While the hen’s egg remains a staple food product throught the world, its amazing combination with a sweet truffle vinaigrette has been a culinary secret for far to long. The panko crumbs and sautéed filo pastry fragments provide a texture to the flavours. I have slow cooked the egg yolks giving them stability and a rich texture. I have used a sous vide bath which provides an entirely controllable, adjustable and reliable heat source for the yolks. This functions as an excellent hors d’oeuvre dish.
For the truffle cheese vinaigrette
3 shallots, finely chopped
1 cup (250 mls) water
1 tbsp clear honey
2 tbsp truffle oil
3 tbsp cream cheese
1 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
Salt and black pepper
First place the onions, water and honey in a covered pan and simmer for about thirty minutes or until the onions are very tender. Transfer the contents to a food processor, add the vinegar, truffle oil and seasoning and blend until very smooth. Transfer the contents to a bowl, add the cream cheese and combine them together until uniform and smooth. Add more vinegar and seasoning to taste if preferred. The truffle cheese vinaigrette can be stored in a container for a few days in the refrigerator.
For the confit egg yolks
Set the sous vide water bath to 63C
Half fill a small bread tin with vegetable oil and place it in the water bath. Cover with a lid using a small weight if necessary to keep the lid held down. When the bath has reached the required temperature, carefully add the egg yolks to the warmed oil making sure they are teased apart carefully with a spatula. Cook the egg yolks for 1 hour.
The cooked yolk confit looked as silky smooth as if it were freshly cracked from the egg.
For the filo crumbs
Finely dice a small square of filo pastry and sauté the fragments in butter until they turn golden brown. Transfer them to a kitchen roll to cool and dry.
To complete the dish
Using a slotted spoon, carefully drain and transfer an egg yolk to the centre of a serving dish. Heap a spoonfool of the truffle cheese vinaigrette next to the yolk. Garnish the dish with a sprinkling of the prepared filo crumbs. For further texture and colour contrast add finely crushed panko crumbs.