Truffled Cod with Garlic-Veal Glace

from "Kitchen of Light" by Andreas Viestad

Cooking with truffles demands a foil that is not too dominant or you will lose the wonderful complexity or aromas that you have paid so much for. Cod, with its subtle taste and its appeal from texture as much as from flavor, is just as suitable as the more common omelet or pasta.

If you cannot get fresh truffles, or if you do not want to splurge on the real thing, a splash of truffle oil will do.

We featured this dish on the New Scandinavian Cooking show from Lofoten, an archipelago in northern Norway that is the center of the Norwegian cod fisheries.

Serves 4

Four 1/2-pound cod fillets, skin on
1 1/2 cups veal stock or 1 cup chicken stock plus 1/2 cup beef stock*
8 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon truffle oil
1/2 ounce fresh black truffle

Soak the fish in ice water for 15 to 20 minutes, or place it in a colander in the sink under cold running water for 15 to 20 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels.

In a small saucepan, bring the veal stock to a boil. Add the garlic and bay leaf and simmer gently until the garlic is soft and the veal stock is reduced to 1/3 cup, 15 to 20 minutes. Makes sure the pot does not boil dry. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Place the flour in a large dish and season with salt and pepper. Dredge the fish fillets in the flour. In a large nonstick skillet with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over high heat. Add the fish, skin side up, and cook for 1 minute, then turn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 6 minutes, or until the fish flakes nicely with a fork. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the truffle oil to the veal stock and heat over very low heat until the butter has melted; do not let boil. Add the reserved garlic.
Finely shave the truffle and scatter the shavings over the cod and into the cracks between the flakes of fish. Place the cod on warm plates. Drizzle with the garlic-veal glace and serve.

A Truffling Experience

Black Truffle Mac and Cheese

1 Tbsp. EVO1 small shallot, brunoise
6 cloves of roasted garlic
3 oz of black truffles, sliced with truffle shaver
one quart of heavy mfg. cream
one cup of cognac, reduced to demi sec
2 tsp. fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 tsp. fresh thyme stems removed
1 Tbsp. sherry
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. white pepper
8 oz. Fontina, finely grated
6 oz Parmiggiano reggiano, finely grated
2 tsp. chipotle Tabasco
2 cups seasoned sourdough croutons, run thru food processor to turn into crumbs
1 lb Fresh pasta noodles (rigatoni or other noodle that will hold sauce), cooked in salt water to al dente

Method:
Heat oil on stove top in stock pot and then add shallots and garlic and heavily sweat until aromatic. Deglaze with sherry and then add fresh herbs, truffles and cream and reduced cognac. Cook over low heat until reduced by half and truffle flavor is infused. Season and add parmesan and Tabasco. To this hot mixture add the cooked and drained noodles and the fontina and mix cheeses are melted. Taste noodles for seasoning and adjust as needed., Set aside.

Other ingredients:
8 oz unsalted butter
3 oz sliced black truffles

Assembly:
Take small 4 -6 oz. baking dish and butter the bottom and sides. Set one slice of truffle on bottom of each dish. Then add noodles and sauce to the dish and top with the crumbled croutons, finely grated truffles and a pinch of the finely grated parmesan and back in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and toasted on the top.


Peppered Filet Mignon with Truffled Mirepoix

EVO for pan
8 oz Angus Filet Mignon, seasoned on all sides with kosher salt and black pepper
2 oz black truffles
2 carrots, peeled and small dice
2 celery stalks, small dice
1/2 Maui onion, small dice
1/2 shallot, brunoise
2 tsp. fresh thyme stems removed
1/2 cup sherry
2 cups veal demi glace
1/2 cup mushroom stock

Method:
Heat evo in sauté pan and then add mirepoix and heavily caramelize. Then deglaze with sherry. Add truffles, demi glace and mushroom stock and reduce., Pan sear filets in EVO on high heat to just under medium rare and set aside to rest until they come to medium rare and slice. Place 3 strips of filet on plate and then add solid tablespoon of truffled mirepoix over the filet.


Collard Greens and Radicchio
with meyer lemon and mushroom stock

1 Tbsp. EVO
1/2 bunch Collard greens, cut into small strips
1 whole Radicchio, cut into small strips
juice of one Meyer lemon
one cup Mushroom stock
4 cloves garlic, sliced cisseler
Kosher salt and black pepper

Method:
Heat oil in pan, add garlic and then add greens, lemon juice stock and seasoning. Cook until greens are heated through and season. Plate with other items.