Even more decadent grilled cheese and truffle sandwich

Posted on by David
Some foodies love to play the “last supper” game: What would you want to eat for your last meal on earth? Pat and I are in accord on this one. It would probably be this elegantly simple grilled cheese sandwich with Comté, prosciutto, ripe tomato and truffle. Cooked just enough to brown the bread in butter (an omelet pan is perfect for the task), the Comté brings out all the high, resinous notes in the black truffle. You could die happy just biting into the sandwich, which gives you a strong whiff of truffle just before you actually taste it. In the interest of research, we tried this sandwich in the purist form—just Comté and truffle—before adding the prosciutto and tomato. The basic sandwich shown...Read More

Truffles, cheese, and honey for dessert

Posted on by David
One of our favorite breakfast dishes in Spain is a plate of sliced Manchego cheese drizzled with honey and served with a bit of membrillo (quince jelly). For dessert, the ewe's milk tang and saltiness of Manchego pairs exceptionally well with black truffle. MANCHEGO CHEESE, HONEY & BLACK TRUFFLES Serves 2 6 oz. wedge of Manchego semi-curado (aged at least 6 months) 2 tablespoons of chestnut or acacia honey 10 grams black truffle crackers for serving Remove rind from Manchego. Lay wedge on its side and slice into 7-8 triangles of cheese. Arrange on a plate and drizzle with honey. (The easy way is to dip a butter knife in the honey and “paint” it on the cheese.) Shave black truffle over the top. Add...Read More

Decadent hamburger with black truffles

Posted on by David
Several high-end restaurants (we're talking about you, Daniel Boulud) serve a magnificent wintertime hamburger with foie gras and shaved French black truffle on top. We can't top that. When we decided to take our Australian truffle bounty and see if we could build a summer burger, we were inspired by the great bacon burger we ate last year at Cured in San Antonio. (Here's the recipe.) We knew the truffle would respond well to a bit of fat and to acid, so we plumped up the ground beef with some fattier ground pork and added a thick slice of heirloom tomato on top. Not caring to heat up the house making brioche buns (and we're not that good at baking bread), we purchased some great...Read More

Lemon risotto and Caprese salad with truffles

Posted on by David
What a luxury to shave truffles over some of our favorite summer dishes! I was surprised when several chefs suggested black truffles on a Caprese salad, but if the tomatoes have enough acidic zing, it's a match made in heaven. Our own tomatoes aren't quite ripe yet, so I have to resort to hoop house or hot house varieties. One trick to restore the “fresh tomato” flavor to these typically bland fruits is to give them a tiny sprinkle of salt, sugar, and citric acid. Citric acid is sometimes sold as “sour salt,” and is readily available in Indian grocery stores. (I mix up the seasoning in a ratio of 20 parts salt to 5 parts sugar and 1 part citric acid and store it...Read More

Stretching black truffles with alioli

Posted on by David
The good and bad side of fresh truffles is that you have to eat them up right away because they only keep for a week or two in the refrigerator, even if you let them breathe every day when you change the absorbent paper in the container. In the process of eating them up, it's easy to have a lot of truffle “crumbs” or extra shavings. The solution to that problem is truffle alioli, the Catalan answer to mayonnaise. We made a pretty big batch (nearly 2 cups) and used it to make potato salad (with sliced boiled potatoes, minced onion, chopped boiled egg, and minced celery) and to make a delicious chicken salad. The secret to great alioli is to store the eggs in...Read More

Corn ravioli with Australian black truffles

Posted on by David
I received a shipment of truffles from the Truffle and Wine Company (truffleandwineusa.com) early this month. The truffles are spectacular, but it's not like I can tuck them away to use weeks from now. They have to be eaten quickly, which means developing a bunch of ways to use them with summer produce. For the last 10 days, Pat and I have been cooking with black truffles, repeating some favorite dishes and trying to create some new ones. We'll be posting new recipes in quick succession in case you want to order some truffles yourself before the season ends next month. When I was working on the Robb Report story, I spoke to a number of American chefs who exulted in using the Australian black...Read More

Craggy Range shows original NZ wines

Posted on by Pat and David
Matt Stafford (above) isn't just any winemaker. He's a winemaker who came to the trade originally as a soil scientist. The post-grad diploma in viticulture and oenology came later, but the grounding (no pun intended) in soil might just make him the ideal person to make wine for Craggy Range (www.craggyrange.com) in New Zealand. Stafford was in Boston a few weeks ago to introduce some of his wines. New Zealand has become notorious for popular sauvignon blanc and pinot noir--even though the former often tastes medicinal and the latter like cherry cough syrup. It was a pleasure to taste elegant New Zealand wines that spoke first and foremost of terroir. It was clear that Stafford wanted to confound expectation when a few of us gathered...Read More

Mullan Road shows the grandeur of Walla Walla red

Posted on by Pat and David
Given that his family name is practically synonymous with Napa, it was a pretty good bet that when Dennis Cakebread started making wine near Walla Walla, Washington, he was going to call it something else. So he named his new winemaking venture for the historic wagon road across the Rockies from present-day Montana to present-day Walla Walla that was surveyed in 1854 and built 1859-60. We suspect that what appealed to Cakebread was that Lt. John Mullan was a pathfinder and a visionary. More than 150 years later, portions of I-15 and I-90 follow the same path that Mullan took over the Rockies. Cakebread is looking to pioneer a Washington red worth laying down in your cellar. His first Mullan Road Cellars red (2012) was...Read More

What to eat at the airport: Chicago O’Hare

Posted on by Pat
Maybe it's the feel-good endorphins released when we eat chile peppers, or perhaps it's just the simple combinations of strong flavors, but when we're truly stuck at the airport, nothing soothes our frazzled nerves better than good Mexican food. When American canceled our flight from Dallas to Albuquerque, we had time to discover the healing power of the chicken and green chile tamales at Pappasito's Cantina at DFW. (See this post for details.) Yesterday, when American summarily canceled our flight from Chicago O'Hare to Lexington, Kentucky, we headed directly to Tortas Frontera by Rick Bayless. We've been fans of his food for years, and find that the recipes in his cookbooks are among some of the best for reproducing authentic Mexican dishes at home. It's...Read More

Black truffle quiche

Posted on by David
Everyone always says that truffles pair well with eggs so I thought a black truffle quiche would be a natural. But when I went looking, the only recipes I could find for truffle quiche use truffle oil—an interesting ingredient in its own right if you like laboratory flavors, but not exactly real truffle. To create a quiche worthy of truffles, I turned to two late, great chefs whose teachings inform pretty much everything I cook. I combined my favorite savory crust, which is adapted from Charles Virion, and Julia's Child's quiche Lorraine recipe, substituting truffles for bacon. She was right—quiche doesn't need cheese. I scaled the recipes for a seven-inch tart pan that makes just the right size for light lunch or a good appetizer...Read More