepper to taste. Keep warm.
• Prepare the celery-root puree by chopping the potato and celery root into one-inch cubes. Put in a medium-sized pot and cover with lightly salted cold water. When the water comes to a boil, cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until soft. Drain and return the potato and celery root to the pot. Heat briefly until the excess moisture evaporates.
• Pass the celery Root-potato mixture through the small disk of a food mill or a ricer. (Do not use a food processor; it will make a gluey puree.) Return to the pot.
• Stir in the cream and cook, stirring, over medium heat for about three minutes, or until thickened.
• Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and the salt and pepper to taste.
• In a small bowl, combine the ginger and black pepper. Season the salmon with salt and coat with the ginger-pepper mixture. If grilling or broiling the salmon, sprinkle the fillets with olive oil and cook two minutes on each side. If sauteing the salmon, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan. When the pan is very hot, add the salmon and cook two minutes on each side.
• Divide the sauce among four warm dinner plates. Spoon equal amounts of celery-root puree on the center of each plate. Place salmon on top.

POTATO LASAGNA WITH WILD MUSHROOMS AND HERB SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Peel and cut the potatoes into rectangular shapes, about 3 by 1 1/2 inches.
• Using a mandoline, a vegetable slicer or a sharp kitchen knife, slice each potato rectangle into 5 slices.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and brush the parchment with the melted butter. Spread out the potato slices on a cookie sheet. Butter another piece of parchment paper and place, buttered side down, on the potatoes. Cook in the oven until the potatoes are soft, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Chop all the mushrooms. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a saute pan and add the mushrooms. Cook over medium-low heat until they are soft. Add the finely chopped shallots and cook for 2 minutes more, or until the shallots are translucent.
• In a medium-sized saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the diced celery, leeks, shallots and onion. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add the wine and, over high heat, reduce the liquid until it almost totally evaporates. Add 1 cup of water, the garlic, thyme and lemon juice and reduce it by a fourth. There should be 6 ounces of liquid. Strain through a sieve, pressing on the vegetables to release the juices. While the liquid is hot, pour it into a blender. Whir the liquid, adding 8 ounces of butter tablespoon by tablespoon. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the broth back into the pan and stir in the chopped parsley and diced tomatoes.
• To serve, alternate slices of potato with mushrooms. Spoon the celery sauce over the potatoes and serve.

AMERICAN BERRY TART

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor, place the flour, salt and sugar. Process by pulsing on and off once.
• Add to that mixture the butter and shortening. Process, pulsing on and off about eight times, or until the mixture looks like lumpy cornmeal.
• Sprinkle the water evenly around the butter-flour mixture and process, pulsing, for five seconds.
• Empty the mixture out onto a pastry board or work surface. With the heel of your hand, start working the dough together by pushing it against the board and away from you bit by bit. Do this two or three times, or until the dough blends together and does not stick to the board. Be careful not to overwork the dough, which will make it tough. Gather the dough together in a ball, wrap the ball loosely with plastic wrap, then flatten it slightly to form a thick disk. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
• Roll out the dough and place in a 10-inch tart shell. Refrigerate for one hour.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prick the pastry here and there with a fork or knife tip. Line the pastry shell with foil, then fill with weights or dried beans to keep the dough from rising.
• Bake the pastry shell for eight minutes, or until it is set. Then remove the weights and the foil, and return the pastry to the oven. Bake an additional eight to 12 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Let cool on a cake rack.
• Meanwhile, make the almond pastry cream by beating the egg yolks with the sugar, using an electric mixer or whisk. Beat until the mixture is pale, thick and forms a ribbon. As you do this, put the milk in a medium-sized pot over medium heat and bring to the boil.
• Add the flour to the egg mixture, stirring gently until smooth. Then add the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking vigorously all the time.
• Return the mixture to the pot and heat over a medium flame, whisking continuously. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens, almost to the consistency of a pudding.
• Remove the mixture from the heat. Stir in the butter, vanilla extract, almond extract and the pulverized almonds. Rub the top of the pastry cream with a bit of softened butter to prevent a skin from forming on the surface. Let the pastry cream cool to room temperature.
• Spoon the pastry cream into the baked tart shell. Arrange the strawberries - either whole, with the tips up, or sliced - into a star pattern. Fill in the corners with the blueberries.
• In a small saucepan, melt the currant jelly. Paint the berries with the jelly to give them a nice glaze.

FRIED CHICKEN WITH CORNMEAL

Steps:

• Trim the chickens of as much obvious fat as possible.
• In a large shallow pan, stir together the lemon juice, kosher salt and hot sauce. Add the chicken pieces to the mixture and marinate, refrigerated, for at least two hours. Turn the chicken at least three times during the marination.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• In a doubled-up, large paper bag, mix together the cornmeal and salt. Put three or four pieces of chicken in the bag and shake until they are completely coated. Remove to a platter and continue until all the pieces are coated. Shake off excess cornmeal.
• In a large, oblong, deep roasting pan, pour in a half inch of vegetable oil. Put the pan in the preheated oven. After about 15 minutes, when the oil is hot, use tongs to gently place the chicken pieces in the pan, being careful not to crowd them. Cook on one side, about 15 to 20 minutes. Then turn on the other side and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure that the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Repeat this step, frying batches, until all the chicken is cooked.
• Transfer the chicken to a large platter and keep warm in a 250-degree oven. Before serving, sprinkle with fresh, chopped marjoram. Decorate the platter with sprigs of rosemary and thin slices of lemon.