SCRAMBLED EGGS

Inspired by a recent movie about a famous television cook, my friends decided to have a duck party, and of course they scheduled it for the one day on which my social calendar had something on it. Go figure.

I wasn't totally left out of the festivities, however. One of the dishes planned was some kind of canard-en-croute thing requiring a de-boned bird stuffed with a veal/pork/truffle mixture. Here's where I came in. Not only do I own the only trussing needle in town, I was also the one person around here who was practiced in the art of pulling the skeletons out of various beasts (specifically poultry, but I also do fish) and leaving the rest (flesh and skin) in more or less one piece.

In exchange for my assistance in prepping the ducks, I got to take home two whole black truffles, allegedly from France, which came out of a tin procured by one of the cooks. They were surprisingly not-too-aromatic for truffles. I was expecting the house to be filled with truffle perfumes the second we cracked the tube, but that didn't happen. In fact it took a full-on nose-in-the-can to catch the faintest whiff of something earthy and good. Maybe that's just the way of conserved black truffles—and this to me seems rather low on the value scale, considering how much a tin of the stuff costs.

Whiny, ungrateful complaints aside, I had two nice-sized truffles, and the only thing I could think to do was scrambled eggs.

With a mandoline you can get about a million slices off of a ping-pong ball-sized truffle, so I had plenty from which to select a fistful to use as a garnish. The rest (two million slices, minus a fistful) got chopped up and tossed into a mix containing five organic, free-range eggs (so I splurged—if I won't do this for truffles, when else might I be encouraged to pay $2 more for a dozen eggs?), some cream, several small chunks of butter, salt, pepper. Mixed well with a fork…

…(reverie/personal reflection) I'm almost 100% certain that scrambled eggs was the first thing I ever cooked… two eggs and Mom had me add a dollop (no measuring needed) of milk, salt, and pepper, and I whipped it into a froth with a fork while tilting the bowl…(daydream over)

Scrambling eggs is very basic and rather forgiving, but still you need to be mindful of the little things. How much butter and cream will the eggs absorb? Heat is lower than for an omelette, and once introduced to the pan the eggs move around the whole time. The result must be dense and moist, completely cooked yet not browning in the least.

The truffles were actually noticeable in this dish, maybe because the gentle heat brought out the aromatics. Or maybe it's just that I used a stupid amount of the stuff for a dish serving two people.

Nettles-ortiche

Nettles (NOT to be confused with poison ivy!) are usually associated with nasty itching, but not only are they commestible, they have medicinal properties as well (cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinging_nettle). It so happens I treat my annual hay fever with nettle tea, which means during the month of April tons of nettles get boiled up. Pity to waste a tasty green, therefore I've dusted off some old fashioned recipes and adapted others to use the nettles. Since nettles grow all over the place, next time you see some just pick a generous handful (preferably with a plastic bag or gloves, or else grasp bottom, avoiding leaves).
All of the recipes below are made with pre-boiled nettles. If using fresh ones, clean & cook them like spinach (for those who don't make fresh spinach, this means remove stems & dunk in boiling water for 2 min). Actually, nettles may be substituted for spinach in many recipes! In Italy pasta fillings calling for spinach are made also with nettles (ex: cannelloni, tortellini, ravioli....)
Nearly all the recipes call for them to be sauted in garlic & olive oil or butter. Or just add them to soup!

Nettle cream sauce
Great on pasta! Sauté nettles with garlic & a few chili peppers. Add heavy cream. Serve on pasta of any kind (very nice on ham tortellini) with parmesan cheese.

Frittata di ortiche (Nettle omelet)
Sauté with onions or garlic. Whisk 5 eggs with some milk & parmesan cheese. Pour over nettles, wait until mixture firms a bit then turn down heat and cover. Cook until center is firm & edges golden. Place a plate over pan, flip omlet onto plate, then slide back into pan to cook other side. Serve hot or cold.

Risotto di ortiche (Nettle risotto)
Boil down nettles, remove from water, set aside to cool. Either melt a boullion cube in the left over water or add stock.
Sauté onions in oil or butter. Add nettles when onions turn transparent. Stir well.
Add arborio rice, stirring until transparent.
Add a glass of white wine, lower heat.
As wine evaporates, slowly add stock 6 nettle water mixture, stirring constantly until rice is al dente.
Serve hot with parmesan.