OUR OWN TRUFFLES!

What a surprise when I walked into the kitchen this morning to see Xavier with a PILE of fresh truffles.  It could be only one thing.  Cedric and his team came early today to work in the yard and after the espresso that Xavier fixed for everyone, they thought they would give the yard a quick 'look see' for truffles.  They didn't have the dog but, lo and behold, they found a mother lode under one tree.  From now on, I think we should call him 'the giving tree'! He sits there so innocently at the back door but is quietly working away to give us precious truffles. 

So this early bird, who is always up by 6, did not get the worm this morning.  Can't believe I missed the photo op.....haven't slept in until 8AM for months and look what happened!....You would think the X after being with me so much would have grabbed the camera on the kitchen table to capture the moment!  Oh well,  here they are with the morning harvest of squash blossoms.  Lunch today????  Of course, a truffle omelet and squash blossom beignets....Can't wait!

No way these are for sale but in the market, these summer truffles would fetch close to $300....

 To see the making of the truffle omelet, click here

P.S. I have just read this to X and he corrected the fact that in my original post, I made the tree feminine.  Of course, I know that in French it is masculine but, for me, this tree that is so giving just has to be feminine.  I called her a she.  Anyway, when you see it written in French, both the masculine and feminine are 'l'arbre' because arbre begins with a vowel and needs the link.  THIS LANGUAGE!!!

Summer Truffles

The truffles speak for themselves....outstanding.... such great specimens. We will pack some in oil and freeze them but, of course, we are also enjoying many of them fresh.

But you need to know about lunch at Chez Xavier. It began with a Cavaillon Melon soup. He took 2 melons and scooped them with a melon baller. The melon left behind was trimmed out and then pureed in the blender with a bit of Chartrueuse, fresh basil, lime juice, salt and pepper....the puree was then poured over the melon and served very cold. It was so good on this very hot day that I slurped mine down before ever thinking of taking a photo.


Then came the omelet full of truffles accompanied by the sauteed eggplant. And the eggplant deserves some explanation because his method works so much better than the way I have sauteed eggplant for years. First, he sliced it thick (1/2-3/4-inch) and placed it in the steamer....you know my favorite one that you can get at Target. He steamed it for 20 minutes of so.....not completely done but almost. He then removed it from the steamer and dipped it in seasoned flour, the beaten egg, then polenta. The reason I think this is so worth noting is because when the eggplant has been steamed, it does not suck up the fat when you are pan frying it. It was sooooo crispy and good. We had a few cheeses to follow. And, finally finished with an apricot rhubarb tart!

I guess you can figure that my afternoon was shot.....I was good just for lounging in the pool