This dish works best with sweet, fresh tomatoes, such as sungolds or sweet 100’s.

Ingredients
2 cups tiny sweet tomatoes, stems removed
1 small handful of fresh basil leaves (plus more for garnish)
2 T olive oil
Sea salt and coarsely-ground pepper, to taste

You will also need:
Medium Baking dish
Paring knife

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the tomatoes into the baking dish, creating only one layer of tomatoes. Roll up the basil leaves and then cut into thin ribbons. Sprinkle on top of the tomatoes. Pour the olive oil over the tomatoes and basil and mix gently to coat each tomato. Sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the tomatoes are nicely browned on top. Remove from the oven and serve while still warm. Garnish with a sprig of basil, if desired.

Note that you can also add some chopped sweet onion or a little bit of garlic to this recipe before cooking, if desired.

Serves 2-3 people as a side dish.  Great served as a main or side dish, too, over pasta.

Ingredients
2 cups arugula (organic, if possible), washed and dried
2 fresh pears, peeled, cored and sliced into 8 pieces each
1/3 lb. prosciutto or serrano ham, thinly sliced
2 T sweet onion, finely chopped
3 T olive oil
1 T vinegar (champagne, chardonnay or red-wine preferred)
Coarse sea salt (such as fleur de sel) and freshly-ground pepper, to taste

You will also need:
Glass for mixing salad dressing
Spoon
Chopping knife
Nice platter for serving

Instructions
Put the arugula onto a serving platter.

Wrap each piece of pear with a thin piece of prosciutto or ham. Place each one on top of the arugula. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the onions.

In the glass, mix together the remaining onions, olive oil and vinegar. Add a generous sprinkling of the sea salt and the pepper. Stir until it comes to a nice smooth consistency. Drizze the oil mixture over the prosciutto and pears.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

This is a simple salad but you will find yourself serving it often – with chicken, fish, sandwiches or maybe just by itself. Add some crostini with goat cheese for a nice treat!

Ingredients
2-3 cups arugula leaves (organic, if possible), washed and dried
1 cup fresh, local tomatoes (the tiny sungolds are my favorites but any sweet, fresh tomato will be fine), coarsely chopped
2 T finely chopped sweet onion
3 T olive oil
1 T vinegar (champagne, chardonnay or red-wine vinegar will work fine)
1 t dijon mustard
coarse sea salt (such as fleur de sel) and pepper, to taste

You will also need:
Medium mixing bowl or salad bowl
Glass for mixing salad dressing
Salad tongs

Instructions
Place the arugula and the tomatoes into the bowl.

In the glass, mix together the onion, olive oil, vinegar and mustard. Add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Mix well until you have a nice consistency. Pour over the salad and serve immediately.

Serves 2-3.

The truffle was referred to by French gastronome, Brillat-Savarin, as “the diamond of the kitchen”.  It is hard to find, coveted, very expensive and totally unique in flavor.

A truffle is an edible fungi of the Tuber family, and it grows underground. typically near the base of an oak tree.

Truffles are normally black (although there are some light-colored truffles that are called “white” truffles, as well), roughly round in shape and have a musky, mushroomy, damp forest aroma. In the mouth, a thin slice of truffle feels crunchy and soft at the same time and has a wonderful, unique, earthy flavor.

In the past, pigs were used to find these truffles. However, the pigs had a real liking for the truffle and wanted to eat it themselves. (Ever tried to take a truffle away from a pig? I can’t imagine that it would be a fun experience.) Nowadays, dogs are primarily used to find truffles. A dog has to be trained, sometimes for years, to detect the scent of a truffle in the soil and to dig in that particular location.

There are several varieties of truffles out there. Our favorite is the Black Perigord truffle (tuber melanosporum) found in Provence between mid-November and mid-February.

Black Perigord Truffle (tuber melanosporum)
To me, this is the king of the truffle. This truffle is very dark in color and extremely fragrant. It is found primarily in the Provence region of France and is harvested between mid-November and mid-February.

Brumale Truffle (tuber brumale)
This truffle is normally harvested on some of the same sites as the melanosporum truffle, but is quite inferior to the melanosporum in flavor. It is lighter in color and in fragrance than the melanosporum and is heavily marbled with white inside. It is also harvested between mid-November and mid-February in Provence and the surrounding areas.

Black Summer Truffle (tuber aestivum)
This truffle is much lighter in flavor than the melanosporum, as well, and is normally harvested in France between May and September.

White Alba Truffle (tuber magnatum pico)
This truffle is found in the Piedmont Region of Italy and is normally harvested between September and December. The truffle is very light in color (beige to light brown), but the fragrance and the flavor are exquisite!

Truffles in the U.S.?
Truffles are now being cultivated in the U.S. We are planning to do some research this year on the truffles being grown in Oregon and in Washington State.

Also, there are truffles on the marketplace that come from China. They typically don’t have nearly the flavor (or the cost – unless someone is trying to pass them off as a better variety) of the Black Perigord or the Alba or the other truffles listed above.The truffles coming from Australia and New Zealand now are supposed to be very good (and they hit the U.S. market in the summertime).

See for yourself :
If you want to find out more first-hand about truffles, how they are harvested, how they are sold and how they are used, join us for one of our Truffle Getaways to Provence in the Winter.