It rolls like marbles.
- At August 25, 2009
- By Molly Chester
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Truffle honey and basil butter. Truffle honey and basil butter. Isn’t that a fantastic combination of words? I want to say them or weirdly, own them. They sound classy and creative. Come to think of it, they offer the same feel to a dinner party.
Last week, John and I entertained twice. We’re usually twice a month-ers. If that. But, John’s been traveling, which caused us to cram. The first one had the gall to fall on the premiere of Top Chef Season 6. My neighbor Danette and I get together for each highly anticipated episode: screaming our disgust or delight at the screen, picking our favorites and not-so favorites, celebrating each culinary masterpiece and absorbing the pain when our chefs are asked to “pack their knives and go.” I was miffed I was missing it. With a slight chip on my shoulder, I opened the door to Mike, John’s new work friend. But, Mike switched it up on me a bit. Because Mike… came with a gift. A real gift. Not the nearly obligatory, although always appreciated, bottle of wine, but a little black bag with white tissue sticking out like troll’s hair. I not only love me some gifts, but Mike brought us a shiny bottle of something I had never heard of… Truffle Honey. Truffle Honey. It rolls like marbles.
A couple of night’s later, my best college friend Leah arrived to LA from DC. Along with recommendations to so many great restaurants that Top Chef was a foggy memory, Mike had also mentioned that Truffle Honey sparkles when poured over a good hunk of Parmesan. I knew Leah would dig trying something new, so I picked up a delightfully perfect bunch of mini greenish-yellow grapes for all of 60 cents from the farmers’ market and made a simple appetizer of Truffle Honey poured over flaky Parmesan with the pretty grapes on the side and some homemade seed crackers that I had on hand, but store-bought would of course be delicious. Holy mother of all honeys. It’s decadent and delicious. Give it a try. I found a site for the brand Mike brought us here.
Also, I’m proud to report that our porch garden is doing quite well. The tomatoes are growing steadily, and my window box of basil plants has never before made it this far into the summer. I’m so proud of those fragrant little fellas. While at the market shopping for dinner with Leah, I picked up a crusty loaf of sourdough, and the window box inspired a simple basil butter. It was delicious, and well worth the 45 seconds it took to make it. Since I’m not one to hoard something so quick and tasty, I’ve got you covered below…
Click HERE for the Basil Butter recipe…
xo – Organic Spark
cy
What a wonderful site! Great writing, too!
I live in Oregon where we are blessed with truffles (both black and white), of which I harvest every Fall and Winter. Tonight, I made truffle honey – it was a flop. It was a waste of good honey and ripe white truffles. But, when I decided to make truffle butter, I used the same double boiler the honey was in, and recycled the strained truffles I used for the truffle honey. Wow! What a combo. I think I am on to something.
I have made tons of truffle butter with great success, but the sweetness of the honey has given the truffle butter a whole new dimension. I call it "Truffle and Honey Butter," of course.
Actually, that is how I found your blog. I did a search for "truffle honey butter" and your site was the first in the list.
I have bookmarked your blog and definitely will visit again.
Mike Vaughn
Sublimity, OR
Molly Chester
Hi Mike,
What a great story! Thanks for sharing your "truffle honey butter" journey! Sounds totally delicious!
I have wanted to visit your state for a while now (both Seattle & Portland have been on my list – hit Seattle, now it's time for Portland!) and now that I hear there are wild truffles – forget about it! How much fun to harvest every fall and winter. I bet they taste delicious.
Thanks for stopping by. Please do come back, and I look forward to hearing more of your foodie-stories.
My best,
Molly