Alfredo Sauce? Your tips and recipes.

[Ishbel]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

Somewhere along the line I started adding frozen English peas and it turned out quite tasty - I feel sure it was a way to get a vegetable in there..

Hello Kitchenelf...

Just out of curiosity - what are 'English' peas? Do you mean the green, podless petit pois type of pea?

I add them to a lot of the Italian pasta dishes that I cook - my favourite is a kind of bolognese sauce with lots of petit pois.

[mudbug]

Ishbel, my southern-U.S. born and bred HH refers to peas as English peas all the time and I have no idea what he means. Maybe smaller (petit pois)?

Whatevah...they would compliment an Alfredo sauce in any dish, IMO.

[Ishbel]

Mud
Another example of us being separated by a common language?! Thanks for your input.

[marmalady]

Mud and Ishbel, I believe the naming of green peas as 'English' peas is because in the South folks also eat a lot of 'field' peas, ie black-eyes, crowder, 'pea beans' (go figure that one out!) and the like, so 'English' is just a word used to identify the green peas in a pod.

On the same note, DH's North Carolina family grew up calling baby potatoes, especially red ones, 'Irish' potatoes!

[mish]

Originally Posted by shannon in KS

Here is my no-fail recipe:

Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 to 2 cups cream, depending on desired consistency
2 cups real parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
crushed garlic
parsley
fresh lemon
cracked pepper

Saute garlic in butter. Add cream and parmesan and heat until cheese is melted. Whisk in egg yolks and heat another 5 minutes until glossy. Add fresh chopped parlsey, squeeze of lemon juice, and pepper.

Here is another one I have been meaning to try:

White Wine Alfredo

4 tablespoon butter
3 large shallots, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups white wine, divided
3/4 cup heavy cream at room temperature
1 lemon, juiced
salt or cracked or white pepper to taste

Cook shallots and garlic in butter until they become translucent and tender. Add 1 cup white wine, and bring to a simmer. Once it is simmering, add the remaining 1/2 cup wine. Simmer for 10 minutes then reduce heat to medium-low. Season with white pepper to taste. When sauce is no longer boiling, slowly stir in cream, lemon juice and salt. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.

WHOO-HOO, Shannon. The white wine Alfredo looks like heaven... and shallots... who could ask for anything more! TY!!

[shannon in KS]

Originally Posted by mish

WHOO-HOO, Shannon. The white wine Alfredo looks like heaven... and shallots... who could ask for anything more! TY!!

Glad you liked this!!! Let us know if you try it, how it turns out, and any necessary modifications!!! I have a problem cooking with wine, I tend to drink any remaining unused portions while cooking then forget to eat dinner!

[mish]

Originally Posted by shannon in KS

Glad you liked this!!! Let us know if you try it, how it turns out, and any necessary modifications!!! I have a problem cooking with wine, I tend to drink any remaining unused portions while cooking then forget to eat dinner!

My modification may be eating it out of the pan and forget about the pasta I know there's a getting sauced joke in there somewhere, hahaha.

[mudbug]

Originally Posted by marmalady

Mud and Ishbel, I believe the naming of green peas as 'English' peas is because in the South folks also eat a lot of 'field' peas, ie black-eyes, crowder, 'pea beans' (go figure that one out!) and the like, so 'English' is just a word used to identify the green peas in a pod.

On the same note, DH's North Carolina family grew up calling baby potatoes, especially red ones, 'Irish' potatoes!

Oh, marm, I'll bet you're right about this. thanks for the tip.

Just to further confuse the issue, there's a famous jamaican dish of rice and peas in which the peas are really beans.

[jrsjunecleaver]

It's not necessary, but if you really want a smooth alfredo sauce, use a hand blender to blend the sauce just before tossing with the noodles. It will look like the jarred sauce when you're done.

[Ishbel]

Marmalady - thanks for the clarification!

We call those peas 'peas'.... or if they are picked very young and small (and sweetest) they are known as petit pois (even the frozen version!). The smallest pod peas, where you merely top n tail the small pods and cook the unopened pods with their teeny-tiny pods inside are know as 'mange tout' here! So many of our cooking terms still use the French words, rather than the Italian term, which is more commonly used in Australia and the USA (and Canada, too, maybe?) eg we use courgette vs zucchini, aubergine vs eggplant etc!