What's a Barramundi anyway? Isn't a truffle a fungi?

My wife and her pals went to Room 39 (Westport in Kansas City, MO) for one of their monthly outings. She usually brings back a sample for me to try and the menu (I collect them) so I can look it over. The menu changes daily (at the whim of the chef which is not all that bad!). This day there were 3 soups/ salads, 5 appetizers, and 7 (beef [kobe and ribeye], pork, fish, steak, seafood, risotto) entrees. My wife got the Barramundi. Isn't that the name for one of those furry fox like Rainforest animals that has a long tail? No. The Barramundi is a Australian fish which is considered one of the finest eating fish. It has a sweet mild flavor, delicate texture and is versatile for cooking. It is also healthly too because of its Omega 3 Fatty acid content. Barramundi was a pan seared entree with roasted potatoes (good) eggplant and oyster mushrooms (could not tell which was which) with a sherry - beet sauce (which my wife raved about). It was a thick chunk of fish the sample that I got, flavorful and yes sweet. Sorry but it reminded me of English "Fish and Chips " without the batter on the fish. She thought it tasted like trout but I did not think so.
Her friends had scallop etc which they liked. My wife said the desserts they tried were huge. She brought me home a truffle. My wife liked it . She said the chef kept bringing thing out for them to try like the truffle. I thought wow one of those mushroom things (the fungi mushroom that pigs dig up in France and are used in fancy recipes). No same name but they are chocolate. The one I ate was a dark one like the one in middle of the photo. I had heard about the name before. Round and very smooth chocolate flavor. I chewed it slowly like you are supposed to do. Very rich. Entrees ranged from $20 to $27 .


Barramundi
http://www.australis.us/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barramundi
http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/?action=ingredient_show&id=545&lg=en
here are two recipes if you ever found it or something like it
Pan-Seared Barramundi with "Caruru"
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_24260,00.html
Thai marinated BBQ recipe
http://www.lifestylechannel.com.au/factsheets/recipe.asp?id=1420
truffle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle
http://www.mykoweb.com/cookbook/truffles.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29057,00.html

Kobe beef- would you buy a $41 burger?

At a gourmet foods place in Overland Park, KS, I saw Kobe beef. My wife would kill me if I brought home a $31 steaks so I settled for the (cheap) $5 burger to bring home, cook and share. Meanwhile I have seen on the Food Channel and other blogs/websites (see links below) that people line up for the thicker $41 dollar Kobe beef burgers.
I know the cows are grain and beer fed and rubbed down so I looked for a little more information while the burger was cooking.
But is it good that people would "fork over" (pardon the pun) $41 dollars instead of buying 41 ($1 burgers) from McDonalds or Burger King or getting 5 quarter or half pounders from Ruby Tuesday or those other so called gourmet burer places?

I should have possibly seared it on both sides first but instead broiled it. Then I put in in between 2 bread slices (I thought about putting on a bagel but nahhh). I tasted some of it as is and my wife said it was okay. It was very moist and had a distinctive meaty yet beefy taste. It was tender and smoother then a regular burger.

Well not bad. But what I kept on thinking was whether this new Gourmet foods place was going to sell Kobe and if so how much. Guess I will have to go back in a few weeks, ask and fine out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef

interesting facts

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artkobebeef.html

someone who ate a burger and his thought
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/337414

another good article
http://www.maddogproductions.com/ds_gluttony.htm