Riverpark Kudos and Truffle Butter Celebrations

Dined at Riverpark last night.  This is one of Tom C's restaurants, a high-ceilinged, glass-walled beauty with polished yet friendly service.  No matter how captivating the food, with its magical pairings, intense flavors, and artful presentation, the East River was a riveting distraction.  Tugboats, cargo ships, police helicopters and swift currents led to discussion of an Italian Christmas Eve tradition:  Sleeping with - er, the Feast of - the Fishes.  

The short rib ravioli was to die for - intense and meaty.   Octopus yields to the tooth perfectly, enrobed in a tangy little sauce.  Juicy diver scallops are adorned with roasted hen of the woods.  Sturgeon - rarely seen on menus - are garnished with Jerusalem artichokes and middle eastern spices.  Two succulent, generously sized lamb chops; an amazing escabeche of mackerel; truffled potato gratin; and clean and simple chocolate tarte - make for a perfect meal. 

                     
We at Transatlantic Foods wish all of you a happy, warm, and delicious holiday.  Here are a few ideas for feasts in the making. 
   
Hot buttered rum : add a dollop of black truffle butter just before serving.
Cheese fondue: nothing like white truffle butter to turn fondue into a glamorous meal.
Canapés:  slather toast with truffle butter, then a thin slice of radish or prosciutto. 
Vegetables: melt a pat of truffle butter over roast squash, mash into parsnips and potatoes.
Gravy:  swirl black truffle butter into a pan sauce or gravy just before serving.
Hand roll: shred duck confit and tuck into wonton wrappers with julienned veggies.
Salad:  serve one drumette confit with a lemon-dressed salad.

for more recipes go to our recipe page.

Quick, Fast, Handy, Do-Ahead, Upscale, and Festive

And, oh, you can use all the stems and trimmings left over from your other recipes - even if blemished - so add economical to the list. 

Truffle Butter Flavored Mushroom Duxelles is an easy, do-ahead basic recipe.  Build great holiday recipes with this chef's secret.  Here are a few of ours, culled from our book, The Mushroom Lover’s Mushroom Cookbook and Primer (Workman 2000).

Available today at winewoot.com

 

Mushroom Duxelles

Cook down cultivated or wild mushrooms until dry.  Really dry.  Chop fine in food processor.  While hot, stir in 2 Tbs. Black or White Truffle Butter.  It looks almost like a tapenade of black olives or sundried tomatoes.

• Spread on canapés
• Toss with penne and a little cream
• Stuff into whole crimini and bake
• Tuck into pocket of flank steak or chicken breast
• Thicken chestnut velouté or other cream soup
• Build tamales and American spring rolls
• Make quick wonton wrapper ravioli
• Swirl into any sauce for meat, pasta, fish, poultry

Check into Winewoot.com today.  It sells one product a day and is featuring our Black and White Truffle Butters.  Jump into the recipe forum to add recipe ideas.  

How I Did All My Holiday Cooking in One Day

                       

Do you recognize yourself here?  If so, perhaps you, too, planted yourself in the kitchen last weekend in a frenzy of  Type A Holiday Prep.

Mine was a 12-hour circus of baking the buche de Noel, preserving the last of our infant carrots (I think they were supposed to grow full-sized. Whatever.), playing with empanada fillings,  and decorating Christmas cookies.  As day yielded to night, I mustered a last bit of energy - to tell the boys what to make for dinner.  What they served so hit the spot, that I'm already planning Act 2.

Whole Roast Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Black Truffle Butter

Use your fingers to gently place a few pats of Black Truffle Butter between the breast skin and meat, working as far back toward the legs as you can get without tearing the skin.  As the bird bronzes, toss in veggies - potatoes and carrots, parsnips and onion and garlic. Soak and strain dried porcini, tucking them into the rendered juices.  They will infuse the whole with earthy promise.   To make the sauce, deglaze with some strained mushroom soaking liquid, a dose of bold Bordeaux, and a finishing flourish of Black Truffle Butter.  

                      For more adventures with truffle butter, go to www.transatlanticfoods.com