Recipes from

• Sweet Corn and Vegetable Chowder
  (Oprah Winfrey's Favorite!)

• Tamari Shrimp and Scallops

• Bison “Cube” Steak with Fresh Figs

• Sweet Potato Brûlée
  (Another of Oprah's Favorites!)

• Juicing Fruits and Vegetables

This recipe proves a belief of mine. When you cook with ingredients that sound good in your head, they will taste good, too. I feel this way about vanilla and corn, which may seem like a strange pair, but once you try this combination, you’ll like it. My mom’s creamed corn was the best, and she always added vanilla extract to it, which pushed it over the edge into the realm of legendary. The first time I saw an actual vanilla bean, I was amazed, having until then thought of vanilla only as an extract. I mailed some beans to my mother, who was equally amazed. I quickly fell in love with their rich flavor, and started to think of foods to pair it with, such as rutabagas, beets, and shellfish. Most people can’t believe there is no cream in this soup, but it’s the corn juice—which thickens naturally because of its own starch—that gives the chowder its rich, satisfying texture. The vanilla bean boosts its fullness and richness.

Sweet Corn and Vegetable Chowder

Serves 4

• About 24 fresh ears corn, shucked

• 1 Yukon Gold Potato

• ½ split vanilla bean, or ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 2 pounds fresh or frozen edamame, fava, or lima beans (about 1 cup shelled)

• 1 to 2 tablespoons water

• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• ½ cup shredded spinach, sorrel, or arugula

• 1 tablespoon julienned lemon zest

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat over to 450°F. Place 2 ears of corn directly on the over rack and roast, turning occasionally, until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. When cool, cut the roasted corn kernels off the cob. You should have about 1 ½ cups.

Meanwhile, cook the potato in salted boiling water until tender in the center when pierced, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain and let cool to the touch, Slip off the skin and cut the potato into ¼-inch dice.

With a large, sharp knife, cut the kernels off the remaining ears of corn. Run the kernels through a vegetable juicer. You should have about 4 cups of juice. Combine the corn juice and the vanilla bean in a medium nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly so the liquid doesn’t curdle. The natural starch in the juice will thicken it to a sauce consistency. The degree of thickness will depend on the amount of starch in the corn. If the soup is too thick, thin it with a little water or lemon juice. Remove from the heat.

Fish out the vanilla bean and, with the tip of a small knife, scrape the seeds from the bean into the soup; discard the pod. If the soup appears a little broken, don’t worry. Blend the soup in a blender at medium speed for a silky-smooth consistency. Return the soup to the pot.

Put the roasted corn kernels, beans, and potato in a medium sauté pan or skillet with the water. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes until the vegetables are hot. Pour off the water and add the vegetables to the soup. Stir in the shredded spinach or other greens, the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Note: If the corn milk curdles during cooking, don’t worry. Beat the curdled milk with an electric mixer set on medium speed until it returns to its perfect smoothness before you add the rest of the vegetables.

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When my chef de cuisine at Heartbeat, John Mooney, created this dish, I was struck by its sensuousness. As it cooks, the scallop expands to meet the embrace of the shrimp in a miracle of geometry and reaction to heat. They have similar flavors but different textures, and for centuries both have teamed beautifully with Asian flavors. This easy recipe is testament to such affinity.

Tamari Shrimp and Scallops

Serves 4

• 8 sea scallops

• 8 large shrimp, shelled and deveined

• 1 cup tamari sauce

• Freshly ground pepper to taste

• 4 teaspoons canola oil

Garnish

• 4 fresh green shiso leaves

• 4 fresh red shiso leaves

Nestle a scallop in the curve of each shrimp. Use 2 short bamboo skewers to secure the shrimp to the scallop. Set aside.

Pour tamari into a metal bowl set over a small saucepan with about 2 inches of simmering water. Cook over medium-high heat for 30-40 minutes, or until reduced by half and slightly thickened. A salt crust will form on top of the reducing tamari. Do not stir the crust into the tamari. Instead, carefully pour the tamari from the pan, leaving the salt crust behind. This will keep the tamari from being too salty.

Heat a medium sauté pan or skillet over medium heat until hot. Season each seafood skewer lightly with pepper and then brush lightly first with the canola oil and then with the tamari reduction.

Sear the skewers for about 2 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.  To serve, spoon a little tamari into the center of each of 4 plates. Place 2 of the skewers on the sauce and garnish with the shiso leaves. Do not use too much of the tamari reduction; it’s very salty.

