Fresh Truffles: Always should be used the same day, or within 3 days of purchase. Preserved Truffles: have a long shelf life, but after opening consume within a week.

Cooking With Winter Black Truffles:
This famed truffle is the prize ingredient of chefs everywhere from five star restaurants to sophisticated kitchens. While you will find many connoisseurs have different opinions on the preparation of Winter Black truffles, there are some universally respected precepts:

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Winter Black Truffles are best if used when cooking a dish, as their aroma and flavor are long-lasting, and will seep into your preparation

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The French adore their Perigord Diamond when used in scrambled eggs and an omelet, as eggs easily assimilate the subtle earthy flavor of black truffles. This is also a very easy way of using black truffles, since it leaves almost no room for error. Plus, if you’re using preserved truffles, you can also use the truffle juice in the egg mixture, for even more of that yummy truffle flavor.

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Pasta, cuore! Indeed, shave, slice thinly, or grate over a hearty creamy pasta sauce, and prepare to reach heaven in one bite.

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Most tubers and vegetables with clean, fresh flavors contrast nicely with the intensely pungent essence of truffles, especially celery root, leeks.

Cooking With Winter White Truffles:

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Because they are so aromatic and pungent, but their aroma tends to fade relatively quickly, White Truffles (especially the winter variety) should NEVER be cooked.

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Keep it simple: clean, slice or shave over some cooked risotto or pasta and you’re done.

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They should never be mixed with any ingredient high in acidity, which would cause the flavor of the truffle to subside.

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Let the truffle work its magic, and always add towards the end of the recipe preparation.

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Want to be super ingenious (ok, so we stole this from Wolfgang Puck)? Top a deluxe cheese pizza!

Cooking With Summer Black Truffles:

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Since summer black truffles are the less expensive of the bunch, you can be more creative. Basically follow the instructions for winter black truffles, but feel free to experiment with different recipes and ingredients, always remembering the flavor will be much more subtle than the winter variety, so it won’t be as spectacular.

Cooking With Summer White Truffle:

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Use the same way you would use a winter white truffle, don’t expect the same pungent aroma. So in this case, you can choose to cook them and experiment more in other great recipes.

Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One (1) (Vol 1)

Ingredients

# One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon
# 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
# 3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
# 1 carrot, sliced
# 1 onion, sliced
# Salt and pepper
# 2 tablespoons flour
# 3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or  Burgundy)
# 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
# 1 tablespoon tomato paste
# 2 cloves mashed garlic
# 1/2 teaspoon thyme
# A crumbled bay leaf
# 18 to 24 white onions, small
# 3 1/2 tablespoons butter
# Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)
# 1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered

Cooking Directions

Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.

Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).

Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.

Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.

Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.

Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.

Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.

Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.

Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.

Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.

Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.

Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.

If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.

Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.

Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.

September 27, 2009
- I think just about every person could come up with their own 50 best.Subscribe to our RSS or an email and I will update you whenever we put a new a new dish in our World Recipe section.

photo credit: Didts

The dessert was named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova who visted both Australia and New Zealand in the 1920′s. A wonderful dessert made mostly during summer and a great accompaniment for Christmas lunch or dinner and outdoor Bar B Q’s.

INGREDIENTS

2 egg whites

1 1/2 cups of castor suger

4 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 teaspoon of cornflour

1 teaspoon of vinegar

Place all ingredients in a bowl and beat at high speed for 15 minutes or until stiff.

Using either either a pizza tray or other ovenproof round platter spread mixture evenly over platter making a slightly raised edge around the outside of the tray.

Bake at 200C for 10 minutes and then at 150C for a further 45 minutes.

Leave in oven to cool.

Fill with cream and your favourite fruit (my favourites are strawberries, kiwi fruit and passionfruit)

TIP: Rub the cut side of 1/2 a lemon round the inside of your mixing bowl before beating egg whites. Besides removing any grease, the acid encourages the whites to expand in volume.

photo credit: ricardo.martins

It certainly is a poor man or woman who cannot find a few eggs, a couple of potatoes and an onion in their cupboard!

