Our all time favorite Thanksgiving side dish is whole foie gras braised in wine and garlic. [...]]]>

Although we enjoy all the traditional dishes on Thanksgiving – turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, yams and green beans – we always like to add a touch of luxury and surprise to the Thanksgiving menu. Here are some of our favorites…

Our all time favorite Thanksgiving side dish is whole foie gras braised in wine and garlic. Just before serving, the juices and rendered fat from the foie gras, the wine in which it was cooked, and about half of the 50 cloves of garlic are pureed. This sauce, along with the sliced braised foie gras and remaining whole cloves of garlic is absolutely delicious with Turkey or any other type of fowl.

To prepare this scrumptious dish, first take a 1.5 pound whole lobe of grade A foie gras and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Heat a pan large enough to hold the lobe of foie gras, then brown the foie gras on all sides over medium to medium high heat. (This will take about 10 – 15 minutes and the inside should not be cooked yet.)

Meanwhile blanch about 50 peeled garlic cloves for a few minutes. Remove the foie gras when it’s golden brown and set it aside. Add the garlic to the rendered fat in the pan and cook for a few minutes. Add about 1 cup of dry white wine and some thyme or rosemary leaves to the garlic and foie gras fat. Cook for about 30 minutes or until the taste of the sauce is to your liking. Add salt and pepper to taste. Return the foie gras to the pan with the garlic and juices and continue to cook just until the foie gras is done (check it with a knife).

Remove the foie gras from the pan again. Put all the liquid in a blender with half the garlic cloves. Blend until smooth.

Slice the foie gras and present it on a plate with the whole garlic cloves. Pour the sauce around the foie gras and serve. Garnish with fresh herbs.

If you would like to add foie gras to your meal, but you want to keep it simple and economical, just before serving the stuffing, saute a bag of foie gras cubes (1 lb. is $45) until golden brown (add salt and pepper to taste), and mix the small pieces of foie gras into the stuffing.

We always prefer to serve light appetizers in order to preserve everyone’s appetites for the main meal. Caviar and champagne is a wonderful way to kick off the Thanksgiving celebration! Though caviar can be prepared with other ingredients, we think caviar is best served alone in a crystal, glass, or porcelain bowl, preferably on ice. If you prefer a less formal presentation, or wish to pass the appetizers, try caviar on toast points or blini.

This year Perigord black truffles will not be ripe in time for Thanksgiving. If you want to add fresh truffles to your Thanksgiving meal, we suggest shaving white truffles over your mashed potatoes, or potatoes gratin. The wonderful favor and fragrance of white truffles is a perfect match with creamy potatoes.

Burgundy truffles will also pair well with Thanksgiving dinner. Add sliced Burgundy truffles to your stuffing just before serving (do not cook them), or top a pumpkin soup with shavings of Burgundy truffles.

Adding a touch of luxury to Thanksgiving dinner is easy!  Please let us know if we can assist you in any way with your menu planning.

We began offering Burgundy truffles [...]]]>

The most fragrant and flavorful truffles are now beginning to mature for harvest! Ripe Burgundy truffles are available now, to be immediately followed by winter white truffles from Alba, Italy (beginning this week!), and finally, Perigord black truffles will be available towards the end of November, possibly in time for Thanksgiving. We began offering Burgundy truffles two weeks ago, and expect to have them for a least a few more weeks. Last year’s Burgundy truffle season was very short, due to the weather conditions in France. Let’s hope we don’t have a repeat this year! Burgundy truffles usually reach maturity in mid to late September and the season generally extends through mid November. When ripe, Burgundy truffles have a chocolate brown interior with ivory veining. A close relative to the summer truffle (tuber aestivum), the exterior looks almost identical bearing a black rough surface formed of small pyramid shapes. These truffles have a delicate but distinctive hazelnut flavor and an intense, musky, flowery aroma. Burgundy truffles are more flavorful than summer truffles, but not as robust in flavor as black Perigord winter truffles. Attempts to cultivate the burgundy truffle have not been successful; therefore our season’s harvest is acquired primarily in wild forests and woodland areas throughout East-Central France, using trained dogs. Burgundy truffles are used similarly to summer truffles. They are best served raw or lightly cooked and are usually presented in thin slices. Use Burgundy truffles in salads, with eggs, potatoes, risotto, or pasta. Burgundy truffles add wonderful flavor to cream or stock based sauces, but should be cooked only briefly on low heat. Try our recipe for Beef Carpaccio with Burgundy Truffles posted on our blog. The combination of thinly sliced raw filet mignon, spicy arugula, and earthy Burgundy truffles is divine!

