On Friday I headed over to A Southern Season to pick up a gift for my cousin who is a bit of a chocolate connoisseur at the tender of age of 23. I really like to wander around the store looking at everything. But this is dangerous to my wallet! I left the store with chocolates and a $30 bottle of black truffle oil.
I've been wanting to cook w/ black truffle for a long time but I cannot bring myself to pay $185 for one mushroom no matter how delicious. Having said that, I will marry any man who brings me fresh black truffles and a Judith Leiber evening bag!
Truffle oil is, relatively speaking, a much less expensive alternative. The good news is that a little goes a long way so a 3.5 oz, $30 bottle will last awhile.
Last night I made mushroom pizza and drizzled a few drops of truffle oil over the slices. It was perfect! The oil imparts an earthy richness. Tomorrow I am making some mushroom risotto and I'll put some truffle oil on that too.
Mushroom pizza w/ truffle oil:
Pizza dough, enough for a large pie (homemade, frozen, canned, doesn't matter)
1lb sliced white, shitake, cremini, whatever combination you like
4 T. olive oil
3 or 4 cloves of garlic finely minced
8 oz of shredded mozzarella
8 oz of shredded Parmesan or Swiss or whatever you like
Salt and pepper to taste
Truffle oil to taste
Preheat oven to 400F. Roll out the pizza dough and brush with 2 T. olive oil. Scatter the garlic on top of the oil. Bake the pizza dough for 8 minutes. Meanwhile saute the mushrooms in the remaining olive oil for about 8 minutes. Top the half-baked pizza dough with mushrooms and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is brown and cheese is melted and golden.
Slice into pieces and drizzle each slice with a few drops of truffle oil.
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6 comments:
Matt Kelly at Vin Rouge joked to me that truffle oil was only good for using on popcorn. :)
He's entitled to his views, but I'd eat a piece of cardboard drizzled with truffle oil. I'm just a humble home cook, so what do I know?
I actually can't imagine popcorn tasting as good as I think it would with truffle oil on it. I think my head would explode. :) I think Matt was more generally referring to how if they want something to taste like truffles, they put truffles in it. Expensive, but I bet it tastes good.
I have a small bottle of truffle oil. I think it costs about $2/tablespoon. Ugh. I have to ration it to myself, or else I'll put it on anything. I think I'd draw the line at cardboard though. :)
"I'd eat a piece of cardboard drizzled with truffle oil"
LOL - me too! =)
I haven't noticed them since I moved to Durham, but in other cities I have seen the Whole Foods carry truffles (seasonally) and while expensive, they were certainly less than $185 for a single shroom.
While in Vegas last year I had steak frites topped with truffle shavings, they were incredible!
Is sprinkling the truffle oil on after baking the best way to incorporate the ingredient into pizza or could it be better if you drizzle it on before putting it in the oven? Maybe baking it would make it diffuse into the other ingredients more rapidly?
If you're going to use truffle oil, just buy the truffle. Should be about fifty bucks. You shave it. Truffle oil is nasty.
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