I bought a truffle. now what? [General]

2011 Feb 16
So thanks to a tip on this site I went to Homesense and Winners on Merivale to find Vietnamese Cinnamon. No cinnamon, but I bought a small hotel marmalade sized jar with an Italian truffle inside for 12.99. I have no idea if it is good quality or if this is a good price. I will say the jar is impressive with a paper ribbon seal and a little booklet attached with a gold cord. Everything is written in Italian. I am not sure I know what a truffle is supposed to taste like, although I have tasted them in tiny amounts in restaurants on occasion. I would appreciate any advice as to what I should do with my lone truffle that would really allow me to experience its taste properly. Slice it on mashed potatoes? Macaroni and cheese? I'd like to find a way to use it that will let me appreciate the truffle. Right now I have half a mind to open the bottle and just nosh on it unadorned.

2011 Feb 16
Keep in mind that jar'd truffle will only stay good for about a week once you open it.

A couple of recommendations:
The LCBO had a great truffle and scallop recipe featured on the cover of their summer issue.

Gordon Ramsey's truffle butter turkey is delicious. www.bbcamerica.com

Truffle Risotto


2011 Feb 16
A very simple (and classic) way to enjoy your truffle would be to prepare a plain omelette (just eggs and maybe a little bit of 35% cream) and add some thinly sliced truffle on top before serving.

I bought a jar of small truffles once for a similar price (though it wasn't the same brand as it was not in Italian) and they were not bad, but not nearly as tasty as fresh truffles (just like canned asparagus or peas are not nearly as good as fresh ones). So you may want to use a relatively larger amount than what recipes using fresh truffles indicate.


2011 Feb 16
What kind of truffle is it? Is it black? Winter truffle? Tuber melanosporum? Take a photo of the label and post it on here! Depending on the type of truffle, I would recommend you do different things with it. That's an excellent price!

2011 Feb 17
I tried french fries with truffles and also roasted potatoes with truffles.

The fries were good...and from the chip wagon at Bank and Sunnyside (i live nearby), roasted potatoes I made at home.
-might have added some ground pepper and maybe parmesan...I forget now.

Was alright.
I don't plan on buying much more truffles,unless I'm at a restaurant I think!

2011 Feb 17
My favourite recipe is one by Daniel Boulud. You will need a chocolate shaver/truffle slicer to get your truffle slices good and thin. I would also suggest you cut the puff pastry circles big enough so they will easily wrap the truffle (I found the sizing Boulud recommends to be too small). I also use the large frozen scallops from Costco and they work fine. I have pasted the recipe from his webiste as he your not able to directly link to it.

All of the recipes, including this one are found here: www.danielnyc.com/recipes.html

Maine Sea Scallops in Black Tie

The Today Show, January 30, 2006
Serves 6 as an appetizer, 4 as a main course

2 black truffles, fresh or canned, golf ball size, juice
    reserved

10 jumbo Maine sea scallops, very fresh and firm

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

8 ounces spinach leaves, stems discarded, leaves
    thoroughly washed

1/2 pound puff pastry

1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water

1/4 cup dry vermouth

1/2 cup chicken jus

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1.  Slice each truffle into 16 thin slices with a vegetables slicer or mandoline (you will need about 3 slices of truffle per scallop). Save any juice, chop the trimmings, and set both aside for the sauce.

2.  Cut each scallop horizontally into 4 slices. Reconstruct each scallop by alternating the 4 slices of scallop with 3 slices of truffle. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until needed.

3.  Wilt the spinach in a steamer or in water for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, cool under cold running water, and drain again. Carefully spread each spinach leaf open on a kitchen towel and pat dry with a second towel.

4.  Place a layered scallop in the center of a large spinach leaf and wrap the leaf tightly and smoothly around the scallop. If the scallop is not totally enclosed in the spinach leaf, use a second leaf to seal the scallop in. Repeat the same process for each layered scallop and refrigerate until needed (discard or keep the remaining spinach leaves for other uses).

5.  Sprinkle the counter and rolling pin with flour and roll out the puff pastry until very thin, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 24 disks with a 1 1/2 inch round cookie cuter and 12 ribbons of puff pastry about 5 by 1 1/2 inches. Refrigerate the disks and ribbons on a floured baking sheet for 15 minutes.

6.  After the dough has rested, brush about 1 inch at one end of each ribbon with the egg wash. Place one spinach bundle on the other end of the ribbon and roll the ribbon around the bundle until it overlaps the brushed end, then press to seal. Fold the pastry edges tightly over the top and bottom of the bundle. Brush 2 disks with the egg wash and place a disk on either side of the bundle. Press well to seal. Repeat the same steps to wrap each spinach bundle in the puff pastry.

7.  Place the turnovers on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Brush each pastry lightly with the remaining egg wash. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

8.  Preheat the oven to 450°F. Bake the turnovers for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size, or until golden (while baking, watch carefully that they do not burn).

9.  Prepare the sauce while the turnovers are baking. Pour the vermouth into a small saucepan over high heat. Reduce to 1 teaspoon, about 10 minutes. Add the reserved truffle juice and the chicken jus. Reduce to 1/4 cup and stir in the butter. Add the reserved chopped truffle trimmings. Salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.

PRESENTATION
Split the turnovers in half from top to bottom with a sharp knife. Spoon 1 tablespoon of sauce on the bottom of 4 warmed plates if serving as a main course, 6 warmed plates if serving as an appetizer. Overlap 6 turnovers halves (main course) or 4 halves (appetizer) like rose petals on top of the sauce. Serve immediately.


2011 Feb 18
thanks everyone for the ideas. That Daniel Boulud recipe sounds like a winner, and if I do attempt it I will post pics. Chimi: Camera is dead so no picture, sorry, but it does say Podi Tartufi, Terni Italy and it also says Tartufo Estivo, which I believe means summer.

2011 Feb 18
Yup that's a black summer truffle, tuber aestivum... not as strong as a black winter truffle, but I'd say you got a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, the processing method used to preserve truffles in the method you described also kills some of the flavour & aroma.

I've done a similar preparation to the Boulud recipe above, was very tasty! Report back!

2011 Feb 18
I second that - the black summer truffles are a bit underwhelming when preserved, and especially so compared to black winter truffles.

Here's a pic of a tasty fresh one I found a while back - the aroma was absolutely intoxicating (and permeated several layers of zip lock bags). I shaved most of it over several slow poached eggs, some over fresh made porcini mushroom ravioli, and the leftovers were minced up into truffle butter.

2011 Feb 19
Would also add that the texture is completely different. Preserved summer truffles tend to have a soft, almost buttery, greyish interior (although it varies, and they tend to darken toward the end of the season, from what I hear) with a much more firm exterior.

Here's a shot of preserved italian summer truffles (with my attempt at fresh pasta dough sitting in the background).

2011 Mar 1
Fresh Truffles need to be prepared very carefully to ensure their unique properties are shown to full advantage. Their subtle taste and aroma can easily be overwhelmed by strong flavours, so as a general rule we recommend partnering Truffles with mild flavoured ingredients such as pasta, rice, potato and egg.

I found a lot of information on www.trufflehunter.co.uk