Ingredient of the Week: Truffle Oil

 
So, when I come into contact with a delicious, rare, unique, or otherwise special ingredient I sometimes get a little stage fright.

I freeze up.

I've been known to let things go completely bad because I was too excited and nervous to figure out how to use them.

Quince, I'm looking in your direction.

This may look like ordinary grilled cheese
On a completely unrelated note, do you guys remember in the springtime when I bought those black truffles at the farmer's market?

...

It wasn't the first time I'd bought truffles.  There is a fantastic mushroom man who sells all kinds of fungal delights at the local farmer's market.  Having been raised in a place where hardly any mushrooms grow at all (great for your feet, bad for your salads), it blew my mind to have a person actually selling fresh truffles.

In the market.  To normies.  He didn't even ask for ID.

But it hides a delicious secret...
But when I bought some, I had my freezing up syndrome, and they went completely bad before I ever figured out something good enough to do with them.  They went from world's greatest ingredient to mini botulism bombs, and I just looked on, slack-jawed.

But good news, everyone!  This time I was smart enough to ask the mushroom man, who I could only assume was an expert, just what I should do to help those pungent, wrinkled babies reach their potential.

His answer?

Truffle oil.  And truffle butter.  You want to extend your truffles' shelf life?  You want to spread that delicious flavor through as many dishes as possible?  Truffle oil and butter.


It's insanely simple.  Just lock your truffles into an airtight container with however much butter you want flavored and however much oil.  Leave overnight.  Ta da!

I cut the truffles in half first, to really release that truffly goodness.

Once you have truffle fats, you can use them in anything that calls for butter or oil.  I put mine in pesto.  I spread it over grilled cheese (let me tell you that was some crazy delicious).

Or you can just go to your local bakery, get a fat, crusty loaf of sourdough, and slice it thickly.  Add a splash of balsamic and dunk, dunk, dunk.


This I recommend most highly.

6 comments:

M. @ Stuffed Grapes said...

Truffle oil in pesto sounds completely amazing! I wonder if the mushroom man at my local farmer's market ever has truffles...

Ellen B Cookery said...

I love truffles and anything made out of them Truffle oil is fantastic! Have you ever sprinkled some truffle shavings over pasta?

Purabi Naha said...

I have heard of truffle oil but never got into detail. This sounds to be a great flavour booster!!

Ana Regalado said...

The taste must be DIVINE ! And way cheaper than buying truffle oil ! So lucky of you to find that fantastic mushroom man :D

Miss Messy said...

Yummm truffle oil! :)

amlamonte said...

ellen i haven't tried that! it sounds lovely, and like a great way to really get that flavor. i just want to eat them in a way that makes me never forget that i'm eating truffles!