Alfredo
I love italian food. Especially a really garlicy white sauce. But it seems like the only time you can ever find that really good white sauce is in the restaurants. (Johnny Carino's is a family favorite. Each of Shane's siblings have worked for it, and his sister and her husband to be both manage a separate one in Kansas City, KS).
Well just testing things I've discovered a way to make a really good alfredo whenever you want it. Buy a regular jar of your favorite alfredo at the store. (My favorite is the Di Parma Classico.
While you are cooking the pasta in the pan you plan to warm to alfredo sauce in add roasted garlic (I love those little jars of already minced garlic in the produce section at Walmart) and real bacon bits. Cook for a few minutes in a little olive oil until it starts to look kinda crispy. Then add your jar of alfredo sauce, stir and warm. Today I didn't have the real bacon bits so I instead I cut up thick slices of bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Cook the bacon until done and then add the minced garlic.
I usually make garlic bread to go with it. Spread softened butter on bread sprinkle garlic powder and parmesean cheese on top and broil for a few minutes.
On occasion I make a breaded chicken breast as well.
The Breading:
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 cup parmesean cheese
2 Tablespoons garlic powder
2 Tablespoons black pepper
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
put all dry ingredients in one bowl, mix well.
In another small bowl but 1/2 cup milk and one egg. Beat until smooth.
Rinse chicken breasts, dip in milk/egg mixture, dip in bread crumb mixture. In a heated frying pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, add the chicken breast, cook at medium low for about 15 minutes, then flip. Cook on other side for about 15 minutes, check for doneness. If not done, flip chicken breasts again and cook until done.
Well just testing things I've discovered a way to make a really good alfredo whenever you want it. Buy a regular jar of your favorite alfredo at the store. (My favorite is the Di Parma Classico.
While you are cooking the pasta in the pan you plan to warm to alfredo sauce in add roasted garlic (I love those little jars of already minced garlic in the produce section at Walmart) and real bacon bits. Cook for a few minutes in a little olive oil until it starts to look kinda crispy. Then add your jar of alfredo sauce, stir and warm. Today I didn't have the real bacon bits so I instead I cut up thick slices of bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Cook the bacon until done and then add the minced garlic.
I usually make garlic bread to go with it. Spread softened butter on bread sprinkle garlic powder and parmesean cheese on top and broil for a few minutes.
On occasion I make a breaded chicken breast as well.
The Breading:
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 cup parmesean cheese
2 Tablespoons garlic powder
2 Tablespoons black pepper
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
put all dry ingredients in one bowl, mix well.
In another small bowl but 1/2 cup milk and one egg. Beat until smooth.
Rinse chicken breasts, dip in milk/egg mixture, dip in bread crumb mixture. In a heated frying pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, add the chicken breast, cook at medium low for about 15 minutes, then flip. Cook on other side for about 15 minutes, check for doneness. If not done, flip chicken breasts again and cook until done.
posted by ABQ Mom at 12/01/2005 05:48:00 PM
5 Comments:
Mmmmmm, alfredo.
Our alfredo recipe is very basic (and Paul the purist says it's just a garlic white sauce if I add garlic): butter, heavy cream, freshly grated parmiggiano reggiano, and a little nutmeg sprinkled on top.
I'll have to try yours and see what he thinks! (Part of me wonders if he'd even notice the difference.)
The basic white sauce makes me want to puke! I have to have flavor, LOTS and LOTS of flavor! Its easier to just buy the jar of sauce at the store and then alter it to my tastes. Let me know what he says...
I have only recently tried an alfredo sauce from a jar. I bought it for Ben because he seems to prefer white sauces to spicy tomato sauces. I knew I would have to do *something* to it for Mike and me, but I just hadn't counted on how bland and icky it was. I will have to try your ideas.
So anyway, you know you can substitute a nice lean smoked ham for bacon in many recipes to get a punch of flavour (not quite like bacon of course, but still good) without the fat. I like it, but unfortunately Mike doesn't, so I guess it depends on individual taste.
Now I feel compelled to say that my interest in low-fat cooking is more "heart smart" than "weight smart". Bad hearts run in my family (I was in the cardiac unit after Ben was born) and high cholesterol runs in Mike's. So I've just been trying to look out for us both.
My husband can spot the jar alfredo sauce from about a mile away... and he runs, fast, in the other dirrection. He won't eat it, no matter how much garlic I add. Whenever I make alfredo, it must be the original...
Although I do have one short cut type, it uses fat free cream cheese instead of cream, so it is better for you and he will eat that... I will post it soon :-)
I was just thinking, for the chicken breasts, you can pound them thin, like schnitzel, and they will cook through faster and easier. That's how I used to cook chicken breasts when Mike and I were starving students.
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