Holiday Shopping for Gourmets (or Gourmands) - ChefShop.com

I've mentioned ChefShop.com on the blog before, because they are a local Seattle business that I really believe in. Tim Mar is a stone cold killer when it comes to tracking down incredible food products. He maintains contact with dozens of small producers, and brings in shipping containers from Europe every year, packed with goodies you often can't find anywhere else. A shipment just arrived, so now is the time to get the coolest new stuff.

The two items above are both from the US. Katz vinegars from the Napa and Suisun valleys in California are terrific. This Late Harvest Zinfandel Vinegar is agrodolce (sweet and sour), with strong, specific fruit flavors. It isn't at all like a generic wine vinegar. The June Taylor Candied Seville Peel is from Berkeley. If you like marmalades, you will love this. Big chunky pieces of Seville orange-peel. They go amazing with Spanish cheeses like manchego, or in any holiday cake where you would use candied fruit.

ChefShop is a great place to buy holiday presents for the good cooks or good eaters on your list. You'll probably find something your friends haven't seen before, and everything they carry is top-notch. If you are in Seattle, drop by the store at 1415 Elliot Avenue West, or otherwise browse the online catalog. You can see some of my other favorite items in my pantry on the site. (This isn't a promotion, just an opportunity to share stuff I love).

Recipe: Farro with Collard Greens and Bacon Salt

Farro with Collard Greens and Bacon Salt

Yep, you heard me right. Bacon Salt. It has been all over the blogosphere lately, but I had no idea it was vegetarian until Keren brought some to give away to our last food blogger get together. I shouldn't have been surprised, as processed bacon bits are a soy product too. I generally don't cook with artificial flavors, but I took it as a challenge to use it at least once, and I have to admit I liked the results.

Greens are often cooked with pork in both the American south and in Italy as well. I had some beautiful pearled farro that I brought home from our Italy trip, so a plan came together for a simple and hearty one-pot meal.

If you haven't used farro before, I really recommend you try some. It is a very ancient whole grain, one of the staples of the Roman poor. I find the flavor somewhere between wheat and barley. It is a very nice change of pace from rice and couscous.

This recipe is vegetarian but not vegan because the bacon salt contains milk products of some sort.

Farro with Collard Greens and Bacon Salt
Serves 4

• 4 servings of farro (see below)
• 1/2 small can chickpeas, drained
• 3 big bunches of collard greens or other strong-flavored greens (not spinach)
• 1 white onion, diced
• 6 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 1 t. chili flakes
• 1 t. Bacon Salt (or regular salt and smoked paprika)

1. Cook 4 servings of farro according to package directions. (Actually you should probably make 6 servings because serving sizes are always too small, right!). There are a number of different types with different cooking times, so it is better if I don't give you specific details, but cook until it is tender but not falling apart. Drain, and stir in chickpeas.
2. Remove stems from greens, rinse thoroughly and chop coarsely
3. In a large soup pot, fry the onions in 2 T. of the oil. When slightly brown, add the chili flakes and garlic and fry for 20 more seconds.
4. Add the greens and a small splash of water if they aren't wet. Cover. After a minute or two, reduce heat to medium low. Stir occasionally until they are very thoroughly tender and wilted.
5. Remove from, drain excess water, and toss with the remaining olive oil and the Bacon Salt.
6. To serve, simply put the farro in a bowl or on a plate, top with the greens, and lightly toss. Pass more good olive oil, sea salt, bacon salt, and black pepper at the table.

Four. Thousand. Dollars. A. Pound.

Fresh White Truffles

Sarina spotted the news that DeLaurenti's market, a superb Italian specialty store in Seattle's Pike Place Market had received a shipment of white truffles. Oh, just one little thing. They cost $4000 dollars for a pound.

Now this isn't actually as gruesome as it seems. That works out to something like $8 / gram, and even 5-6 grams (the size of one of the truffles in the picture above) will flavor the heck out of enough pasta or eggs for 2-4 people. So for the the cost of only a middling restaurant meal, you could instead have something superb and rare at home. Maybe not so bad? Certainly one of the greatest vegetarian indulgences imaginable.

So we trekked down to DeLaurenti's, which Sarina calls "the happiest place on Earth". The folks at the counter were happy to help, allowing us to pick out our own truffles and watch them weigh them on a special little postal scale. While we were there we felt compelled to come back with housemade porcini butter (astounding), housemade fresh mozzarella, Calabro ricotta, Porcini Harvest Bread from Macrina, grilled artichokes, and a pound of fresh tagliatelle which they roll and cut to order. And some chanterelles from another store. Picture below. This is a family blog so let me just say: Oh heck yeah.

This is my first experience cooking with white truffles. I've had black ones a couple of times. There is a distinct difference in flavor. To me, the black truffles are more cleanly aromatic while the whites have a pungent characteristic a little bit like garlic. I actually think I might prefer the black truffles (and they are only like 1/5 the price), but the jury is still out.

Most of the reading I did suggested infusing black truffles into sauces, risottos and so on, while white truffles were to be reserved for grating or slicing on top of a finished dish. So that is what I tried first, the classic preparation of simply grating them on top of scrambled eggs with lots of butter. For whatever reason, this didn't do it for me. It was good, of course, but the aroma didn't send me reeling back with pleasure.

So tonight we used up most of the rest of them in a simple parmesan cream sauce for pasta. The recipe is below. The main trick is to infuse the truffle in the cream for 15-30 minutes so the flavor can fully develop. Good parmesan cheese seems to me to be one of the ultimate matches for truffles, enhancing the heady earthy flavors. The results this time were as astonishing as I'd hoped. Outrageous really.

Tagliatelle in White Truffle Cream Sauce
Serves 2 as dinner or 4 as a first course

• 1 lb. fresh tagliatelle
• at least 5 grams of fresh white truffle
• 1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 3 oz. parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

1. Set a large pot of salted water on to boil.
2. In a small skillet, heat the cream to a simmer and let it reduce for about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened, and then remove from the heat.
3. Stir in most of the parmesan cheese.
4. Grate the truffle into the sauce with your finest grater (i.e. a microplane). Don't waste a hair of it.
5. Cover the sauce and let rest off the heat for at least 15 minutes.
6. When you are ready to eat, drop in the pasta and set the sauce back over lowest possible simmer to reheat gently.
7. When the pasta is al dente, drain, portion into individual heated bowls, toss with the sauce, top with a bit more parmesan, a few grains of sea salt and a grind of pepper.
8. Experience rapture.

White Truffles, Roasted Artichokes, Porcini Butter, Fresh Mozarella, Fresh Tagliatelle, and Chanterelles