Over the past few months I’ve made a concerted commitment to healthier eating and exercise.

Well ok: I actually committed to hoarding my money because I keep going broke. But as it turns out, a natural consequence of thrifty living is that I have more time to exercise (since I head to "the gym" on the way home to cook dinner), and I’m eating more vegetables and fruit (since trying to save money at the supermarket means buying fewer pre-prepared/ preserved items.)

Who woulda thunk?

Another natural consequence, or rather a necessary consequence of my twin commitments is that I’m being forced to learn how to cook well. I was certainly capable of reading a recipe and putting together the ingredients before – Thanksgiving and Christmas get my baking mojo especially revved up – but I’ve never been what I define as an “effortless” cook – the kind who can look at a cupboard of ingredients and improvise a meal. It’s a skill I’ve always wanted to develop, and it would REALLY come in handy when trying to eat right and save money.

SO. To that end I’ve been trolling the Epicurious online recipe db (despite appearances this blog is in no way sponsored by Epicurious…though hell if I’m going to mention it this frequently a kick-back would be nice…) for new dishes. What I look for: few ingredients and portability (eg can I tote it to work in my dorky Trader Joe lunch bag?)

What I also look for that has naught to do with simplicity, cost, or re-heatability: BLACK TRUFFLE OIL. I first fell in love with the ingredient I like to call “The Slow Dark Stranger” when I tried Uva’s exquisite ricotta gnocchi (laced liberally with black truffle oil.) Since then, The Stranger and I have had a few delirious chance encounters of the cheese variety. Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro was the aha! moment when I realized why I was threatening my tablemates with a shiv (ok, a butter knife) if they ate any more of that cheese with the amazing taste. It was…THE SOAP! Oh, wait no: truffle oil. It was the truffle oil.

All this frippery and explanation brings me to the gist of my post, which is to say that I came across a recipe for home-style tater tots with truffles (can I get a Whoohoo?) It seems the perfect marriage of the tuber and the truffle, a fitting variation on gnocchi, and I plan to attempt it in the coming weeks. The recipe calls for minced black truffle and white truffle oil, but honestly I’m not that into actual mushrooms (yes yes calm down it’s weird I know), just the oil, so I’m going to try it without 'em. As for white truffle oil I probably couldn’t tell the diff from black, so we’ll see, eh?

Oh, and notice also the recipe's reference to deep-frying. My God, is there anything this recipe doesn’t have?!!