ON FOOD: Salt, sweet treat, soup worth trying

With summer winding down I've been reflecting on some food and equipment discoveries I've made during the past few months. I thought you might enjoy checking out some of these yourself.

First up is Truffle & Salt by Casino Rossa. I learned about it at the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen in early June at the "Fungi With Three Fun Guys - Getting Intimate with Truffles." The three fun guys were Armando Manni, producer of the excellent Tuscan Manni olive oil; Tom Michaels, who has been involved with the science and art of growing mushrooms and truffles for years; and Stewart Woodman, chef at Heidi's in Minneapolis, who was named a Food & Wine Magazine Best New Chef in 2006.

Interesting fact I learned: A Macau, China, casino owner paid a record-breaking $330,000 for 3.3 pounds of white Alba truffles in 2007, which equates to $100,000 a pound. That's about seven times the price of an equal weight of gold.
Knowing, at those prices, I wouldn't be springing for fresh truffles of any sort, I was relieved to learn that the chef was using truffle salt in his delicious recipe for Truffle "Cappuccino."

It's a creamy, luscious soup he served in small espresso cups. The recipe follows. I found the Truffle & Salt at Williams-Sonoma for $28. Don't wince at the price. The heavenly truffle-scented salt actually has flakes of truffles and lasts a long time. I've been using mine since June every morning on my sunny-side-up egg, and the jar hardly looks used.
Use it on salads, pastas, potatoes or any dish that could use an earthy kick of truffle flavor.

When I got a news release about Graeter's Ice Cream, a Cincinnati institution for 138 years, making a debut in Colorado, it was a great excuse to call my friend Erikka Brickey who lives in Cincinnati to get the scoop (pardon me) about what was so exceptional about it.

"Oh, Graeters," she swooned when I reached her. "My favorite is the black raspberry chip. It has an intense raspberry flavor with huge chunks of milk chocolate throughout. It's their No. 1 brand that they mail nationally."

The other flavor she highly recommended was the coconut chip. I found both flavors at the King Soopers at 3250 Centennial Blvd., which is the only store in Colorado Springs that stocks it. King Soopers stores in Denver and Boulder also have it. A pint costs $4.99.
A few days later I got a care package from my Cincinnati friend with yet another of her favorite food finds: Illinois Prairie Corn Chowder by Frontier Soups.

"I adore this soup," she wrote in a note. "Sure it's rich with 2 cups of heavy cream, but don't skim. You'd be sorry. Just get some extra exercise the next day."
The dry soup mix comes with all the spices. You add potatoes, chicken broth and the heavy cream. There's no salt added, and it is gluten free. A bag that will make six to eight servings is $7 at www.frontiersoups.com.

Though the warm days of summer are numbered, there is still time to enjoy a glass of iced tea. But not just plain tea. Think Ceylon Gold, Pomegranate Blackberry, Raspberry Nectar and White Ginger Pear. The teas are by Tea Forte, which is known for its classy infusers. The infusers are three-sided silk pyramid-shape bags of tea. There's a green leaf at the top to hold when the infusers are placed into hot water to steep.

The company introduced its Tea-Over-Ice this summer. It's a stunning brewing set of two elegantly designed glass pitchers. The two pitchers are stacked one atop the other.
Remove the top pitcher and fill the bottom pitcher with crushed ice. The smaller top pitcher is filled with hot water to brew one of the taller iced tea infuser bags. The green leaf is threaded through a hole in the top of the lid that fits the smaller pitcher. After five minutes of brewing the hot tea is poured over the ice in the larger pitcher. Iced tea is served.

I spotted the one I bought at C.J. Kard, 214 N. Tejon St. The pitcher set cost $50 and the set of 12 assorted tea bags was $30. Origins, 1645 Briargate Parkway, has the pitcher set for $39 and the 12 assorted tea bags for $24. The pitcher set and teas can be ordered at www.teaforte.com.

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Reach Farney at 636-0271 or teresa.farney@gazette.com. She appears Tuesdays on KOAA's Comcast Channel 9 at 4 p.m.

TRUFFLE "CAPPUCCINO"
Yield: 4 servings

1 pound button mushrooms
2 3/4 quarts water
13 ounces whipping cream
3/4 teaspoon truffle salt
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Procedure:
1. In large stockpot, place washed mushrooms and water. Simmer until reduced by half. Strain. Reserve the liquid and discard mushrooms.

2. Add cream and truffle salt to mushroom reduction. Reduce until desired flavor and intensity are achieved. Season with kosher salt and black pepper.

3. Foam with hand blender and serve in coffee cups.

Source: Chef Stewart Woodman, Heidi's, Minneapolis