Here is one of the most amazing egg meals you will ever taste, and it is really straight forward. Scrambled eggs in a pan will never be the same again and you will never look back.
Take your scrambled eggs to a new level by incorporating some black truffle or summer truffle. To really succeed though, you must make great scrambled eggs, as the eggs will not take on a lot of truffle flavor, if the eggs are dry and over cooked.
Preparation starts 3 - 4 days before you cook, so if you wish to eat on a Saturday, get your truffles on Wednesday.
Purchase 15 grams of black perigord truffle or 30 grams of summer truffle. The truffle must be wrapped in a paper kitchen towel to absorb moisture given off by the truffle. Place in an air tight container with 6 - 8 fresh free range eggs and place in the refrigerator. The porous shell of the egg will take on the truffle perfume, adding extra truffle flavor to the scrambled eggs.
It is important to change the kitchen paper around the truffle every day or two. If the truffle gets too wet, it will go off sooner.
3 - 4 days later, your eggs will be fully infused and ready for cooking.
To make the scrambled eggs, break the eggs into a glass jar with a good dash of cream and a good dash of full cream milk, probably 1/3 cup of each. I never measure. Add salt and pepper to taste and whisk with a balloon whisk.
Heat a heavy based saucepan with a good sized knob of butter, reduce heat to lowest heat setting once butter has melted. Add the egg mix and stir every 15 - 20 seconds, scraping all cooked egg from the bottom of the pan. Do not let any cooked egg sit on the bottom of the pan for too long.
Now this is really important! Turn the heat off when the egg mix is about 80 - 85% cooked, that is wetter and creamier than you would like to eat it. This is because the egg will keep cooking in the pan even when the heat is off.
Grate in about 3/4 of your truffle, using a micro-plane grater. Allow the egg to sit for about one minute. This will release the truffle perfume, as the truffle warms up.
Serve the egg on thick cut, buttered crusty toast from a bakery. Use a truffle slicer to slice the remaining truffle over the top of the eggs for added flavor and presentation.
You are now ready to enjoy one of the most amazing egg recipes you will ever experience. Enjoy!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
10 Things You Must Know About Truffles
Here is a list of ten things you may not know about truffles, what are truffles and how do you cook with them.
Truffles are fungus that grow in a symbiotic relationship with a host tree. In Australia, oak and hazelnut trees are primarily used in the cultivation of black truffles (Tuber Melanosporum) and summer truffles (Tuber Aestivum).
When cooking with black truffles, it is advisable not to heat them above 80 Celsius as the perfume can start to break down and diminish. Therefore, when cooking a dish like a pasta, add the shaved or grated truffle to the dish after the cooking process has finished and allow to rest for a few minutes. Grate some more thin slices on top of the dish for presentation and added flavour.
White truffles are rare. White truffles have not been successfully cultivated, like their black cousins. They are only found in the wild and thus are very expensive, manly due to rarity.
White truffles are not cooked. Unlike black truffles, white truffles are grated on a dish cold, after cooking has finished. Cooking them will destroy the flavor.
Black truffle is not as expensive as you may think. Typically only 5 grams per person of black truffle and 10 grams per person of summer is required to produce an excellent 3 course meal. This equates to about A$10 per person for a dinner party that is guaranteed to impress your friends.
These days dogs are used to locate truffles underground. Due to dogs excellent scenting abilities and training capabilities, dogs are the perfect companion for locating truffles in the truffiere. Pigs are generally not used in commercial truffle operations.
Truffle ice cream rules. My first taste of truffle ice cream was a complete surprise. It was at a 7 course truffle dinner back in 2009, and no one at the dinner, that I spoke to, had ever tried truffle ice cream. It was a complete surprise and demonstrates the diversity of truffles, in that they can be used in sweet or savoury dishes.
Truffle oil does not contain truffle. Commercially available truffle oil is made with a synthetic truffle essence (flavor). This is because fresh truffles tend to lose their perfume within about two weeks. Attempts have been made to produce a truffle oil from fresh truffle, but I am not aware of any that are commercially available. truffle oil is not all bad, it is handy to have when fresh truffle is out of season and you crave the truffle flavour; but use it sparingly, as too much can ruin a dish.
Truffle production commenced in Australia over 15 years ago and the industry has grown to produce over 4 tonnes in 2012
Truffles are not chocolates. Most people in Australia are not familiar with real truffles and think they are the chocolate variety. It is our mission to educate the population of Australia and other countries and increase consumption of this excellent, mysterious fungus.
Truffles are fungus that grow in a symbiotic relationship with a host tree. In Australia, oak and hazelnut trees are primarily used in the cultivation of black truffles (Tuber Melanosporum) and summer truffles (Tuber Aestivum).
When cooking with black truffles, it is advisable not to heat them above 80 Celsius as the perfume can start to break down and diminish. Therefore, when cooking a dish like a pasta, add the shaved or grated truffle to the dish after the cooking process has finished and allow to rest for a few minutes. Grate some more thin slices on top of the dish for presentation and added flavour.
White truffles are rare. White truffles have not been successfully cultivated, like their black cousins. They are only found in the wild and thus are very expensive, manly due to rarity.
White truffles are not cooked. Unlike black truffles, white truffles are grated on a dish cold, after cooking has finished. Cooking them will destroy the flavor.
Black truffle is not as expensive as you may think. Typically only 5 grams per person of black truffle and 10 grams per person of summer is required to produce an excellent 3 course meal. This equates to about A$10 per person for a dinner party that is guaranteed to impress your friends.
These days dogs are used to locate truffles underground. Due to dogs excellent scenting abilities and training capabilities, dogs are the perfect companion for locating truffles in the truffiere. Pigs are generally not used in commercial truffle operations.
Truffle ice cream rules. My first taste of truffle ice cream was a complete surprise. It was at a 7 course truffle dinner back in 2009, and no one at the dinner, that I spoke to, had ever tried truffle ice cream. It was a complete surprise and demonstrates the diversity of truffles, in that they can be used in sweet or savoury dishes.
Truffle oil does not contain truffle. Commercially available truffle oil is made with a synthetic truffle essence (flavor). This is because fresh truffles tend to lose their perfume within about two weeks. Attempts have been made to produce a truffle oil from fresh truffle, but I am not aware of any that are commercially available. truffle oil is not all bad, it is handy to have when fresh truffle is out of season and you crave the truffle flavour; but use it sparingly, as too much can ruin a dish.
Truffle production commenced in Australia over 15 years ago and the industry has grown to produce over 4 tonnes in 2012
Truffles are not chocolates. Most people in Australia are not familiar with real truffles and think they are the chocolate variety. It is our mission to educate the population of Australia and other countries and increase consumption of this excellent, mysterious fungus.
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