More On Truffles, and Quick Dinner Dish

I certainly knew that when I was buying Oregon black truffles (see my earlier post), I won't be getting the same variety as featured in most of my French and European cookbooks. From the description on the Earthy Delight's site (click here):

"Fresh Black Truffles (Leucangium carthusianum) from Oregon look somewhat similar in appearance to Black Summer Truffles from Europe, but the resemblance ends there. Chefs and adventurous cooks across the country prize Oregon Black Truffles as a uniquely American delicacy, but one that is just as delicious and intriguing as their better-known (and much pricier) European cousins.

Oregon black truffles have a pronounced pungent, fruity-musky aroma and a strong flavor. While fresh Oregon black truffles don't have quite the same intensity as fresh European truffles, they are far less expensive and offer their own uniquely distinctive truffle flavor."

Home-made vs Store-bought

Convenience, cost or quality?

There is no simple answer to which is better - home-made or store-bought food, although most people will likely think that home-made is a unanimous winner. But consider the complexity of the question - how do you define "better"? Although I take pride in making home-made pastas, sauces and other foods from scratch as much as possible, even though equivalents are readily available in a store, I would not claim that this is absolutely the only and best choice to eat well and is always superior to store-bought foods that one simply needs to heat up at home. There are many brands out there that are very good and nearly equal to home-made foods. On the other side of the spectrum are people who only buy ready-made foods in the store and rarely or never cook at home. And then there are people in between who buy some pre-made ingredients and use them in their cooking. For example, although I do make pasta at home, I take shortcuts and buy pasta in the store too. So why choose one over another?

My Take on Chiles Rellenos

Happy Friday, everyone!

It has been a long week and I really want to take it easy on Friday night, so nothing fancy tonight, simple chiles rellenos and that's it. I have used most of the foods that I had already prepared for tonight's dinner. The only thing I had to invest my time in is getting ancho/poblano chiles ready. That involves scorching the skins under broiler until they blister and after few more manipulations with steam and ice bath, removing the outer skin and then cleaning out the seeds and pith. This step can be done some time ahead. I prepped the chiles right after I got home from work and then went off to gym.