The ever-practical Spaniard realized this and thus created their marvellous “tortilla” – an easy-to-make dish that could be savoured by rich and poor alike.

Not only cheap to make, the tortilla or Spanish omelette, is immensely adaptable: you can eat it hot or cold, depending on the weather and your mood; you can enjoy a small slice as a “tapa” (snack) in between meals; or, accompanied by a multi- coloured mixed salad and crusty, fresh Spanish bread, you have a marvellous main meal!

Should unexpected guests come knocking at your door … just whip out the ever-adaptable tortilla, pour them a glass of smooth, Spanish wine and they are bound to be delighted!

Unlike the better-known French omelette, which should be made quickly and over a high heat, the Spanish omelette needs to be cooked more gently, so that the middle is not too runny.

The French omelette is best eaten straight away and always hot. Its Spanish counterpart, on the other hand, improves if left to rest for at least five minutes before eating, keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge, and can easily be re-heated in the microwave, unless you prefer it cold.

As with the French omelette, the Spanish tortilla is made in a frying pan (preferably non-stick) but, unlike the French version, both sides need to be browned. For this reason, it is possible to buy special tortilla frying pans – a sort of double pan which allows you to swish the omelette over to cook the other side!

Most people prefer the traditional method of placing a plate on top of the pan, turning the tortilla out and then returning to the pan to cook the underside. But the simplest method is to place the frying pan under the grill to brown.

Whichever way you choose to prepare it, once cooked, leave it to cool a little, cover with a large plate, then gently ease out the omelette. It should be circular, about an inch-and-a-half thick, and it is usual to cut it in slices or wedges.

Having said that, you can divide it into small cubes, pop cocktail sticks on top, and serve along with other “bits and pieces” as an aperitif.

Spanish recipes for tortilla vary from region to region – also what you have in the fridge and what you fancy! You can replace the potato with, say, spinach, leave out the onion, add a bit more garlic, etc, etc. Just use your imagination!

Below is a recipe for traditional potato-and-onion tortilla.

Tortilla or Spanish Omelette

Ingredients:

Olive oil. 1 large onion, chopped. 1 clove garlic, crushed with 1 teaspoon salt. 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced. Black pepper. 6 eggs, beaten.

Method:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan.

2. Add onion, garlic/salt, pepper and potatoes.

3. Gently fry until golden-brown and potatoes slightly softened.

4. Tip potato-and-onion mixture into bowl containing beaten eggs.

5. Stir and transfer to large frying pan containing clean oil.

6. Cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes.

7. Transfer pan to preheated hot grill until top is browned.

8. Carefully tip onto plate and slice as you would a cake.

Steamed Fish With Five Tastes

Ingredients:

500g Fillet of any kind of fresh water fish

10g Saffron

10g Ginger

5g    Salt

2      teaspoons of soya oil

2      teaspoons of olive oil

Black pepper to taste

Pinch of Dill

1      teaspoon of lemon juice

Slice fish into bite size pieces.

Combine saffron,grated ginger, salt, pepper and dill with oil.

Marinate fish pieces in combined ingredients for at least 1 hour.

Place marinated fish pieces in steamer  and cook until tender.

Drizzle lemon juice over fish pieces and serve with salad

Hanoi in Vietnam held many special charms and non more so than a one on one cooking school with their top chef Miss Anh. Miss Anh is known as a master chef and displayed on the walls of her restaurant/cooking school are many awards garnered both within Vietnam and internationally for her wonderful Vietnamese cuisine.

The first part of the cooking school was a visit to the local market to buy all of the ingredients and produce that was going to be used for our meal.

I hope you enjoy the video and can imagine the many aromas that the colourful markets conjour up. If you have been to a cooking school or would love to go please leave a comment below.

WARNING: Don’t watch this whilst hungry!