Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Portobello Mushroom-Alfredo Sauce


Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) package fettuccine
1 (6-ounce) package Portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk (*)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
Garnish: Italian flat-leaf parsley sprigs


Preparation

Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain.
Remove brown gills from undersides of mushroom caps using a spoon, and discard gills. Chop mushrooms.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; add mushrooms and garlic, and sauté 5 to 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in cream and milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, and simmer, whisking constantly, 10 minutes. Stir in cheese, pepper, and salt; stir constantly until cheese melts and mixture thickens. Stir in 2 tablespoons parsley. Serve over hot cooked pasta. Garnish, if desired.

Option

(*) For a seafood Alfredo sauce, substitute the 1-cup of milk with 1-cup of seafood broth.(Boil the shells from one pound of shrimp in 1 1/2 cups water until reduced to 1-cup; or, use Penzey's Seafood Base per directions.)

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Orange Scallops with Vermicelli and White Wine Sauce©


You'll never realize the full potential of the flavor and the delicacy of scallops until you combine them with orange which brings out the absolute best in bay scallops.






1/2 Lb Bay scallops

2 TBS Garlic Olive Oil
2 TBS butter
¾ Cup White Wine
1 tsp Orange Early Rise
1/3-1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
S & P to taste
Linguini or Vermicelli pasta

1 Roasted, Julienned red pepper (optional)

Add olive oil and butter to sauté pan. Turn heat to medium high until butter melts and just begins to brown; add scallops and turn heat to high stirring and turning scallops constantly until translucent. Once cooked (3-4 minutes) remove scallops to a separate plate leaving the heat on high. Add wine, whisk and reduce mixture to ½ volume. Add cream and Orange Early Rise, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat, and cook until sauce is reduced by half. Add the tarragon and scallops to the reduced sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 3-5 minutes until scallops are heated through.

Place scallops over the cooked vermicelli, and spoon the reduced sauce over all. If you use the roasted red pepper, arrange the julienned strips in a pinwheel design. Serve with a glass of Chardonnay and REAL garlic bread.

Garlic Bread - the REAL thing!

• 1 loaf of fresh Italian bread
• 2-3 cloves of garlic - peeled and cut in half lengthwise
• Olive oil

Cut 1" thick slices of Italian bread. Place on pan under the broiler. When toasted to your liking, turn bread over and toast the second side. Remove toasted bread, rub one side of the bread with the sliced garlic buds and lightly spritz the slices with olive oil. Try it! Everyone I know who has made it this way, has never gone back to the grease soaked, bitter garlicky stuff they used to make.