Hi! I've been attempting to make Alfredo sauce from scratch lately, but haven't really been able to get the consistency or the taste perfect. Despite adding all the necessary herbs and ingredients, it still tastes like something is lacking, and doesn't really taste like "restaurant standard". Also, since I use half & half to make the sauce, i noticed that it's slightly too watery. Should I be using something heavier instead? There also seems to be little flaky/grainy stuff in the sauce (maybe because of the cheese i put it in, or maybe because i cook the sauce with the shrimp/meat to add flavor). It disturbs me because alfredo is supposed to be smooth and thick. Please help, thanks!
Chef James replies:
G’day Adrian,
Thank you for your question!
I love Alfredo sauce and have made it various ways. A couple of things to watch for when you are making Alfredo sauce would be the cream. Half and half will split when you boil it if there is no thickener or stabilizer such as a roux (flour and butter mixture) so using 18% cream or higher, 35% would be ideal for this simple application. Also I would suggest adding butter at the end to make the sauce richer and give it a little shine. Some restaurants actually whisk an egg yolk into the sauce at the end to give the sauce a little richer colour and body. In addition, to prevent the sauce from becoming grainy, add the cheese right at the end just before adding the pasta. DO NOT BOIL once the cheese is added. For more flavor you can also add a pinch of nutmeg.
I hope this helps you achieve the restaurant quality sauce you are looking for and have fun cooking.
Yours in food,
James
I would like to incorporate more fish into my meals but the only fish my family will eat is pickerel. Do you have any suggestions of fish that I can "pass off" as pickerel? The biggest complaint about other fish that I have tried is that they taste too "fishy”. They will eat salmon, but only once every month or so.
Chef Ryan replies:
Liane,
Good for you! Introducing seafood into a diet can be challenging, especially with picky eaters. Although there may be some headaches at the dinner table, the benefits of eating fresh fish and shellfish are too many to pass up. My wife is a vegetarian for many reasons so we eat seafood 4 or 5 times a week, and with 3 young children, I know how hard it can be to please everyone. First let’s address the “fishy” issue. Fattier fish such as: trout, salmon, mackerel, herring can have a stronger “fish” taste due to the oils and fats in their flesh and although they are white fish, haddock, pollock also have a strong flavour. I had the same problem at home, the flavours were simply too strong for my kids palates. However, any fish that smells or taste “fishy” could also be old and not necessarily the best quality. When you are purchasing fresh seafood, shop for it the day you plan to cook it, store it on ice in the refrigerator, ask the fish monger when it came in or wash caught, ask to give it a sniff (fresh fish smells like the ocean not fishy), the flesh should be firm, not soft or mushy and it should look moist, and not all dried out!
Most often now I buy white flesh fish, like pickerel they are: generally lighter, milder in flavour and some even have a sweet taste. Just be careful when cooking it however, as the reduced intramuscular fat will help with the fishy taste, but it also means that over cooked fish will be dry and chewy! You could try: bass, catfish, cod, monkfish, red snapper, sea bream, orange roughy, tilapia, whitefish, sole, halibut, and/or turbot. All of these fish have a much milder and sweeter taste similar to pickerel. I hope this helps with your seafood dilemma!
Happy Cooking!
Chef Ryan Skelton
select your store
