I read an article about the real "ALFREDO" sauce that is! Would you believe it there was no heavy cream in it...joy to my ears, because I have always looked for a way to make Alfredo sauce less heavy, anyway, I tried the "real way" on Friday night. All I can say is WOW it was wonderful, light, but very creamy.

Cook your pasta, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.

I was making scampi so the butter needed was already in the pan as well as white wine, so I just dumped the hot pasta into the warm pan and started adding hand fulls of good Parmesan cheese and a bit of the pasta water all the time mixing the pasta with my tongs on low heat. Within minutes I had a creamy sauce. It was great!!

Note, if you are just making the pasta Alfredo you will need butter in the pan than add the hot pasta and proceed as stated above all on very low or no heat, tossing pasta until creamy and serve.

Super Natural Recipe Search

As most of my friends and clients alike know, I become very bored with the same food day after day.....so I am always on a constant search for new dishes and ingredients to use and make.....keeping it fresh and exciting, at least I hope so, it is for me anyway!

So, going forward, yesterday I felt the need to use an ingedient I had never used before "Wheat Berries" with a little inspiration from 101 Cookbooks, I created a salad using wheat berries, spinach, feta cheese, riasins, roasted sweet potatoes, shallots, oragano, parsley, toasted pine nuts, and a sweet lemon viniagrette. One thing that Hiedi Swanson did I used too, "because I thought it was genius" she added adobo sauce to her goat cheese for a little heat and smokyness. All and all my version was very good and is now a new addition to my cafe faire.

Now I am on to the next new dish!!!!!! Good Eatin'

Super Natural Recipe Search

I am always looking for better products, and of course great value, who isn't these day's......Well I am here to tell you with the help of one of my cooking mags. I found a very inexpensive cut of meat that is second only to a filet mingon (seriously)......Flat Iron steak!! Now I have always avoided it because of the huge connective tissue running through the middle (which says to me long braising is the only thing going to make this piece of meat taste good, which is not a bad thing.) but not always what you have time for.

Anyway, butchers have come up with a way to cut this mussel across the top and leave the connective tissue out altogether...mind you this is being done for high end restaurants, you won't find it cut this way in your giant supermarket....but if any one has a butcher in their area that butchers their own meats you could ask.

I went to my large chain grocery and asked the meat counter for a package with the least connective tissue he could find, he kindly obliged me and to my delight I had the most tender flavorful taco's for my lunch and it took all of about 5 min to prepare.

At $2.99 a pound you cannot beat it, and if your like me, and have had to learn how to just cook for yourself and not a family anymore than quick, healthful, great tasting, and not allot of cleanup is what I'm looking for.

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I always feel my Gramma's presence, however some day's much more than others. well this weekend was definatly one of those times, and I made the best of it. First it was Kale, white bean and linguesa soup (just the smell, before I ate it, was her) it was so good, I am not sure why I have not made it more often......it did not stop there, I picked up my Savoring Spain and Portugal cook book and found the orange cake Gramma used to make when we were small, being that Ashley's Grandpa had sent a big bag of oranges home with Billy, it was meant for me to make this cake. It is a very simple cake with really big orange flavor, and again, just the smell was my Gramma very close to me....Perfect way to spend a gray weekend indoors.

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Asparagus, asparagus, oh asparagus....I love it!!!!! It is slowly hitting the farmers markets.

Here is a quick fix lunch or snack.....

Blanch bite size pieces of asparagus for 2 to 3 minutes, ice bath them to stop cooking and retain color...in the meantime using a regular peeler peel ribbons of zucchini into a bowl....mince 1 small shallot and two tablespoons fresh parsley, add cooled asparagus to the zuch, shallots and parsley....salt and pepper to taste...squeeze the juice of one lemon and 2 tablespoons evoo, with maybe a tablespoon of either sherry, red wine, or white wine vinegar, toss salad and let sit for 10 minutes for flavors to meld and zucchini to break down some from it's raw state.....Serve with sliced baguette and a dry fruity wine....Perfect!!!!!!!!!!! I add a pinch of red pepper flakes to mine but this is optional.

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For me, feeding anyone and having them appreciate it...to see the joy on their face, and that I put it there with my dessert, or meal, appetizer, or even just a snack...is the best feeling for me.

Thank you to my client, and friend Barry for somehow knowing that, and sending pics of the kids eating the dinner I made them.

Super Natural Recipe Search

I make pound cake's, real pound cake's, (a pound of every ingredient), it is the cake that started my love for baking.
I started out just making lemon with lemon glaze......but after years of making this cake I became bored and have since experimented using key limes, oranges, this weekend I tried blood orange ("yummy" and it did not turn the cake red) I have even re written the recipe and made a dutch chocolate pound cake (extremely decadent). Everyone loves this cake even non cake people like myself.
I suppose my thought process with this is if you are going to make a cake called a pound cake make it right, use a pound of every ingredient.......