Clean the truffles lightly with a small brush before you use them in your recipe.

Preserving Hard Shell Truffles
Truffle Butter
Truffle Salmon Quiche
Pheasant Raviolis with Truffles in Creamy Morel Sauce
Fettucine Gibbosum
Fried Chicken with Truffles & Mushrooms in Cream Sauce
Truffles & Wood Mushrooms "En Mirepoix"
Foie Gras, Truffles & Scampi Risotto
Fillet of Beef Wellington

Preserving Hard Shell Truffles: top

Preserving hard-shelled truffles (French, Chinese and Italian black)
Peeled or unpeeled black truffles (methods will differ) Butter, oil or pure good quality brandy, preferably alambic, 4–× volume per 1× of truffle To preserve whole black (hard shelled) truffles, scrub clean with a toothbrush dipped in brandy and dry thoroughly. Cover completely with butter or oil, and refrigerate or freeze. They may also be peeled, chopped coarsely and mixed with butter, and the resulting product will last longer under refrigeration. Another preservation method that can be used to greatest effect and economy with the peels alone, though it can also be used on the whole or halved product, is to cover completely with a good quality brandy, preferably alambic or armagnac, and refrigerate in a sealed jar. The intensely flavored brandy can be used in sauces or sprinkled as is on a dish for flavoring. It should be cooked only long enough to eliminate the alcohol (if that is desired) or flamed, though the peels themselves can be simmered into a sauce for up to an hour. Some early French chefs also cleaned and preserved black truffles in port wine or vinegar, but I believe brandy gives a better and more consistent result for preservation, though both port wine and good wine vinegar are very fine matches for the black truffle when it is simmered in a sauce.

Truffle Butter: top

4 ounces softened REAL butter
2 ounces White or Black truffles
2 shallots, minced
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp dried thyme
Blend all ingredients well, shape into a log, and freeze in aluminum foil.
Keeps for up to a year. Best flavor if used within 6 months

Truffle Salmon Quiche: top

8 oz. can Cooked salmon, drained and flaked
2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 t. chopped green onion
1 T. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
2 oz. truffles, grated
3 eggs
1 Cup whole milk (scant)
pinch nutmet
9 inch pastry shell (deep)
Combine cheese, onion, flour and salt. Spread half of mixture on the bottom of the pastry shell. Top with salmon. Spread the remainder of the cheese mixture on the salmon.

Put eggs, truffles, nutmeg and milk in a blender on low speed, or mix well by hand. Pour this liquid mixture over the ingredients in the pastry shell.
Bake 15 minutes at 450 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes or until well browned.
Serves 6.

Pheasant Raviolis with Truffles in Creamy Morel Sauce: top

Ravioles Dough:

1 c. unbleached flour
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 to 2 tbsp. water
Ravioles Filling:

2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 c. shallots, chopped
1/2 lb. ground pheasant breast meat
2 tbsp. chopped truffles (about 2 oz.)
1 tbsp. cognac
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Scant 1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. creme fraiche (recipe follows and it must be made in advance)
Morel Sauce:

6 oz. fresh morel mushrooms (or about 1 oz. dried morels)
1 c. unsalted butter, divided
1/4 c. truffle juice, reserved from canned truffles (or 3 tbls. truffle oil)
2 c. heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
12 thin slices truffle, fresh, canned or dried (re-hydrated)
Fresh watercress for garnish

Ravioles dough:
Put flour in the bowl of food processor which has steel blades. Add eggs, olive oil and one tablespoon of water at a time. Pulse on and off until dough comes together. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Ravioles filling: Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Saute shallots until soft. Add ground pheasant and cook until done, being careful not to brown meat. Add truffles, cognac, black pepper and cornstarch. Cook over low heat just until moisture has evaporated; chill. Just before using in ravioles, stir in creme fraiche.
Roll the pasta into sheets using a pasta machine or rolling pin, rolling as thinly as possible. Using a 3-inch cutter, cut dough into 24 rounds. In center of each of 12 rounds, spoon a tablespoon of filling. Using a brush dipped in water, moisten edges of dough. Place another round on top. Press down edges to seal.
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large kettle. Cook ravioles for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Quickly rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Clean morels and slice in 1/4 inch slices. Melt 1/4 cup butter in large heavy saucepan. Gently saute morels until limp. Add truffle juice (or truffle oil) and cream. Heat slowly for about 10 minutes. Gradually stir in remaining butter, a few pieces at a time until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place ravioles in sauce just long enough to heat through. Spoon sauce into bottom of four heated dishes. Add three ravioles each. Top with slice of truffle and garnish with fresh watercress sprigs.
Serves 4.

Fettucine Gibbosum: top

5 cups hot, cooked spinach fettuccine or homemade beet leaf pasta.

Sauce:
3 T melted butter
1 pint half and half (or cream)
3 egg yolks
1 T cornstarch "blended in"
1/2-1 tsp dried parlsey
salt, pepper, sugar to taste

Sprinkle over top: 6 medium sized Truffles, grated.
Serves 2-4.

Fried Chicken with Truffles & Mushrooms in Cream Sauce: top

Submitted by Daniel B. Wheeler and C. Robert Brittain

4.5 Lbs. Chicken
1 22 Oz. Jar Uncle Ben's Creamy Mushroom Sauce
1 Cup White wine
1/4 Cup (2 ounces sliced) White Truffles or Black Truffles.

