Category Archives: Stuff I Cook

Falling for Alfredo

Stuff I Cook

If you are among my dearest and loyal friends who follow this blog, you might note that I previously posted about falling off my low-carb diet horse last weekend on account of a very sinful Pasta Alfredo in Pasta Bella. What I failed to tell you was the overwhelming guilt I had after a few bites that I decided to just eat half. The waitress offered to box the remaining half but I firmly declined. Bad move. I have been thinking about that dish all this time…

It wont’s be in a couple of weeks before we return to Fredericksburg so I decided to just make my very own. I DVR’ed the two X-Files episodes that I missed so I need a great dish to watch it with.

Good news: my version, is a one-pot dish, pretty much like all that I cook. This blog should have been  titled The Lazy Cook, but it was already taken.

Bad news: I am so falling off the horse for this one. This is not exactly a diet dish. Far from it. The only way this dish could land in Weight Watchers is if the serving is one tablespoon.

the cast of evil characters: half and half, heavy cream, parmesan, garlic paste and pasta.
the cast of evil characters: half and half, heavy cream, parmesan, garlic paste and pasta.

Cook pasta according to package directions. I would normally use angel hair, but it looks like I don’t have it in my pantry so ordinary spaghetti will have to do. Cook al dente. There is nothing worse that soggy pasta…except gluten-free pasta! Haha.

D cleaned my cooking station. Everything was scrubbed and shined. Time to get it messy!
D cleaned my cooking station. Everything was scrubbed and shined. Time to get it messy!

Make sure you get an extra cup of pasta water. This will come in handy should the sauce come out clumpy or goopy, water it down with the pasta water, problem solved.

Drain in coriander and wash with cold water. Dropping the temperature will prevent it from cooking further, thereby avoiding the soggy pasta
Drain in coriander and wash with cold water. Dropping the temperature will prevent it from cooking further, thereby avoiding the soggy pasta

Now for the Alfredo sauce, you only need to remember that the ratio of milk to cheese is 1:2. In this case, I will be using 1/2C of half and half plus 1/2C of heavy cream = 1 cup, then have 2 cups of parmesan. You don’t’ have to use half and half, all heavy cream would be perfect. I mean if you’re the person who could use the calories, then more power to you. I wish I was you…

Start by melting the butter. Yes, there i butter, I didn't include this in the picture of ingredients because I didn't want to scare people
Start by melting the butter. Yes, there is butter, I didn’t include this in the picture of ingredients because I didn’t want to scare people
Stir in milk and cook in low heat. Add garlic paste. Fresh chopped garlic is even better.
Stir in milk and cook in low heat. Add garlic paste. Fresh chopped garlic is even better.

You may season with salt and pepper. In this case, I didn’t. Because really? All this cream and cheese AND salt? Seriously, though. The parmesan has some saltiness to it. It’s really enough. Fresh-cracked pepper would be great though.

Piece de resistance --- truffle oil. Forget everything I said about the cream, cheese and salt. Truffle oil is the game-changer. Add1 tablespoon and tell me how it changed your life.
Piece de resistance — truffle oil. Forget everything I said about the cream, cheese and salt. Truffle oil is the game-changer. Add 1 tablespoon and tell me how it changed your life.

image

Here’s my Pasta Alfredo. Note the wavy bowl. I fell in love with wavy dishes when Villeroy and Boch came out with their New Wave design. A little impractical but oh-so-pretty. I was just talking to my dear friend Yassy earlier and we talked about having the need to enjoy our own company as we grow older, coz eventually we will end up being alone. So even as I eat this by myself (D is at work and B is in school), I treat myself fancy. I will change into pajamas and  eat this while I watch the new X-files. Is that a great plan or what?

 

Confessions of an Under-Achiever

H-town (Houston), I, Me, and Myself, Stuff I Cook

 

January is my laziest month. Weird, I know. Everyone else jumps on to their new year’s resolutions with so much verve, while I am spending more than half of my day in my pajamas. I always have this big Holiday hang-over. It’s because I spend so much energy the previous month — with all our three birthdays, anniversary, Christmas and New Year. January is more than half-way through and this is all I’ve done:

—–took down my Christmas decor – last weekend, D generously offered his services; that’s what he does every year. A gentle reminder that the decors have to go. He knows that I am OC about putting it all back in place, so I will have to refuse his offer and do it myself. God forbid I should need a red and gold Christmas ball and I won’t find it in the red plastic box in the second shelf on the left side of the attic.
—–survived my salad-only Holiday detox – the Lord knows I did not pass on any dish nor drink last month and my skin paid for it. Dry, dull and blotchy. Ick. I don’t do colonic cleanses, the mere thought of it terrorizes me. So i just do it the old fashioned way of drinking lots of water and consuming raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. My skin has now stopped looking like on old leather bag. Yey!
—–binge-watched Nurse Jackie Final Season, Fargo Season 2 and Homeland Season 5 – now you see why there is no need to change out of the pajamas until sundown.
—–never missed any NFL play-off game – D can’t wait for Superbowl. Once that’s done, we can spend our days like normal people again. He does not appreciate planning our days around Tom Brady’s game schedule.

image

Other than those, barring going back to work (let’s not even go into how many patients I saw coz it’s kinda pathetic too), I haven’t done much…

What snapped this whole under-achieving vibe was Bean’s entry on our to-buy list. I keep one in the kitchen. I am very forgetful so if it’s not on this list, it won’t make its our way into our house. Under his entry of Gatorade grape flavor, he wrote, Real Food. Ouch! I have not cooked anything since the start of the year. I kept my family alive through nuke-n-eat FitFoods and by anyfooddelivered.com. It’s a website that allows you to order any food in the area and they charge you. So simple. I order stuff from Fat Bao. It’s Asian fusion specializing in baos. Beans likes their Big Byrd and Yummy Byrd.

image

D likes their soft-shell crab bao and ahi-tuna bao
D likes their soft-shell crab bao and ahi-tuna bao

image
I love their tonkatsu, but I am staying off the carbs so I just have the soup and beans gets the noodles and all the meats on it
Other than this life-saver of a restaurant, it’s all veggies and fruits . Now you see why the energy level is low. Oh, and not a drop of alcohol too. Too bad coz it’s the beginning of the quarter and all our shipments from our wine memberships are all coming in…drats.

Anyway, Beans finally got fed-up with all these foods, yummy as they are, so he requested that I cook some “real food”. Naturally, I felt guilty. I asked him he wants anything specific, he said he has missed my lemon chicken and wild rice soup. The awesome mom that I am, I immediately made some.

image

I use rotisserie chicken (get one whole chicken then dice the breast part) so that this is just a one-pot dish. If you use raw chicken, you need to marinate the chicken breast with salt and lemon then sauté it. I barely got off my hiatus so the fewer dishes to wash, the better.

In a pot, add a cup of rice/wild rice combo and season with herbs. I use an italian herb mix (1 table spoon)
In a pot, add a cup of rice/wild rice combo and season with herbs. I use an italian herb mix (1 table spoon)
Add 3 cups of chicken stock and as soon as it boils, add carrots.
Add 3 cups of chicken stock and as soon as it boils, add carrots.
Add diced up chicken, cover and cook for 20 minutes
Add diced up chicken, cover and cook for 20 minutes
add juice of three lemons then cook for 5 minutes without stirring.
add juice of three lemons then cook for 5 minutes without stirring.

Sliced lemons in the picture is purely for aesthetics. And just like that, my creativity has awakened too! I have officially started what looks to be a wonderful year.

Here you go, Beans. “Real food”.