I’m a practical person, the down to earth sort, sensible and realistic in my approach. This is a thing about me that is….well, a complete and utter falsehood. An egregious lie. Would it were so! I imagine there are such fantastic benefits to being that way, having things like order and security, trotting through life like a thoroughbred. Efficiency. Economy. I’d like that. But I may be, in fact, the least practical person I know.
I routinely put form over function, and I spend most of my thoughts on esoterica, aesthetics, and day dreams. Getting dressed each day is essentially an exercise in playing dress up. I still have a hard time fathoming why funds have to be allocated to things like dry cleaning and laptop repair. I stay up far too late. I’m obsessive and myopic, a lack of balance and moderation forever being my great white whale. I manage to live, mostly, as an adult. But I do so begrudgingly often truly lamenting that I cannot live as a Jedi or undead Warlock. Even my thought life is thoroughly impractical.
For instance, a stuffed Christmas tree was crowing carols at the drug store the other evening. It made my mind wobble. The absurdity of the universe producing it made my consciousness momentarily implode. This is unfortunately something that occurs multiple times on any given day but that tree caused a particularly loud roaring in my ears. I wasn’t angry, it didn’t piss me off or anything. It amazed me. It amazed me that this universe spawned such a thing. That all the matter, space-time, history, and chance or providence, which ever you believe in as they’re equally fantastical, produced this…thing. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile all of time with a singing, plush Christmas tree. But then I find a thread. The holidays. The solstice. This is old, this celebrating. It’s an old, old celebration and it’s only wonderful. Maybe I’ll buy that horrible thing to remind myself that miracles are real. Because it’s a miracle, albeit an absurd and useless one, that these things exist.
But there are benefits to being impractical, like the awe of seeing a glittering cascade of nonlinear differential equations in the whorls of cream in your morning coffee. Or getting to spend evenings in your own personal film noir by the fire, smelling of Le Petit Trianon in a black lace kimono. Or deciding that your bathtub is a perfectly legitimate office. Or truffled deviled eggs with crème fraiche and black sea salt. I plan to make them on Christmas with black truffle shavings from Tennessee grown truffles and Siberian sturgeon caviar, sustainably farmed right in my back yard at the University of Georgia. Maybe it’s a little fall of Rome tacky and certainly not the most down to earth incarnation of the egg, but we all know this solstice welcomes the coming of the age of Horus (we do all know that, right?), so it’s the time for that sort of thing. I jest about the Horus thing. Sort of. Well, not really. Anyway, no worries, it’s a very auspicious aeon.
It would be even more special with something less mundane than chicken eggs. Little quail eggs, yes? Fat duck eggs? Yeah. But in all fairness the bright yellow yolks of the chicken eggs I get at the market rival that of any dearer bird. At any rate, I firmly believe the pumpkin ought to be a carriage at least once a year, if it can. And these are the glittering carriage of deviled eggs, most especially with the aforementioned trappings. I can’t really thing of anything more special than a truffle & caviar topped crème fraîche deviled egg. There’s something especially satisfying about gilding such a humble thing, the egg.
Also, in the spirit of the holidays, I’ve put together a little holiday gift guide for the cook & food lover over at Makers Workshop. Check it out so you’ll know what to get me!
Truffled Deviled Eggs with Crème Fraîche
makes 24 deviled eggs
Topped with flecks of black salt or even shimmering black caviar and a sliver of black truffle, these are black tie eggs. Perfect with all the trappings for the holidays or, as in my case, with just the salt for an afternoon snack.
Ingredients
a dozen hard boiled eggs, peeled and halved
6 Tbsp crème fraîche
3 Tbsp homemade mayonnaise or high quality store bought
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp white truffle oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar (I use Pinot Grigio vinegar)
1/2 tsp black truffle salt
black salt (or other finishing salt)
OR sustainably farmed black caviar
black truffle shavings (optional)
Cooking Directions
In case you were about to google it, here’s how to boil an egg: cover eggs with cold water. Bring to a full boil, cover pot, remove from heat and let sit for 12 minutes. Pour off hot water. Fill pot with ice and cover with cold water. Let sit until cooled, about 5 minutes.
Peel eggs, slice in half, and carefully removing yolk to a medium bowl, reserving whites. Combine yolks with the next seven ingredients. Mix until throughly incorporated and creamy. Season to taste with salt if needed. Pipe or scoop mixture into egg whites. Top with either a sprinkling of black salt or other finishing salt or go all out with a shaving of black truffle and black caviar (sustainably farmed!!).