Fry chicken in a skillet for 45 minutes or until brown. Drain fat.
Add 22 Oz. Jar Uncle Ben's Creamy Mushroom Sauce, 1/4 cup thin-sliced truffles, and 1 cup white wine. Simmer for additional 10-15 minutes to let sauce blend.
Makes 8-10 servings, depending upon appetite.

Truffles and Wood Mushrooms "En Mirepoix": top

Ingredients:
4 nice truffles of 40 gr each
1 stick of celery
1 carrot
1 small onion
100 gr of butter
5 cl of Champagne
20 gr of poultry sauce
250 gr of wood mushrooms
200 gr of puff pastry
1 egg yolk
1 twig of thyme

EQUIPMENT
salt and pepper mills
1 pan and its lid
4 small individual china soup tureens
1 frying pan
oven at 250°

METHOD
Dice the vegetables and cook them on low fire in a pan with 40 gr of butter and the thyme twig.
Add the truffles, the Champagne, the poultry sauce and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Put the truffles into the small individual tureens.
Remove the thyme twig and turn up the cooked juice-away from the fire- by adding 40 gr of pretty hard butter.
Rapidly brown in the frying pan the wood mushrooms with 20 gr of butter, salt and pepper and then distribute them into the soup tureens.
Cover each tureen with a thinly rolled pastry sheet, and brush it golden with the yolk. Put into the oven at 250° (mark 8/9) during 15 minutes in order to obtain a beautiful glazed and round crust.
Serve the whole as it is.

Foie Gras, Truffles & Scampi Risotto: top

INGREDIENTS

250 gr of rice
1/2 onion
1/2 smoked duck fillets
500 gr of poultry consommé
30 gr of foie gras purée
8 big scampi
60 gr of fresh truffle
160 gr of duck foie gras
25 cl of truffle juice
40 gr of butter

EQUIPMENT
2 coffee spoons of goose grease
2 non-adhesive saucepans
1 conical strainer
1 frying pan
1 small whisk

METHOD
Cut the 160 gr of foie gras into 16 big cubes.
Carve and dice the duck fillet. Mix the poultry consommé with the 30 gr of foie gras purée.
Separate the scampi heads and tails and cook the carcasses in a frying pan with 1 coffee spoon of goose grease. Add the consommé . Cook it for 5 min, and then pass the whole through the conical strainer.
Mince the onion and cook it in the frying pan with the rest of the goose grease.
Let it just get gold, add the diced smoked duck fillet and the 20 gr of truffle cut in small cubes. Let cook some seconds and then add the rice, mix it, pour the consommé into the frying pan, cover and cook 18 min.
In a non-adhesive saucepan, without any grease, cook during 30 seconds on each side the salted and peppered foie gras cubes, the scampi tails and the rest of truffle cut into small cubes.
Skim the fat off with kitchen paper and then deglaze with the truffle juice, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to take off all the juice.
Remove the foie gras and the scampi. Let reduce for a moment and then add 40 gr of butter. Wisk vigorously to give consistence to the sauce. Taste it and adjust the flavoring if necessary. Set the before hand warmed dishes with rice. Put on top alternatively and making a corolla the scampi, the foie gras cubes and the truffles. Wet with the butter sauce.

Fillet of Beef Wellington: top

FILLET OF BEEF WELLINGTON

3 1/2 pound fillet of beef tied with thin sheets of larding fat at room temp
3/4 pound mushrooms, chopped fine
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 pound pate de foie gras (available at specialty food shops) at room temp
1 pound puff paste or thawed frozen puff pastry plus additional for garnish
1 large egg white, beaten
an egg wash made by beating 1 large egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water
1/2 cup Sercial Madeira
2 teaspoons arrowroot dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons finely chopped black truffles
watercress for garnish if desired

In a roasting pan roast the beef in the middle of a preheated 400F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 120 Let the fillet cool completely and discard the larding fat and the strings. Skim the fat from the pan juices and reserve the pan juices. In a heavy skillet cook the mushrooms in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until all the liquid they give off is evaporated and the mixture is dry, season them with salt and pepper, and let them dry completely.
Spread the fillet evenly with the pate de foie gras, covering the top and sides, and spread the mushrooms evenly over the pate de foie gras. On a floured surface roll 1 pound of the puff paste into a rectangle about 20 by 12 inches, or large enough to enclose the fillet completely, invert the coated fillet onto the middle of the dough, and fold up the long sides of the dough to enclose the fillet, brushing the edges of the dough with some of the egg white to seal them. Fold the ends of the dough over the fillet and seal them with the remaining egg white. Transfer the fillet, seam side down, to a jelly roll pan or shallow roasting pan and brush the dough with some of the egg wash. Roll out the additional dough and cut out shapes with decorative cutters. Arrange the cutouts on the dough decoratively, brush them with the remaining egg wash, and chill the fillet for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. Bake the fillet in the middle of a preheated 400 F. oven for 30 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 F. and bake the fillet for 5 to 10 minutes more, or until a meat thermometer registers 130 F. for medium rare meat and the pastry is cooked through. Let the fillet stand for 15 minutes.
In a saucepan boil the reserved pan juices and the Madeira until the mixture is reduced by one fourth. Add the arrowroot mixture, the broth, the truffles, and salt and pepper to taste and cook the sauce over moderate heat, stirring, being careful not to let it boil, for 5 minutes, or until it is thickened.
Loosen the fillet from the pan, transfer it with 2 spatulas to a heated platter, and garnish it with the watercress. Serve the fillet, cut into 3/4 inch slices, with the sauce.
Serves 8.