Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 5 of 7 ingredients — the other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 5 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Lobster | 100g cooked | 98 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Truffle | not in our table | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- six ounces of ready-pared sound french truffles
- a pound of sweet fresh butter
- a small saltspoonful of salt
- two fresh hen lobsters
- mace
- cayenne
- salt
- nutmeg
Directions
Pound to the smoothest possible paste the coral of one or two fresh hen lobsters, mix with it about an equal proportion of fresh firm butter, and a moderate seasoning of mace and cayenne, with a little salt if needed. Let the whole be thoroughly blended, and set it aside in a cool larder, or place it over ice until it is sufficiently firm to be made into pats. Serve it garnished with curled parsley, or with any light foliage which will contrast well with its brilliant colour. The coral may be rubbed through a fine sieve before it is put into the mortar, and will then require but little pounding.
An excellent preparation is produced by mingling equal proportions of lobster and of anchovy butter in the mortar, or one-third of the anchovy with two of lobster: to this some of the white flesh of the latter can be added to give another variety, after it has been prepared by the receipt for _boudirettes_, Chapter III.
TRUFFLED BUTTER (AND TRUFFLES POTTED IN BUTTER.)
(_For the breakfast or luncheon table._)
Cut up a pound of sweet fresh butter, and dissolve it gently over a clear fire; take off the scum which will gather thickly upon it, and when it has simmered for three or four minutes, draw it from the fire, and let it stand until all the buttermilk has subsided; pour it softly from this upon six ounces of ready-pared sound French truffles, cut into small, but rather thick, slices, and laid into a delicately clean enamelled saucepan; add a full seasoning of freshly pounded mace and fine cayenne, a small saltspoonful of salt, and half a not large nutmeg. When the butter has become quite cold, proceed to heat the truffles slowly, shaking the saucepan often briskly round, and stew them as gently as possible for twenty minutes, or longer should they not then be very tender. If allowed to heat, and to boil quickly, they will become _hard_, and the preparation, as regards the _truffles_, will be a comparative failure. Lift them with a spoon into quite dry earthen or china pans, and pour the butter on them; or add to them sufficient of it only to cover them well and to exclude the air, and pot the remainder of the butter apart: it will be finely flavoured, and may be eaten by delicate persons to whom the truffle itself would be injurious. It may also be used in compounding savoury sauces, and for moistening small _croustades_ before they are fried or baked. The truffles themselves will remain good for months when thus prepared, if kept free from damp; and in flavour they will be found excellent. The parings taken from them will also impart a very agreeable savour to the butter, and will serve extremely well for it for immediate use. They will also be valuable as additions to gravies or to soups.
We should observe, that the juice which will have exuded from the truffles in the stewing will cause the preparation to become mouldy, or otherwise injure it, if it be put into the pans either with them or with the butter. The truffles must be well drained from it when they are taken from the saucepan, and the butter must remain undisturbed for a few minutes, when it can be poured clear from the juice, which will have subsided to the bottom of the pan. We have given here the result of our first experiment, which we found on further trial to answer perfectly.