Quick Dinner: Easy Fettuccine Alfredo

By Joanna of Keeping Feet

I mentioned in my last post that I’m trying an experiment for a month: Meal planning for the entire month and eating out of my pantry and freezer and garden. We had guests over for dinner Saturday, and I needed to make something that would feed twice the number of mouths I normally cook for, and used what I had on hand (and wouldn’t be too “boring” for guests!) Having a few scalable recipes has been useful for me. I prefer a ratio or approximate amounts of ingredients to exactly-measured instructions so I can easily make more or less of something without doing complex math. Another advantage of scalable recipes is I can use exactly what I have on hand rather than having little bits left over.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Equal parts heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tablespoons butter for every cup of cheese

Fresh-grated parmesan is obviously best, but even the stuff in the green can will work for this recipe.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add cream and mix with butter. Add cheese. Simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add more cheese if desired.

Throw in some garlic, pepper, paprika, or whatever else you might like to spice it up, but just the basic formula will result in a great sauce- way better than what you’d get out of a jar!

Serve hot over fettuccine. Top with grilled chicken strips, if desired. I used leftover roast chicken to top this.

Healthy? Some would say no. I like to think, I’m using whole ingredients rather than ingesting the colorings and preservatives in the jarred sauce, so this recipe is better than the alternative. Some of the cream could probably be replaced with milk to lower the calorie count. I’m not sure if replacing the butter with margarine would work, but it’s worth a try, if you’re concerned about it.

And, Voila! Dinner! In no time!

Patty cake, patty cake

I love the taste of homemade bread; however working takes so much energy that when I get home, baking bread is one of the last things on my mind.  Many readers use and love the Artisian Bread in 5 minutes, a book I do not yet own.  Until ownership occurs, the web search was on for a french bread recipe that was easy to make and bake.  I found it!

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package yeast  or 2 tsp powedered from the jar yeast
(rapid-rise recommended)
1 cup warm water
salt to taste (I use 3/4 teaspoon)

In a large bowl, combine water with yeast and salt. Let sit for five minutes. Stir in flour until the dough is stiff enough to knead. (Add flour a little at a time. Three cups flour is approximate; exact amount may vary.) Knead dough until smooth and elastic–a few minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl; cover. Let rise until doubled. Form dough into a french-style loaf and place on greased baking sheet. (Dust baking sheet with cornmeal first if desired.) Place immediately in oven (unpreheated!)–bread will rise as oven heats up. Set oven at 375-degrees. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

The best part about this recipe is that it works – for me!  Using recipes passed on by ‘real’ people who fit baking into a busy schedule are usually better than ones that you pick up from a book (or the web).  Usually, not always. 

Now, we cook using a wood cook stove and, if you are one of like mind, there are a few alterations that need to be noted: 

1. Oven was preheated; it takes about 30 minutes to get the fire hot enough to heat the oven (I’ll have to time it next time to confirm).
2. Oven temp can be 250 by an oven thermometer
3. Cooking time is 20 minutes for medium to dark brown loaves

Don’t be afraid to try this.  Perfect loaves in just a few hours.  I have not frozen the dough to use later and will do that sometime soon and post the results. 

Happy baking!