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Not-So-Basic Fettuccini Alfredo Recipe

I was 18 years old and on my own, a half-starved and broke college student living in my first apartment in Glassboro, NJ. My Dad was in town for a business meeting and coming over for dinner. My Dad liked “fine” things. What could I make that would impress him? What could I place in front of him that would say I’m all grown up and look how worldly I have become?

The internet didn’t exist at the time, so I trolled the only aisle in my grocery store that I could afford – the pasta aisle. And there I found my first box of Fettuccini (wow! how gourmet!) with a little recipe on the back. There would be no ramen noodles for Dad on this night! This is creamy, rich upscale stuff here. I spent ¾ of my weekly food budget to buy all the ingredients and some fresh green beans for this all important meal.

Well, as it turns out, Dad made Fettuccini Alfredo all the time – huh, guess I wasn’t the worldly and refined person I was pretending to be. He looked at my recipe and the available ingredients and said you have to change this part – pointing to the amount of cream. The rest is history and this is how I mastered the art of excellent Fettuccini Alfredo.

The flat, wide shape of Fettuccini pasta originated in Rome in the early to mid 20th century and means Little Ribbons. Originally the recipe contained only Parmesan cheese and butter. When the dish became popular in the Unites States, cream was incorporated.

When my friends come to visit, they always request this meal. This is one of the few dishes my insanely picky children will eat voluntarily. Add some shrimp and scallops sautéed in garlic and wine or small pieces of sautéed chicken tenderloin for added protein. Feeling nostalgic? Add some freshly grated nutmeg to the sauce. There are a million ways to dress up this basic dish. Want to make your own pasta from scratch? Here is my favorite recipe.

I have kept this recipe secret for years because it is the only thing I can claim greatness in. Once my mother-in-law asked me for the recipe and I was about to give it to her, when I thought, what? No! This must remain my legacy! I mean, I have no great claim to fame and I don’t even particularly like my mother-in-law. Why would I share it with her? Well, you get older, kinder and wiser – and my mother-in-law doesn’t surf the web – so maybe it’s time to share.

Fettuccini Alfredo is a cheap, easy and quick meal. My one word of advice is this – get the best Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan in the US) cheese you can get your hands on and grate it yourself. If it comes from Italy, scoop it up because it’s the real deal. You have to grate the cheese yourself, thereby adding the love, to make this recipe work.

Buon Appetito!

Ready in 25 minutes

Serves 6  people

Yummy Fresh Flat leaf parsley

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter
  • ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 8 oz. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
  • 1 pound dry Fettuccini noodles
  • 2-3 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
  • 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Chopped parsley
About to add the cheese

Preparation

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook your noodles to package instructions (usually 9 minutes for a la dente).
  2. While your pasta is cooking, in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, begin to melt the butter. Add heavy whipping cream and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon for 3-4 minutes to incorporate. Reduce temperature slightly and add in the freshly grated parmesan cheese. Continue to stir until cheese begins to melt and incorporate, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Stir in white pepper to taste and chopped flat leaf parsley. The entire process should take around 8 minutes.
  3. Drain pasta well in a colander and place in a large pasta bowl.
  4. Immediately pour the cream sauce over the mixture and combine well, making sure all those lovely strands are tossed and coated with cheesy goodness.
  5. Serve immediately because good pasta waits for no one!
Toss the yumminess
All gone!
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Recipe for Vietnamese Chả Cá La Vong (Turmeric Fish with Dills)

I don’t consider myself a Chef but I do find myself in the kitchen whenever I feel inspired by the food I’ve eaten around the world or at new local restaurants. I recently visited Hanoi for a second time in October with my good friends.  Hanoi is known for its amazing food scene and we were on a hunt for a Must Eat, “Chả Cá La Vong”.

We found it at a restaurant called Chả Cá Thăng Long. The smell of the turmeric fish and an abundance of fresh dill cooked in front of us was one of the highlights of our trip! Of course, we washed it down with ice-cold Hanoi beer after!  As I took a big bite in my mouth, I thought about the wild turmeric powder that I recently bought from a local tribe in Myanmar before visiting Hanoi. This has inspired me even more to replicate this dish.

Although Jimmy, my husband does not like fish and won’t allow me to cook it inside the house, that doesn’t stop me! (evil laugh). I’ve always been a big fan of Vietnamese food because they use fresh simple ingredients and lots of herbs and vegetables. I’ve created a simple recipe for Chả Cá La Vong with wild turmeric from Myanmar (don’t worry…any turmeric will do) and I hope you will enjoy it as much as my husband did!

Ready in 30 minutes

Serves 3-4  people

Ingredients

Tip: you can find most ingredients at your local Asian markets.

