Tag Archives: black winter truffles

TRUFFLED AVOCADO TOAST

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One of my New Year’s resolutions, like I imagine most of my readers, was to lose weight — a resolution I believe I’ve made every year since 6th grade.  And I’ve been trying hard to keep that resolution — at least it feels like I’ve been trying hard.

I used to follow a number of Weight Watchers “ambassadors” on Instagram, and they joyously eat the rainbow, delight in ethereal baked goods made from egg whites and protein powder, and regard fat-free cheese, yogurt, and cool whip as a sort of holy trinity.  Everything they eat (and I do mean EVERYTHING) is Instagram-worthy, or at least Instagrammed.  But as I’ve learned over the years, this kind of eating tends to favor quantity over quality, is not sustainable in the real world, and is not for me.  I’ve tried a few of the products — the plasticene Velveeta slices (only 1 point!), the snack bars that taste like they’re coated in candle drippings (only 2 points!), the fat-free plain yogurt with fruit (pucker up!), and the 1-point tortilla wraps that are gummy from cellulose fiber (OK, I kinda like these) — and have decided to focus instead on making healthier choices and eating smaller portions.  And just to be clear, I will never ever accept Fat Free Cool Whip as “frosting” — that is just sadness.

So I expect that I’ll be posting some healthier recipes that fit in with what I’m trying to accomplish.  ‘Nuff said.

Avocado toast seems to be a particular favorite among not just dieters, but the world in general, although it seems that it is quickly being replaced by sweet potato toast (I know, not really a “toast” thing, and I can think of other ways to ruin my toaster besides running slices of sweet potato through it 4 or 5 times in a row).  Long before avocado toast starting trending, however, my parents used to make it, mashing it on toast and declaring it was “just like buttah.”

l had a small piece of a precious black winter truffle left in my fridge.  To enjoy truffles, they need a base of fat and salt.  But copious amounts of fat is kind of a no-no at the moment — and then I thought of the avocado, which is “just like buttah.”  And it worked — avocado toast with thin truffle shavings and a touch of flaky sea salt — that was one special breakfast!  Winter truffle season is over, but I may revisit this when summer truffles are available.  And for those of you without access to fresh truffles, I have confirmed that a teeny tiny drizzle of truffle oil is pretty delicious on avocado toast, as I suspect truffle salt would be as well (oh, the grueling research I conduct).  No recipe, just photos.  🙂

 

BLACK WINTER TRUFFLES

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Before the black winter truffle season ends, I splurged and bought a 45-gram  order of 3 truffles.  They don’t come cheap — this order was $80.

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Beautiful, no?

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I always thought truffles were sniffed out by pigs, but the farm where these came from uses dogs to hunt truffles.  These are the cuties that found my truffles, Éclair and Mirabelle:

I would appreciate it if my dogs, Jasper and Maisy, would get off their backs and go find me some truffles:

The truffles are only good for about 10 days, and storing them in a jar of rice or wrapped in paper towels in the refrigerator helps keep them fresh as long as possible.

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I am fascinated by my truffles.  They’re like pets.  I take the jar out, open the lid, and inhale deeply pretty much every time I open the refrigerator.  I almost hate to use my truffles.  But, of course, I do.  I was advised that they need a base of fat and salt to bring out their flavor.  Say no more.

I don’t like to make elaborate dishes with my truffles.  I prefer simpler uses.  One way I particularly enjoy them is over scrambled eggs (scrambled, of course, in a generous amount of butter, and seasoned with salt and pepper).

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Mine, all mine.

Our favorite way to enjoy them, however, is shaved over buttered baked potatoes, preferably Mountain King Butter Golds (these are, incidentally, the best potatoes we have ever had — family is still talking about them from Thanksgiving.  Watch for them.).

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Mountain King Butter Golds

It’s nice to have a truffle shaver, although a sharp paring knife will work to cut thin slices from the truffle.

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Truffle shaver

I promise you, a buttered, sea salted, truffled baked potato is a special indulgence that you will not soon forget.

I shared one of my precious truffles with my friend Susan, and she sent me this quote from a feature on The Huffington Post (which also gathered some great-sounding truffle recipes) — “It’s a crazy world out there, and you never know what will happen.  One day, you could be minding your own business and suddenly be presented with an opportunity to buy a real black truffle. . . .  If you can afford to, you should absolutely do it this one time, so that you can experience what black truffles really taste and smell like. Oh, you’ve had truffle oil?  Forget everything you think you know about that and dive into the real thing.”  Excellent advice!

The season for black winter truffles is just about over.  It won’t be too long, though, before summer truffles come into season.  Milder in flavor, and about half the price of winter truffles, they’re nice too, and fun to play around with.  But be warned, they are gateway truffles, and soon you’ll be craving the hard stuff (i.e., black winter truffles).