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Even chefs like to play with words, which is how I came up with the name of this recipe. Cube steak is a tough meat, pounded thin and barely edible. Bison strip steak, also called buffalo, is tender and succulent. When we were holding a series of tea-and-savory-food-pairing tastings at Heartbeat, I created this dish to pair with smoky bao jong tea, a kind of oolong tea. The challenge was to cook the steak in a portion size that was appropriate for a multitasting event. I cut the strip steaks into small cubes, which was logical, but they still were tricky to serve on a small plate with no knife and fork. I cut them into smaller cubes and then reassembled them in the original small steak, which was very easy to eat. Because the dish had become all about cubes, I call it “cube” steak.

Bison “Cube” Steak with Fresh Figs

Serves 4

• ½ cup dry red wine

• Four 12-ounce New York strip bison steaks, 1 ½ to 2 inches thick, at room temperature

• 4 to 8 teaspoons grapeseed oil

• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• ¼ cup fig syrup or maple syrup

• 4 fresh figs, cut into quarters

• 4 sprigs watercress

In a small saucepan, bring the wine to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer wine for about 25 minutes, or until reduced to 2 tablespoons.

Cut each bison strip steak into 4 equal square or rectangle pieces. Rub both sides of the steaks with grapeseed oil and season generously with salt and pepper.

Sear the steaks in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat for about 1 ½ minutes on each side, or until lightly browned. You might find it easier to use 2 skillets.

In a small bowl, whisk the reduced wine syrup and fig syrup together. Drizzle each steak with all but about 2 tablespoons of the wine mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes, turning constantly, so that the syrup glazes the meat. Cook about 2 minutes longer for rare, or 4-5 minutes for medium-rare.

Transfer the steaks from the pan to a cutting board. Let them rest for about 3 minutes, or until cool to the touch. Cut each steak into small cubes. Reassemble the cubes into the shape of the original steaks, pressing them together to adhere, and place on a warmed plate.

Arrange the fig quarters on each plate and garnish with watercress. Drizzle the remaining wine syrup over each plate and serve.

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Desserts that don’t rely on butter, cream, and eggs are challenging. Here, I debunk the theory that crème brûlée must be made with heavy cream and use milk instead. The secret weapon is the sweet potato juice, which provides texture and an enticing flavor that is hard to pin down. This custard is not as thick as a classic French crème brûlée, but is more like the Spanish version, crema catalana. Restaurant chefs don’t much like making crema catalana because it requires constant stirring at the stove. Be sure the custard gets thick enough–it’s worth the effort.

Sweet Potato Brûlée

Serves 6

• 2 cups whole milk

• ½ cup raw cane sugar

• ½ vanilla bean, halved horizontally

• 8 large egg yolks

• 2 cups sweet potato juice

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• Grated fresh nutmeg to taste

• 2 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, ¼ cup of the sugar, and the vanilla bean. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Do not let the milk boil. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Reserve the vanilla bean for another use.

Put the egg yolks in a double boiler and gradually whisk in the hot milk. Stir in the sweet potato juice and salt. Add the nutmeg.

Cook over a simmering water for 30 minutes, stirring constantly, until the custard is as thick as soft pudding.

Preheat over to 300°F.

Strain the thickened custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Ladle into six 8-ounce ramekins. Set the ramekins in a roasting pan and add hot water to come about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 30 minutes, or until set but not completely firm in the center.

Remove from the oven and let the ramekins cool on wire racks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until thoroughly chilled.

Preheat the boiler or plan to use a kitchen blowtorch.

Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of the remaining cane sugar over each chilled custard. Slide the dishes under the broiler so that they are about 3 inches form the heat source and broil for 1 minute, or run the blowtorch slowly over the sugar to melt and caramelize it. Watch carefully to prevent the sugar from burning.

Heat the bourbon in a small saucepan over medium heat just until warm. Pour 1 teaspoon bourbon over each custard and ignite it with a match. Serve immediately.

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Juicing Fruits and Vegetables

When you juice fruits and vegetables, buy more than you think you will need. The yield varies depending on the moisture content of a particular fruit or vegetable, the time of year it was harvested, where it was harvested, and how it was stored. The amounts below are approximate and may yield more than you need. That’s fine. Drink any juice you don’t use. I particularly love carrot juice and all fruit juices. Potato and squash juice aren’t very tasty! 

To prepare fruits and vegetables for juicing, wash them under cold running water and cut away any soft spots. You should scrub root vegetables lightly with a coarse pad or brush, but there is no need to peel them. Slice or cut fruits and vegetables into manageable sizes. You should remove large pits and seeds, but there is no need to scrape out all seeds or remove stems. The juicer will take care of this.

For 1 cup of juice, use 1 ¼ pounds sweet potatoes

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