Human Battery recharging at it's best. A drive in the countryside. Biting cold. Green. Blue. Mountains.

We paid a visit to Lowes Mount Truffiere. Who knew there was a Truffiere near Oberon? Me! I googled it! Sue and Col let me know that there was Fungus to be had so I whisked in with Rosie and got some Truffle action happening. The joys of winter.

Cheers Sue!

(Mr Wizard has pointed out that we may be the only band willing to admit we stopped for truffles whilst on tour. No wonder they play our music in France)

On the way through it mean taking some back roads near Lake Lyell and it was just what i needed to recharge the internal batteries. Ahh.

Jo joined us for the weekend and as Warwick observed, she really lifts the band. Just like the rug in The Big Lewbowski, she really ties the room together.

On Saturday night we played a packed show at Shadys where I observed the behavioural phenomenon peculiar to millennials. I have noticed a generational shift as people take pictures of themselves near the band, rather than taking pictures of the band.

I shall ponder this whilst I prepare another batch of truffled tomato soup.

MJEB's Truffled Tomato Soup

Les Ingredients

1 a cup of onion equivalent (leek, shallot, spring onion, red or brown)

3 carrots

3 sticks celery

2 cups of fresh tomato (I use the little medley ones in a punnet, they're sweet and you don't have to remove the skins)

2-4 cups of Canned tomatoes or Passata (tomato puree type stuff from the Italian place on the corner)

Chicken stock - 3-4 cups depending on preferred thickness

Olive oil

Truffle

The eggs you have been storing your tuffles with (for serving)

Methode MJEB-oise

Alors! Now we will cook!

Get yourself a nice heavy base saucepan, like one of these

You're going to start with the classic French trinity of Carrot, Celery and Onion.

Dice it all nice and finely (you'll be blending later) and dump it into a warmed saucepan with oil.

This dish is so simple it's all about the caramelisation, so you're going to need to be brave. You want the onion and celery mix to get slightly browned which means either low heat for a long time (30 min) or medium heat for 10 min but watch it like a hawk and scrape off the bottom of the pan as it caramelises. That's where all the flavour is.

Don't burn it. it will suck

Once your trinity veges are softened and browned shave some truffle in there, add a little more oil ( a splash) and fry again for a minute, then add the fresh tomatoes and cook it down. You're making a base here, a like a thick sauce, so you want to have it hot enough to cook out the water and then scrape the caramelised bits up as they form.

Add a little of the canned tomatoes, a little more oil and then repeat the process. Effectively you are trying to fry all the ingredients, including the tomato puree. use the oil sparingly to add moisture back in as the water leaves.

When you have a nice thick bubbling lava that has a goldenish colour, you can add any remaining tomato and the stock, in amounts to your preferred thickness and taste

Some people like to use a blending wand and then pass it through a sieve to give a super smooth soup. I go rustic and just use the blender.

When you're ready to serve toast some Baguette, rub a little garlic and oil across it then place your soup in a bowl and crack a fresh truffled egg (that's an egg that been stored in a box with that smelly damn mushroom) into the bowl with the soup. Make sure the soup is hot. It will poach the egg. if it doesn't or you are freaking out, nuke it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.

Serve with the bread, some salt and pepper and get massive props from your peeps.

Voila!

The deal with the truffle is that it it enhances the umami sense of the other foods, so it basically makes it taste better.

Until next time in the kitchen!

Chef MJEB