It’s that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about the holidays. I’m talking about TRUFFLES! These little ugly, yet delicious nuggets can make any dish wonderful. If you’ve never had the opportunity to try a fresh truffle, I urge you to drop whatever you’re doing and go try one RIGHT NOW! I love all things truffle. So much so that I named my pup after it.

My adorable mini dachshund, Truffles! <3

Recently on a day trip to Napa, Calvin and I made a pit stop at Dean & Deluca in St. Helena. There I saw that they had both white and black truffles from France.

Did you notice the price? $800/lb (or $50/oz) for the black truffles and $4,000/lb (or $250/oz) for the white truffle. (!!!~!!!!!) Needless to say, Truffles are somewhat of a big spend in the world of food. It isn’t something I’d normally buy. In fact, I’ve only purchased a truffle once and that was to celebrate the day that my awesome pup Truffles arrived from the breeder. But when I was shopping at Whole Foods, I couldn’t help myself when I saw them nicely packaged in the produce section.

Only $24.99 for all 3!

So I turned a regular weekday dinner into a decadent, rich event! I made cheesy truffle garlic bread out of Acme sweet batard that I cut in half, taking room temperature butter, minced garlic, italian herbs, grated parano and domestic parmesean cheeses – smear on both sides of the bread, put back together and wrap in tin foil and place in a pre-heated oven at 450 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes in the foil, then take the bread out of the oven, remove the foil and separate the halves and put back in the oven, face up, for another 15 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown and bubble. Remove from oven and place the bread cheesy side down on parchment paper. Cut with bread knife. Cutting it face down will help to ensure that you don’t rip off the cheesy topping.

For the main course, I sauteed golden chanterelles and button mushrooms in a little butter and olive oil on med-high heat to cook away most of their moisture. Threw in frozen peas and sauteed for 5 minutes. I tossed these with a porcini cream sauce made by a pasta company that Whole Foods carries, (though I can’t remember the name of the company), and chopped prosciutto that I crisped in a skillet earlier while the mushrooms were cooking. Grated black truffle over it all and voila! A hearty, robust, decadent meal to spice up the work week!