Truffle dinner

Going to New Orleans definitely inspired my culinary creativity. Having a great Italian grocery close to us now has helped fuel that as well. Sunday night I set out to make a southern, Italian, French-influenced dinner.

I made:

• Thick cut double pork chops in a truffled Montepulciano d'Abbruzo-shallot reduction
• Truffled shallot-parmigano-reggiano risotto
• Wilted and sautéed turnip, mustard, and collard greens with garlic, Barilla academia prosciutto crudo and finished with black truffle oil
• Sauvignon Blanc-poached anjou pears filled with bleu cheese and broiled

Everything came together nicely and wasn't actually over the top truffles.

For the pork chops, I coated in Magic salt seasoned-flour, pan fried in truffle butter and a little olive oil and to brown and finished in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. For the sauce, I removed the pork and added one finely diced shallot to the pan, put back on medium-high flame and sauteed. I added about a tablespoon of truffle butter and a cup of the wine and wisked until reduced by about a third.

For the risotto, I made a cup of risotto with one cup of sauvignon blanc and four and half cups of chicken stock. I started with cooking one finely diced shallot in truffle butter and olive oil. I then added in the risotto and stirred constantly until all the liquid in the pan was absorbed and the risotto started to turn a little chalky. I then added a cup of wine and stirred until it was absorbed and then started adding the stock a ladel full at a time until the risotto was appropriately cooked. You should start tasting it after three cups have been absorbed to make sure it isn't overdone. At the end, I added about a half cup of grated parmigiano-reggiano and stirred. When I plated, I drizzled a little truffle oil over the risotto and served with more grated cheese. I used, and like using, a heavier gauge pan like Le Creuset for making risotto so it doesn't burn as easily while you're running around working on other dishes.

For the greens, I triple washed them since they can collect sand, especially the turnip greens. I then blanched them for about three minutes in salted boiling water. I drained them and immediately ran cold water over them to stop the cooking. I then melted a little truffle butter with olive oil in a nonstick pan and sautéed about a teaspoon of minced garlic and two diced slices of prosciutto crudo. I then added the greens back in, tossed and cooked down until the mixture was incorporated and there wasn't any liquid from the greens in the pan. It helps if you squeeze the water out of the greens once they've cooled before sautéeing them. Again, I finished with a little truffle oil on top.

Finally, I peeled the anjou pear and cut in quarters. I took out of core, stem and made a small indentation in each. I then poached them until cooked through in a cup of sauvignon blanc. When they were done, I filled the indentation with the bleu cheese and put under the boiler until golden. This doesn't take too long.

This meal was my adaptation of a meal I had at Peristyle in New Orleans (see previous post). I don't think the plating looked nearly as nice (sorry, no picture), but I think the addition of the truffles helped add another nice flavor component. I highly recommend going to Peristyle when in the Big Easy.