Luxury item: Truffle Oil

I am currently trying not to spend too much money (who isn't, I guess). After another afternoon spent wandering through shops without buying a single thing, I did decide to treat myself to a luxury item on my grocery round. Some truffle oil.

I have only recently acquired a taste for these most infamous of mushrooms and have never actually cooked with this ingredient myself...

The first thing I tried was popcorn with parmesan and truffle oil. A very nice combination but the optics still have to be tinkered with... I will present a recipe as soon as it is worthy.

Other things I can't wait to try:

- Pasta with egg yolk, parmesan and a little truffle oil
- Scrambled eggs with truffle oil
- Risotto al tartufo

I guess anything eggy or creamy is on the list.

One thing I have to gripe about though: This packaging is the worst. Considering the product within is meant to be doled out in very homeopathic doses, you would think the producer would manufacture something to that end. Instead one is confronted with a container that cannot drizzle but only pour and leaves a good bit of the strong smelling contents stuck to the side, however you try not to... Definitely one thing to be mindful of in case you were thinking about investing into something like this.

DIY Chili flakes

This is a fun little project to do when you have a little bit of spare time. The results should last you for a good long while! I did it because my chili plant produces way to much to use and this is a great way of storing this spice. But of course you can also use your favorite store bought chilies.

The wonderful thing about making your own flakes is that you can make them as spicy or mild as you please....

There are two possible routes to choose from.
First option:
You dry the chilies whole first.

I cut off the tops and stem and tried to remove most of the seeds by rolling the chilies between my hands. If you decided to go for milder varieties, this step may not be necessary.

Then you just chop them to your desired consistency in a blender.

Alternatively you could start with fresh chilies. De-seed them if necessary and chop them finely then spreed out on to a baking sheet and dry them in a low oven for a couple of hours. Move them around a couple of times and make sure it is really dried out before you store them. Otherwise they could get mold and all your effort would have been for nothing.

I have already used my chili flakes in this meatball recipe.

They were quietly slipped into my freezer waiting for unannounced guests or an evening when I don't feel like preparing something from scratch...

Post edit: I actually took out some earlier this week and  combined them with a simple tomato sauce and spaghetti. I'm sorry not to add pictures at the moment. Blogger isn't allowing me to upload any....