Tag: truffle

Stuffed Eggs with Summer Truffle

1 July 2020

Summer Truffle

One of the obvious benefits of the summer truffle is its price. We paid € 3,50 per 10 gram last week, which is a very reasonable price for a genuine truffle. And 10 gram is sufficient for these delicious stuffed eggs.
Summer truffles are harvested between May and August in France, Italy and Spain. They come with a few characteristics that you have to take into account. First of all, summer truffle loses most (if not all) of its flavour when heated. A better idea is to shave the truffle over a warm dish, for instance asparagus or pasta, just before serving. Second aspect to keep in mind: summer truffles are not as powerful in terms of aroma and flavour as other truffles.

Truffles love eggs, love potatoes, love foie gras, love Madeira, love morels. Tournedos Rossini, Antonio Carlucci’s pasta with Morel & Truffle Sauce (described in The Complete Mushroom Book) and the classic Pâté Périgueux: all delicious.

We combine our summer truffle with eggs and mayonnaise. We crush the truffle to add a crunch to the dish. Please prepare the dish a few hours before serving, allowing the truffle to become more present. You will be surprised about the richness of these stuffed eggs!

Wine Pairing

Best to combine with a not too oaky Chardonnay, for instance French Burgundy. An excellent choice would be Bourgogne Couvent des Jacobins, made by Louis Jadot.

What You Need

  • Three eggs
  • (Homemade) Mayonnaise
  • 1 Anchovy
  • 10 gram of Summer Truffle (more preferred)
  • Black Pepper
  • Fresh Lemon

What You Do

Boil or steam the eggs until just done. Peel and let cool. Slice the eggs in two. Mash up the three egg yolks with a fork. Add a small spoon of mayonnaise and mix. Mash 1 cm of anchovy and add to the mixture. Crush the summer truffle and add to the mixture. Add a few drops of lemon juice and a bit of black pepper. Taste but keep in mind that the truffle will become much more present. Stuff the eggs, cover with foil and let cool. You could decorate the eggs with a thin slice of summer truffle.

Summer Truffle - Rippitippi / Public domain
Stuffed Eggs with Summer Truffle © cadwu

Tournedos Rossini

15 January 2020

The First King of Chefs

Gioachino Rossini (1792 – 1868) was a gifted, talented and great composer. Not only did he compose some 40 operas, many songs and the beautiful Petite Messe Solennelle, he was also an expert with regard to food. Perhaps expert is not the right word: he was a gourmand, an excessive eater and drinker plus a culinary inspiration. Chefs would name dishes after him, such as Filets de Sole Rossini (poached Dover sole wrapped around goose liver and truffle served with a white wine sauce), Cocktail Rossini (strawberries and prosecco), Macaroni Soup alla Rossini (a soup with partridge quenelles and Parmesan cheese) and many others.

The soup was created by Marie-Antoine Carême, a very dear and close friend of Rossini. He was Roi des Cuisiniers et Cuisinier des Rois having been chef to Napoleon, the Prince of Wales (the later King George IV), Tsar Alexander 1st and Baron de Rothschild. He created the concept of the four mother sauces (Allemande, Béchamel, Espagnole, Velouté) and was an essential inspiration for Auguste Escoffier. Marie-Antoine Carême is one of the most influential chefs ever, a brilliant  patissier and author of several books on cookery, including L’Art de la Cuisine Française.

Very likely it was Escoffier who came up with the word tournedos, but the combination of bread, meat, goose liver, truffle and Madeira was a creation by Marie-Antoine Carême, inspired by and prepared for his friend Gioachino Rossini.

Tournedos Rossini is a culinary pleasure. It’s elegant, full of flavours and exquisite. It’s simply gorgeous.

Wine Pairing

A classic red Bordeaux will be a perfect match. Dry, full-bodied and fruity. We enjoyed a glass of Château Gaillard Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2015. This is a dry, cherry-red coloured wine. It features medium woody, fruity and vegetal scents and offers a broad texture as well as medium tannins.

What You Need

  • 2 Tournedos (Fillet Steaks)
  • Butter
  • Madeira
  • Fresh Goose Liver
  • Winter truffle
  • Stock (Chicken or Veal)
  • 2 Slices of Old Bread

What You Do

Originally you would need demi-glace sauce, but we take a short cut. Make sure you have everything ready. The oven should be at 70° Celsius (160° Fahrenheit), one heavy iron pan and one non-sticky pan both warm, nearly hot, through and through. Make sure the meat is at room temperature. We prefer a small steak (75 gram). Start by frying the two slices of bread in butter until golden. Transfer the bread to the oven. Clean the pan with kitchen paper and add butter. Quickly fry the meat, it must be saignant (no options here). Wrap in foil and set aside. Reduce heat. Add stock to the pan and deglaze. Add Madeira. Thinly slice the fresh winter truffle (no options here). Add the smaller slices and crumbles to the sauce. Put the beef on top of the bread. Keep warm. Fry the goose liver for just a few seconds in the hot non sticky pan until golden/brown. Now plate up: the bread with the beef and the goose liver on top. Pour over the sauce, add the bigger slices of truffle and serve immediately.

Tournedos Rossini © cadwu
Tournedos Rossini © cadwu

 

White Asparagus with Summer Truffle

10 February 2018

From Spring to Summer

Time to celebrate! Summer has just begun and the Asparagus season has come to a close. So let’s bring the two together in this slightly extravagant dish. It is earthy, slightly bitter and sweet, velvety and complete.
The Summer Truffle (Tuber Aestivum) is not as intense and overwhelming as the Winter Truffle. It should be used immediately and preferably grated. It loses its taste when heated, so don’t use it for your Tournedos Rossini. This dish should be luke warm, so an excellent environment for a Summer Truffle. Take your time to appreciate the delicate combination in your plate.

Wine Pairing

We drank a glass of Italian Gewürztraminer with our Asparagus with Summer Truffle. This wine has a distinctive fruity flavour with hints of aromatic herbs. The area where the grapes are grown (Alto Adige) is relatively cool and sunny. As a result of this the Gewürztraminer grapes ripe well without losing their freshness. So the wine brings fruit, freshness, warmth and aromatic herbs, which works well with the earthy, aromatic truffle and the sweetness and bitterness of the asparagus. Parsley is essential because it brings freshness to the dish; nicely balanced with the velvety taste of the egg and butter. And butter is the ideal bridge between egg, asparagus and truffle.
In general a glass of Gewürztraminer is ideal with this dish, provided it has a touch of sweetness only. Sometimes Gewürztraminer is simply too sweet. This will not only ruin the hints of aromatic herbs in the wine; it will also ruin the delicate combination of asparagus with truffle.

What You Need

  • 4 Asparagus
  • 2 Eggs
  • 25 grams of Butter
  • 25 grams of Summer Truffle
  • Parsley
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

Cook or steam the asparagus. Make sure they are just done. Cook the eggs for 8-9 minutes. The yolk should not be completely firm. Cool the eggs in cold water, peel and mash with a fork. Add the finely chopped parsley and some black pepper. Taste. Melt the butter.
Put two asparagus per person on the plate, pour the warm butter over the asparagus, making sure they are fully covered, add the egg and finish by sprinkling the grated truffle. Poor a glass of excellent Gewürztraminer and enjoy the start of summer by eating the very last of this years asparagus.

 

White Asparagus with Summer Truffle © cadwu
Ingredients of White Asparagus with Summer Truffle © cadwu