Ingredients:

1 [...]]]>

This potato salad is a version of my favorite French potato salad from the classic “Silver Palate” cookbook.  I toned down the dressing and added black truffle oil.  The original recipe calls for ¼ pound of bacon.  The summer truffles pair well with the more refined flavor of pancetta, but certainly bacon could be used.

Ingredients:

1 pound new or red-skinned potatoes, quartered

3 oz pancetta, diced

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup finely chopped shallots

¼ cup chopped parsley

2 ounces summer black truffles, sliced thin

Vinaigrette:

1 ½ tablespoons Champagne or white wine vinegar

½ teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons black truffle oil

Drop the quartered potatoes into a pot of cold salted water.  Bring to a boil and cook about 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender but still pretty firm.

Meanwhile, sauté the pancetta in olive oil until some of the fat has rendered and the pancetta is slightly crisp (Bacon may be substituted, in which case no olive oil is needed).  Remove pancetta (or bacon) and leave the fat in the pan.  Add the chopped shallots to the hot oil and sauté until the shallots are tender and golden but not too brown.  Set aside.

To make the vinaigrette, whisk the vinegar, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper until blended.  While whisking, slowly add the black truffle oil in a slow, steady stream until the dressing is emulsified.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them and drop them in a medium bowl.  Toss the potatoes with the reserved shallots and pancetta or bacon fat and about ½ of the parsley.  Add the truffle slices and pancetta or bacon.  Drizzle the vinaigrette over the truffle slices, pancetta and potatoes and toss carefully, trying not to break the truffle slices.  Sprinkle remaining chopped parsley on top of the salad and serve.

The most important thing to remember when using black summer truffles in recipes is that these truffles are NOT the same as winter black truffles or winter white truffles.  Summer truffles have a much milder [...]]]>

Summer black truffles are at the height of the season!  This article addresses how to enjoy summer truffles to the fullest.

The most important thing to remember when using black summer truffles in recipes is that these truffles are NOT the same as winter black truffles or winter white truffles.  Summer truffles have a much milder aroma and are more mushroomy in taste than their sought after cousins.  It will rarely work well to substitute summer truffles for winter black truffles, particularly if the preparation requires cooking.

Winter black truffles are best when cooked.  The cooking process releases the wonderfully intense truffle flavor and aroma.  Summer truffles are so delicate in flavor that they will lose much of their taste if cooked; therefore the most important rule with summer truffles is to serve them raw or only slightly warmed.

On the exterior, summer truffles look very similar to winter black truffles as both varieties have a dark, almost black exterior skin.  The inside of summer truffles is beige, where winter truffles are dark charcoal to black inside (when ripe).

Summer Black Truffles

Summer truffles have a delicate nutty flavor and a slightly crisp texture.  Because the flavor of summer truffles is fairly mild, pairing them with other foods is easy.  Summer truffles offer an economical way to boost almost any seasonal menu.

One of the easiest ways to incorporate summer truffles into existing recipes is to simply add them to your favorite salad.  Summer truffles pair well with all summer vegetables: baby greens of any type, asparagus, green beans, fava beans, corn artichoke, fennel, onions, leeks and more. For salad preparations, about one ounce of summer truffle per person is a good rule of thumb.  To intensify the truffle flavor, use a black truffle oil vinaigrette.  If you wish to have a one-dish-meal, top the truffle laced salad with a piece of grilled halibut, sole, salmon, or other fresh fish.

Summer black truffles can be added raw, at the last minute to soups, potato dishes, risotto, eggs, and pasta dishes.  Simply shave a generous portion of summer truffle on top of the dish or incorporate the truffles into the dish just before serving.  Just remember not to expect the same intense flavor as you would enjoy with winter black truffles or white truffles.