Hi there! I have a major truffle obsession (the French black melanosporum kind…), so when I saw this post, I got excited! Very cool to know there are truffles in Tennessee, I would be so curious to try them. Is it the season right now? I’ll have to do more research. Are they very fragrant? If they are, the ultimate thing to do is to store the eggs – with shells – in a airtight container with a truffle or two and let them “soak in” the fragrance for a couple of days… I love that trick when I can get my hands on a fresh truffle, which is very rare. It has powerful effect on the eggs. Anyway lovely recipe, and lovely photos, love that white theme I haven’t seen a lot on your blog.
That’s amazing advice Helene! We ordered one from http://tennesseetruffle.com/shop/ if you ever want to try them. I’d love to get a French opinion!
Wow, just checked their site, looks like the real thing!!! Are my days of smuggling truffles in socks on an airplane over? I will definitely give them a try and let you know… I have a flurry of truffle recipes just dying to come out of their dormant drawer!
Nice recipe! I really like that you keep things simple and personal. Not a great fan of eggs but I think I’m going to try this one.
Kate @ byKoket
I love this post so much. I’ve been dying to to check out these Tennessee truffles…I spent some time at Blackberry Farm a couple of years ago with the truffle dogs (So cute…WANT ONE!) but have still never tasted the dang truffles.
This is a fabulous post. Hooray for the impractical people of the world! My husband is not a big fan of deviled eggs, but with the addition of truffle, I think I could change his mind. 🙂
the over indulgence, consumerism, and as you say absuridty of the season make my head implode/explode (not sure which) also. what a waste of man and women hours and resources. here here for celebrating the solistice and doing it simply from the heart!!!
I think celebrating is a wonderful thing, whether it’s with a prime rib roast, a tangerine, or simply gathering with family. I don’t judge how others choose to do it, though over indulgence and consumerism are not for me. But I think there is a difference between over indulgence and celebrating. To indulge is not to over indulge. I also think that giving gifts is a wonderful thing, and I love helping people make a living who are doing good work of producing lovely, sustainable food, hand made goods, and other thoughtful things that make the world better & more beautiful by buying gifts for my family and friends from them. The absurdity I was referring to was of a more philosophical sort. While I think it’s sad that resources were put into producing the aforementioned cheap singing tree, I look at is as a cultural artifact, a modern trinket of the winter solstice. I do not judge where we are as a society or from whence we came because I believe all things happen in their time. All I think we can do is work for the world we hope for with kind hearts.
oh i totally agree with you – celebrating life, the “light”, giving to others and helping people who do good works are all good things and are essential to humanity itself. i just don’t think they should limited to a small time frame in the year but rather year round. and ideally from the “heart” rather than from a place of obligation because it is season XXX. i certainly wasn’t knocking anyone for celebrating christmas or any other holiday as that is totall their choice it just wish so many did not assume that i was going to be celebrating what they were and in their manner – so not judging them and also not wanting them to judge me and my choices – that is all. let’s all celebrate the day to day events and people we encounter on a daily basis….
agreed! & happy holidays to you… whatever they are : )
I made sure to keep the dish my grandma always brought deviled eggs in to any family party, after she passed away. I think this elegant version would be a nice nod to her this year. And those yellow yolks are beautiful!
Can we hang out? Seriously. My daydreams and ideas (so many ideas!) always trump balance and moderation.
Interesting way to boil eggs. Here, in Germany, I cover the eggs with hot water, bring it to a full boil and let it boil for approx. 6 minutes. After that, we pour ice water over them. Finished. Ready to eat. But the recipe is great. I will definitely try it. Greets from Germany, Anja
so glad to have found your blog… it is delightful!… stunning pictures and fab recipes x
These eggs look heavenly. They do look like the perfect little snack! Also, I passed on that gift guide you created to some friends of mine. Maybe they’ll get the hint?
kind regards!
I am terribly behind on my blog reading. So glad I came here! Once again, I must say, I love getting lost in your words. You just place them so perfectly. And, as a fellow dreamer, I say cheers!
Turn your eggs upside-down in the fridge the night before cooking for perfectly centered yolks.
These sound incredible, and the photos are absolutely stunning! You had me at creme fraiche. Love your site. 🙂
Looks amazing!
I was recently in Nashville with my husband visiting his family and these eggs reminded me of an appetizer we had at Silo in Germantown. soo good. These are going on my holiday cocktail party menu for sure!