Allons, Enfants!

Omelette aux truffes, salade verte, fromage de chèvre, tarte au citron.

Well, it was 14th July, so it seemed appropriate. The omelette recipe was a minor variant on the one handed out by the truffle sellers; the salad simple mixed leaves with an olive oil and lemon dressing. We followed it with a small cheese course of Hobbit Farm ashed chèvre with oatcakes and quince paste. Dessert was a lemon tart from the Jamison sourdough bakery - it was pretty good, a crisp sweet shortcrust and a fluffy mousse filling. I think this is a very honorable meal to restart the cooking with.

Yes, I used the stove! The tiles behind it are dry; there's not much left to do except painting. Since I won't be cooking much with drop sheets and paint fumes everywhere, this is an interlude. But normal service isn't far off now.

Recipe: Omelette aux Truffes
6 free-range truffle infused eggs
15g truffle
2 tablespoons butter
2 tsp cognac
75ml sherry
a pinch of salt
Shave the truffle and chop finely.

Put one tablespoon of butter, the truffle, the cognac and sherry in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer then cover and let reduce slowly until just a tablespoon of liquid remains.

Beat the eggs well with the salt.

Heat up the other tablespoon of butter in a frypan until sizzling. Pour in eggs and stir a little, lifting the edges to allow uncooked egg to run down.

Mix in the truffles while egg is still quite liquid so it can spread evenly.

Fold over while centre is still moist, and serve immediately.


Notes: the original recipe has more truffles, but this was plenty. The sherry was a very nice Hanwood Amontillado style, and the cognac Remy Martin - this is no time to use the cheap stuff. And the eggs were from Fi's chooks, which is why they're such a stunning rich yellow.

I don't think $50 omelettes are going to be regular fare around here, but it was very good. And I still have some truffle-infused eggs and rice, and another 5g of truffle. I plan to use the truffle in a pasta tomorrow.