Truffles and Quail Eggs

 

Once in awhile something appears in the market that just pleads to be purchased.  Last weekend that turned out to be fresh, black truffles.  They are rare in this area and they aren't cheap.  One smaller truffle made the journey from the case to my cart to the auto to the house.  A dozen quail eggs made the trip home with the truffle.

The first meal was simple.  There was a split, bone in chicken breast for dinner.  We made paper thin slices of truffle on a mandoline and tucked those slices between the skin and the meat of the breast.  There were also some small potatoes which were quartered and some carrots cut to a similar size.  The vegetables found their way to the microwave for a couple of minutes to par cook.  The breasts were quickly sauteed with duck fat in a skillet on both sides.  We removed the breasts and spread the vegetables in the skillet and then placed the breasts on top of the them.  The skillet then went into a medium hot oven for about twenty minutes to finish cooking.

The aroma that filled the house was pure heaven -- earthy, warm, indulgent, mouth watering.  That aroma was worth the price of the truffle.    Once the now crisp skin on the chicken was broken another blast of that aroma poured out.  The entire breast was scented with the truffle.  It's not often we pick up chicken bones and gnaw the tiny pieces of meat off them, but we made an exception here.  The potatoes and carrots had picked up the same aroma and taste and they were as good as vegetables get. 

Was there wine?  Of course there was wine, a 2005 Domaine Vincent Girardin Santenay Premier Cru Les Gravieres,  That pretty much translates to heaven in a glass.  Elegant, full flavored, silky, depth of finish, pure fruit, and that was just the first half of the bottle.  I transferred the second half to a 375 ml bottle and recorked it for the next day when we could combine the remaining truffle and the quail eggs.