11-14-truffles

Don’t ya just love it when you have house guests who bring you $699.99/lb French Truffles?  What to do, what to do, what to do?!?

I must admit it is a dilemma I have never before experienced.  I have never owned real, fresh black French truffles in my life.  Ever.  Hell – even the hotels I used to work in usually used canned peels and pieces.  I have eaten my share of truffles over the years – thin shavings on salads, in fabulous sauces over ridiculously tender cuts of beef, with foie gras, and even in scrambled eggs.  I have never cooked with them at home.  Ever.

This is a new culinary experience for me.  I’m loving it!

So tonight I decided we would start simple – with a champagne and truffle sauce thickened with egg yolk.  (That early French training back in my misspent youth actually comes in handy now and again.)

We have those four gorgeous truffles and, while that is way too much for one meal for two, the rice they were stored in would make a perfect side dish.  (An excellent way to store truffles is buried in rice – it absorbs any moisture and also infuses the rice!)  I took the cup of rice it arrived in and set it aside for dinner.  I then took arborio rice and put it in a mason jar with the truffles and vacuum-sealed it and put it in the coldest part of the refrigerator.  I see a truffle risotto in our future!

11-16-truffle-champagne-chicken

Tonight was about simple flavors.  The only spices I used were salt and pepper – I wanted the flavors to stand independent of one another and not compete with other flavors.

Chicken with Champagne and Truffle Sauce

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • flour for dredging
  • olive oil and butter for frying
  • 1 large shallot, minced
  • 2 oz mushrooms, chopped
  • 2 cups champagne (a split works perfectly)
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 black truffle, julienned
  • salt and pepper

Dredge chicken in flour and set aside.  Heat oil and butter in saute pan and brown on both sides.  Remove chicken to plate.

In same pan, saute shallot and mushrooms.  Add champagne and bring to boil.  Add chicken, cover, and simmer until chicken is done – about 15 minutes.

Remove chicken and set aside to keep warm.

Lightly beat egg yolks in small bowl.  Add a bit of the hot cooking liquid to temper them, and then add back to the pan.  Stir and simmer until thickened.

Strain into a small saucepan and add truffles.  Simmer to infuse flavors.  Taste and add salt and pepper, as desired.

Serve over chicken.

The rice was made with the infused rice and 2 cups of mushroom broth.  It came out perfect.  Absolutely perfect.

As did the chicken and sauce.  The combination of champagne and truffles was perfect.  The dry wine and the rich earthiness of the truffles just went really well together. It really worked.  And yesterday while we were talking about how we all usually eschew single-use kitchen gadgets, I found our French green bean cutter.  They don’t get much more single-use than that.  So… I had to make French cut green beans, as well.  Simply steamed with salt, pepper, and butter.

I’m really pleased that my first experience went so well.  It has definitely given me the confidence and motivation to go forward!

In going through one of my Julia Child cookbooks, I found a recipe for a Madeira Truffle Sauce.

I’m thinking tenderloin of beef and turned potatoes.

And I’m thinking what wonderful friends we have…..