I just bought a $50 black truffle! Help!

[Sim]

I don't even know why! Some people are addicted to buy shoes... I'm addicted to buying exotic, stupidly expensive ingredients. What's wrong with me? I'm trying to save for a holiday...

I haven't posted here for ages but I need to make something with it tonight! Anyone have any nice dinner recipes/ideas?
Doesn't have to be a Thermomix recipe either, anything will do!

P.S. We have chickens at the moment so I've made truffled eggs with my excessive amount of eggs. They're quite tasty.

Hope you're all well

[Cuilidh]

That was very daring of you buying a truffle, Sim.  I haven't a clue what to do with them, but admire your sense of adventure.  Let us know how it goes (and whether it tastes like $50.00!).

[faffa_70]

I would like to help you ... eat it 

I have no idea really, it is such a special thing to cook with

[Sim]

Hmmm... I'm a little puzzled myself.

I was thinking of making a paella with it - spanish onion, mushrooms, capsicum and in at the end stir in the truffle. Still, i'm not convinced.

[Sim]

For anyone who is interested in how to cook truffles, I just found this website: http://www.truffledogswa.com.au/recipes.html

It confirmed that a paella is the wrong thing to make!

[judydawn]

Is this any good sim.

[Lellyj]

Last year my husband and I bought a truffle!  It cost a lot more than $50, I think it was $125 so it was about the size of a large hens egg. So you got a good deal!  My husband ordered it over the internet and it was air-freighted to us from Tasmania. We bought it for our special gourmet dinner party group which meets twice a year and we all cook a course.  We always try to cook something special or different for this event which is very special event for the 4 couples involved.  We served it shaved (we used a microplane grater) on Jamie Oliver's celeriac, potato and truffle oil soup, so at least the other ingredients were cheap in this dish!  I thought the soup was divine and the truffle added a different dimension.   http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/other-recipes/potato-celeriac-truffle-oil-soup  It is very strong tasting so we didn't use the whole thing, and  came back and stored the remainder in a glass jar with some eggs for a couple of days and then served the remainder, shaved thinly again, with french style creamy scrambled egg, which is apparently a classic way to serve truffles.http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/french-scrambled-eggs-with-truffle-oil.  The idea of storing the eggs in a jar with the truffle is that the egg shells are porous and the flavour of the truffle permeates the eggs.  Pasta and risotto are also commonly used to highlight truffles.  Maybe you could make some mushrrom risotto and augment the flavour with some shaved truffle?  The soup could easily be made in the thermomix.

I reckon go for it!  I have always wanted to try a real truffle and it was terribly extravagant, but something that we will all always remember!

[cookie1]

Maybe with pasta Sim.  Lovely to hear from you again.

[dede]

Wow I cant believe how expensive they are. I couldn't even tell you what the flavor is like as I have never tried them. I know of a couple of places around Tassie that grow them but just have never tried them. Sounds very interesting though.

[Frozzie]

you must have done a hell of alot of cooking with it as most chefs/people use shavings in their recipes due to its cost and flavour...only tasted not cooked with it though because like you said they are very expensive and I hope they werent black chinese truffles...in France they go for a hell of alot of money and when the season hits and all the sellers are at certain markets they get bought up pretty quickly by enthusiasts or chefs...they are called black gold for a reason!  Would be interested to know what you used it in and how the recipes turned out...

[Carine]

I only had truffle once in a really beautiful omelette, but I never cooked with it.
As Lellyj was saying storing the truffle with eggs is supposed to impart its flavour to the eggs...:  one way of making the precious truffle last 
What did you end up cooking?

[andiesenji]

I usually buy two truffles a year.  A black one from Perigord, France in the spring and a white one from the Piedmont, Italy in the fall as these are the best "seasons" for them.

I also like egg dishes with truffles and storing the eggs in a tightly closed container with the truffle is an excellent idea.
Various pasta dishes with cream sauces (I think tomato "kills" the truffle flavor) are also very nice.

My favorite way of using truffles is to prepare a terrine of foie gras with black tuffle.
However you can prepare a paté of other types of meat, chicken livers, finely minced roasted duck, game, pork, beef, lamb or ??.
These terrines keep well for several days in the fridge with little loss of flavor.
I also infuse oil with a small amount of truffle shavings and it will keep in the fridge and hold its flavor for up to 3-4 weeks.

Epicurious has a number of recipes using truffles
Note my search criteria - if you just enter "truffles" you will get a lot of recipes for candies.

If you skip to page 3  on the Epicurious link, you will see the recipe for Truffled Potato Gratin that is fabulous.

[Halex]

I have never cooked ith truffles, but I use truffle oil regularly in cooking. It really enhances risottos and drizzled over cooked potatoes makes them really tasty.

Hally

[Caroline J]

I had a truffle pizza in St Moritz once, it was divine 

[Halex]

Local wa truffles
http://wineandtruffle.com.au/

Never bought but might one day
Hally