The extravagant treat of truffles can be made into numerous dessertsJohn Morstad/The Globe and Mail
Start by placing the truffle in a jar with a dozen eggs; refrigerate for two days. The pungent odour of the truffle will penetrate the shells of the eggs, and they will eventually taste and smell like it.
For the first recipe, use six of the eggs to make truffle ice cream (recipe below). Next, use the other six to make brouillade d'oeufs à la truffe (truffle scrambled eggs). Garnish with a few truffle slices.
Now put your truffle in a jar again, this time with the semi-fine vialone nano rice. Refrigerate for another two days. This will allow you to make a delicious risotto. Once again, add a couple of slices of truffle on top.
With the rest of the truffle, you can make this recipe that I learned 20 years ago in Dijon, France. Place the truffle in the middle of uncooked bread dough, then bake the bread as you regularly would. Eat the bread with beurre fermier (farm-fresh butter) and salt to fully enjoy the unique taste.
See, four simple dishes with the diamond of the kitchen!
Servings: 8
Truffle Ice Cream
16 truffled egg yolks
175 grams sugar
1 litre whole milk
Caramel
300 grams sugar
200 grams glucose syrup
25 grams butter, cubed
Method
TRUFFLE ICE CREAM
Whisk egg yolks and slowly incorporate sugar. Meanwhile, bring the milk to a boil in a medium-size pot. Slowly pour the milk into the yolks while whisking constantly (be careful not to curdle the egg).
Pour this mixture back into the pot and slowly heat to just below the boiling point while stirring with a rubber spatula. Immediately strain through a fine sieve and cool over ice bath. Refrigerate for at least three or four hours and then transfer to an ice cream maker.
CARAMEL
Cook the sugar and glucose together (with a little water) until mixture is a dark golden brown. Whisk in butter until fully incorporated.
When the caramel is completely cooled, pulverize in a food processor until reduced to powder.
On a Silpat baking mat, with the guide of a stencil, make a small circle of powder slightly larger than the circumference of an egg. Spread to make a thin layer. Repeat until you have used up the powder. Place the mat in a 350 F oven until caramel has melted and is translucent. Cool and remove the discs from the mat and store in a dry, airtight container.
Take a cleaned-out hollow egg shell and fill two-thirds with the truffle ice cream. Place the caramel disc on a Silpat mat and put it back in the oven for a minute or so to soften. Gently transfer the caramel discs to the tops of the eggs and torch lightly until the discs wrap around the shells.
Normand Laprise is co-owner and head chef of Toqué! in Montreal