"truffles" news and stories

Leftover frosting? Roll it into quick truffles.

• Normand Laprise urges cooks to not ignore the truffle in hard times -- suggesting how far an ounce can go -- from flavoring your in-shell eggs, to truffle ice cream (recipe included), scrambled eggs, risotto, and bread with a truffle center.
• February is the perfect time to indulge in bitter-lettuce salads, like a Simple Winter Salad of radicchio, watercress, frisee, and endives.
• Daniel Boulud opens DB Bistro Moderne in Vancouver, offering freshly ground burgers, a refusal to massacre meat to well done, and delicious and warm Madeleines -- plus the new Lumière restaurant.
• There's little as delicious as a strong beer, and Stephen Beaumont runs through the regions and beers that offer strong flavor in your brew.
• A look into Jean-Georges Vongerichten's new Vancouver restaurant and his in-kitchen process.
• Eating in the Year of the Ox, recipes for: Barbecue Pork, Sesame-Hoisin Sauce, Potstickers, Ginger Vinegar Dipping Sauce, Shrimp Dumplings, Salmon Spring Rolls, Spiced Soy Dipping Sauce, and Stir-Fried Noodles with Duck

Remember that truffle contest I told you all about earlier this month? Well, holy crap! Our reader Scott won! How amazing is that? Congratulations!! It just goes to show you that when these things come around, it doesn't hurt to try -- especially when winning gives you a whole 1/4 lb of truffles!

Scott won Black Winter Truffles (aka Perigord, black diamond) which are durable, slightly bigger and tougher, and best used fresh. (However, that doesn't mean that you can't freeze them!) These are the little guys that thrive when you cook them -- unlike white truffles that will dance on your tastebuds raw, black truffles are great for cooking, especially with cook times that give the truffle time to blend with other flavors.

One of the most beloved and rampant uses of truffles in the home is eggs. Just about every truffle piece I've ever read talks about the magic that happens when truffles come in contact with eggs -- and thinking about how good truffle oil is in eggs, I can just imagine! Truffle butter is also a good idea -- you can whip it up and put it on anything and everything, rather than paying a steep price of $50 for your own. Perhaps a rub inside fowl? Pappardelle? With vegetables?

Basically, Scott, go wild with simple and rich flavors that will be improved with the earthy flavor of the truffle. But if you want even more ideas, check here and here, you lucky duck, you! And Slashfood readers -- please share your tips and beloved recipes. We have to help him on this delicious truffle experience!

You might think it's too early to hear about turkey, but here are a few reasons to check out the video above: Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend, doing a practice round just means more gobbles for you, and finally, it's got truffles!

The above is a quick run-down of Gordon Ramsay's roast citrus turkey with truffle butter. Personally, I can't imagine eating turkey without a lot of turkey juice-laden stuffing, but at least there's a breadcrumb saute to accompany this mighty fine bird, which comes out of the oven with a deliciously crispy crust and buttery flavor.

But if you don't want to add another turkey to this year's meal plan, try it with a chicken!

I feel like there's a new "World's Most Expensive Burger" story every year. Made with Wagyu beef, topped with foie gras, buns studded with diamond dust (OK, not really), it's a gimmick that never fails to elicit gasps. The rank-and-file shake their heads in disapproval at the decadent rich - "a $50 hamburger, what's the world coming to?" while those with money to burn get to feel very ironic and high-low (the pinnacle of this attitude can be found at Las Vegas's Palms casino, where they'll serve you a $6 Carl's Jr. burger with a 24-year-old bottle of French Bordeaux for $6,000).

For a brief history of the trend, see this story on Forbes Traveler. There's a slideshow of haute burgers, from the six-pack of Kobe sliders at the Continental in Atlantic City to the $150 truffle-stuffed version at DB Bistro Moderne to the $5,000 burger n' 1990 Chateau Petrus combo at Fleur de Lys in Vegas.

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