For the marinade

  • 500 g catfish cut into 2×2  inch pieces
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 3 tbsp minced galangal
  • 2 tsp rice flour
  • 1 tbsp plain greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp fermented shrimp paste
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • ½ tsp white pepper

For the dipping sauce

  • ½ cup of  fish sauce
  • 4  tbsp sugar
  • ½  cup of (warm) water
  • 1 tsp minced garlic and Thai chili
  • 2-3 tbsp lime juice

Others

  • 10 scallions ( white part shredded, green part cut into 3-inch lengths)
  • 3.5 oz dill cut into 3-in length
  • 500 g rice vermicelli cooked
  • Fresh herbs: Vietnamese balm “rau kinh gioi” (perilla), Vietnamese mint (rau ram), cilantro and mint
  • roasted peanuts
  • vegetable oil for deep-frying

Preparation

  1. Mix all ingredients for the marinade and combine with the fish. Let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator (if you’re short on time, 1-2 hours is sufficient)
  2. Place the marinated fish on the grill/bake in a preheated oven at 200°F/400°F for 7-10 minutes.
  3. To make dipping sauce: Combine sugar, fish sauce, sugar, water, garlic & Thai fresh chilies, mix well. While constantly stirring, squeeze in lime juice (you can customize the dipping sauce as you like – I prefer more lime juice).
  4. On the dining table, prepare a pan with some vegetable oil heating on a portable stove, the prepared scallions and dills, peanuts, rice vermicelli and dipping sauce.
  5. Fry the fish in the hot oil (high heat) till the outside turns golden brown. Add scallions and dill.
  6. To serve, place some rice vermicelli in a serving bowl. Top with fish, scallions, and dill. Drizzle some dipping sauce and some roasted peanuts for extra texture and crunch. Mix well and serve with fresh herbs.
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A story about Thai chicken green curry (with recipe)

When I tell strangers I’m Thai, one of the first things they tell me is that they love Thai food. My reply is usually, ‘so do I’. What’s not to like about Thai food?

I grew up in Bangkok, a crossroad of Asian cuisines. For many years I was raised by one of the best cooks in the world – my paternal grandmother, Yupa. She was part Indonesian, part Chinese, and part Thai (although I’m not sure of the percentages). And her cooking was as diverse as her blood.

Grandmother is 2nd from left, back row

She was always in the kitchen preparing meals for her family using fresh ingredients bought at the wet market each morning. She would give me a precise list of what to buy, down to the color and number of chili peppers. And I would know by looking at it what we’d have for dinner.

To a child of eleven, the wet market in the morning was like a perfectly choreographed musical. Sellers sang the names of their goods. Bells tinkled as bicycles weave through the crowd. Steam rose from metal drums filled with soy milk and porridge. Stalls lined up one after another in an explosion of colors and textures.

 

Each stall was specialized. I would have to go to five, sometimes, six stalls to get all the ingredients for one dish. One for chicken and beef. A couple for vegetables and herbs. One for shrimp paste. A store just for coconut. Everything was as fresh as they can be.

Many of my clearest childhood memories are from that wet market. The sound of cleaver severing meat from bones. The bright saffron color of monks’ robes. The scent of coconut meat going through the grinder. I can still smell it. Creamy and earthy, with a tinge of burnt wood.

Curry was one of my grandmother’s staple dishes. To make the curry paste, she would wrap shrimp paste in banana leaf and grill it over an open flame before blending it with a mixture of garlic, shallots, galangal, and chili pepper I had pounded with stone mortar and pestle. For coconut milk, she would massage the ground coconut with water until the liquid turn opaque white. She did not follow instructions from a cookbook. There was none in our house. She cooked with her taste buds and her talented hands.

Despite having spent countless hours in the kitchen as a child, I don’t like to cook. Unlike my grandmother, I don’t have the fortitude nor a lot of time and energy to spend in the kitchen. But I love to eat and I have a good taste palate. So, when duty calls, I go for dishes that are high in flavors and low in fussiness – those that meet the 80/20 Rule. If I can get 80% satisfaction from 20% input, the dish will be a part of my repertoire.

One of my signature dishes is chicken green curry. And it’s pretty awesome. I have shared the recipe with several friends and it has become a staple in their homes as well. It’s not my grandmother’s green curry but you can make it in 20 minutes. I have even made it in 15 minutes under duress.

Without the luxury of a wet market, I use canned coconut milk, curry paste, and bamboo shoots (picture above). They can easily be found at 99 Ranch or Vietnamese market. I highly recommend going during the week. They’re zoos on the weekends.

Ingredients:

  • Cooking oil – 1 Tbs
  • Garlic – minced 3-4 cloves
  • Green curry paste (Mae Ploy brand) – 2 Tbs or more
  • Coconut cream (Mae Ploy brand)
  • Boneless Chicken breast – 1 ½ – 2 lbs chopped into small pieces
  • Fish sauce (Phu Quoc brand if available) – 3 Tbs
  • Chicken broth – ½ can
  • Bamboo shoots (Aroy-D brand in strips) – 1 can drained and rinsed
  • Peas and carrots – ¼ bag frozen
  • Thai eggplants – 10 fresh and quartered (if available)
  • Red bell peppers – 1 sliced into strips
  • Brown sugar – ½ teaspoon
  • 1-2 sprigs Basil leaves and 6 kefir lime leaves – whole leaves (if available)

20 minutes cooking time

In a pot, heat oil and cook garlic until light brown

Add 2 Tbs green curry paste, mix with garlic

Add 1 can of coconut cream, mix thoroughly with curry paste until pale green in color and allow to boil

Add chicken and 2 Tbs fish sauce, reserve the rest to taste

Once boil add ½ can of chicken broth

Add Bamboo shoots, Thai eggplants, peas and carrots

Sprinkle in brown sugar

Taste, then add more curry paste if you want it to be spicier and more fish sauce if you want it to be saltier, or add more chicken broth if you want it to be milder

Add sliced red bell pepper

Let boil once more, then sprinkle with basil leaves and kefir lime leaves

Enjoy!

I’d love to hear your experience in making this dish in the comment section.