A nice way to incorporate truffle aroma into food is to infuse it well before cooking. A little experiment with quail eggs added a nice dimension to traditional truffled egg. Parmesan cheese also absorbs the aroma wonderfully.
The eggs were simply enclosed with a truffle for 24-48hours (some tissue for moisture absorbtion is still required).
Truffled eggs can be prepared in a number of ways, scrambled, poached etc. What I tried with the quail eggs was to get them partially set like a soft poached egg. Covering with double their height of cold water and bringing just to simmer point seemed to work well, rather than the usual bring to boil for a hardboiled quail egg. A spoon smaller than a teaspoon might be nice, but just taking the top off, pinch of salt and spoon or squeeze into the mouth. Not a restaurant dining technique, but the flavour was stupendous. It could be interesting to use a sous-vide (constant temp water bath) to achieve gelled eggs.
The parmesan was infused for 24 hours as thick slices, stacked in container to allow the aroma to reach all surfaces, lining the bottom of the container works well also.
It was grated, then stirred through at the completion of a mushroom rissotto, along with 30g of truffle (4 cups of rice) probably more truffle than required, but there are advantages to being the grower 🙂
The truffle was stirred through with the last of the stock to give it a little heat. Adding the asparagus and mushrooms before the final third of stock gives them enough time to cook without going too soft.
It turned out quite nicely, and was matched with a Tempranillo from Box Stallion, Mornington Penninsula.