In terms of pairing summer truffles with meats and fish, there are endless choices.  Generally lighter meats and almost any fish or shellfish work well with summer truffles.  Choose meats such as veal, pork, or poultry, beef carpaccio, or use cured meats as an accent to a vegetable, potato, or pasta dish.  Recommended seafood selections include scallops, lobster, langoustines, or almost any type of fish such as halibut, cod, sole, snapper, skate wings, monkfish, or even salmon.

Pairing wine with truffles is simply a matter of personal taste.  Certainly any wine originated from a truffle producing area would be a good choice.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of summer truffles is the affordable price.  At a fraction of the cost of winter black truffles or white truffles, one can be generous with summer truffles, adding them to a wide variety of seasonal recipes with pleasing results.

Now, we attend the Fancy Food Show with a different agenda. Though I always [...]]]>

I’ve been attending the NASFT Fancy Food Show since I was a child. My great Uncle was in the candy business (we called it the candy show back then) and always got my family in for a day of total indulgence!  

Now, we attend the Fancy Food Show with a different agenda. Though I always enjoy checking out all the new products in every category, my focus is finding new products to offer our clients.

Many of the wonderful products shown at the Fancy Food Show don’t really fit our product line of luxury and French foods; however, there were a few worth considering.  

More Than Gourmet offers high quality stock and demi-glace that assists chefs and home cooks in making delicious sauces. Stocks are available in veal, venison, lamb, chicken, turkey, duck, seafood, vegetable and mushroom. Though I frequently make my own stock (even those that take 48 hours), there are times when it would be so convenient to be able to start my sauce with a high quality, ready-made stock that only needs to be reconstituted. From there, I can add my shallots, garlic, wine, or whatever, to make the final sauce.  We are waiting for samples, to make sure we like the taste and quality of the stocks and demi-glace, but we are hopeful about this product line!

One of the most innovative products we tasted at the show was a line of savory macaroons. The macaroons were in three flavors, goat cheese, black truffle, and porcini mushroom. These scrumpti0us morsels are not yet on the market, and we hope to be the first to carry them.  

Some additional products we might introduce to our line include escargot, marron glace (candied chestnuts), truffle honey, and French chocolate.  We’d love to hear from you if you have other ideas or requests!  

Somewhat surprisingly, there were no producers of top quality caviar at the show.  There were several “affordable” alternatives, but nothing that we thought measured up to the two brands we currently carry, Tsar Nicoulai Caviar and Black River Caviar.

There were more booths than I remember seeing in past years marketing fresh truffle mushrooms and truffle products.  Since white truffles are no longer in season, and black truffles are at the height of their season, there were several companies with a basket full of beautiful, fragrant black truffles from the Perigord in France.  There were also truffle producers from Oregon and other regions (Oregon truffles are not the same species as Perigord truffles).  Though North Carolina has a growing number of farms cultivated the Perigord variety of black truffles, there were no producers at the show from this region.  

There were only three or four producers featuring foie gras or foie gras products, most of which we already carry on our site.  Notably, Hudson Valley Foie Gras was at the show (they don’t usually exhibit at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, only in New York), serving up fresh seared foie gras, foie gras torchon, duck proscuitto and magret de canard.  They were clearly there to not only sample their wonderful products, but also to reach out to the food community regarding the pending legislation in California, banning the sale of foie gras in the state, beginning in July 2012.  

One of Hudson Valley Foie Gras’ founders, Izzy, was there collecting signatures from those who wanted to help keep Hudson Valley Foie Gras available in California.  Hudson Valley Foie Gras raises their ducks free range, and hand feeds the ducks when it’s time for gavage. The company believes they should be excluded from the ban, based on the measures they have taken to keep the birds healthy, comfortable and stress free.  

A general observation about the 2010 San Francisco Fancy Food Show was the large number of gluten free foods being offered.  I don’t remember ever seeing so many foods marketed as being gluten free, but this year they were everywhere!  As always, there were a host of olive oils, dressings, salsas, chocolate and candy and of course cheese.  

We thoroughly enjoyed the show as we always do, and hope to soon be featuring some of the newly found French food and luxury products on our website.