Make it Yourself!

Well I am in a much better mood than I was a few days ago. So now I don't have to depress anyone with my sour Sally blogging. I have decided to write about cream sauce. I love cream sauce. But there is nothing more vile than canned or adulterated cream sauce. For instance, I went to a restaurant where they had "fettuncine alfredo" on the menu. So I ordered it because I love pasta and alfredo sauce. But what they brought out was a train wreck of monumental proportions. I am certain that they used canned alfredo sauce. And really, why?? It's not that much cheaper, I don't imagine, to buy a can of cream sauce and throw it on pasta than to just take some butter, heavy cream and parmesan cheese. I really couldn't even eat it. My companion tasted it and said that it was "terribly unappetizing." So, I decided to make my own fettucine alfredo the next day.

The 16 hours that passed between the awful alfredo and the plan to make my own caused me to get really ambitious. I decided to make my own pasta as well. I bought the semolina and extra eggs and even borrowed a pasta press from my neighbor. I cleared my counter, put my flour down and made the little well, separated my eggs and put in the yolks. I used 6 egg yolks, as my standard recipe suggested. But that wasn't NEARLY enough. It was so dry, and I used the standard 1 3/4 cups of flour. But it was just really dry. I ended up using nearly 10 egg yolks for the recipe by the time I was done. Not to mention adding a little milk and olive oil because the eggs were just not working. However, when it was finished, it was awesome! (My companion hates the word awesome, but I wanted to use it just this once. Couldn't think of a better word.) I was really happy with it and would do it again.

For my alfredo sauce, I used butter, cream, parmesan and salt. You could do pepper, but I don't really like it. I didn't use garlic either, which I would normally do. But I wanted the pure flavors of the cream, butter and cheese. I served it to my son and companion, and my 4 year old said "this rocks, mom!" Great and humorous praise from a 4 year old!

So, I go back to my most frequently repeated statement...Why not do it yourself?? It's so much better for you. You know what's going into it. You can control the ingredients. I mean, have you ever read the ingredients on bottled alfredo? What the hell IS all that stuff? And why would I want it in my pasta sauce. And once you try to preserve cream sauce, it loses the purity in the flavor. So, MAKE IT YOURSELF! I will include my pasta and alfredo recipe.

Fettucine Alfredo:

For the pasta:

1 3/4 cup flour (semolina and all purpose work)

6 egg yolks...plus another possible 4!

1 tbs milk

1 1/2 tsps olive oil

Mound the flour on your very clean counter and make a well in the center. Make sure it's big enough to hold all the egg yolks. Pour the egg yolks, oil and milk into the well. Use your fingers to break the eggs up. Still using your fingers, begin turning the eggs in a circular motion, keeping them within the well, not letting them to spill over the sides. This circular motion allows the eggs to gradually pull in flour from the sides of the well; it is important that the flour is not incorporated too quickly, or dough will be lumpy. Keep moving the eggs while slowly incorporating the flour. Using a pastry scraper if you have one, occasionally push the flour toward the eggs; the flour should be moved only enough to maintain the gradual incorporation of the flour, and the eggs should continue to be contained within the well. The mixture will thicken and eventually get too tight to keep turning with your fingers.

At that point, incorporate the remaining flour. Begin to knead the dough like you would knead bread. Knead it until all the flour is incorporated. Then let it rest for 10 minutes while you clean up the incredible mess on your counter.

Then, lightly flour your counter and knead the dough for 10-12 minutes until it's completely smooth. And when you've kneaded it for 10-12 minutes, let it rest 5 and then knead it another 10 minutes. You can't knead it enough! Then wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes before putting it through the pasta press. You can store it overnight in the fridge, but you have to let it warm back to room temp. before you use it. Then put it through the press until it's your desired thickness. It only needs to be cooked for 2 minutes or so.

For the cream sauce:

1 cup REAL butter

2-3 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup fresh parmesan cheese

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Just melt the butter in the pan until it isn't foamy anymore. Add the cream and stir. Let the mixture begin to simmer and then add the cheese. Salt it according to what you like. I like a lot of salt. A LOT of salt. I believe salt is the base for flavor. You can put herbs in until you're blue in the face, but if you haven't put salt in, it won't sing.

It's really nice if you grill chicken with rosemary and top this off with sliced chicken breast. But sometimes I like it plain because it's really comforting after a long day.