Tuesday, July 13, 2010

IWAD #5 - Fancy Nancy

This week was a little different. I had an appointment Monday, so IWAD was going to have to be changed to either Sunday or Tuesday for this week. On Sunday we decided to go ahead and do it. So I went shopping to buy all of the ingredients for the appetizer "Marinated Antipasto", the main course of "Classic Fettuccine Alfredo" and "Shrimp Scampi", and the dessert "Nancy's Tiramisu".

First was the "Marinated Antipasto"...pretty self explanatory. There was nothing special about it (except the mozzarella cheese balls). For people that like olives, quartered artichokes, and tomatoes this is probably a very good appetizer, but for me who likes none of those it was blah. It is very easy though and would be a great appetizer for parties.

The main course included two of my very favorite Italian foods: "Shrimp Scampi" and "Classic Fettucini Alfredo". Of course I cannot go shopping for these meals without encountering some problems. First of all, my HEB didn't have any peeled and deveined shrimp. The lady says "we're completely out right now". Hmmm...Do you have any frozen? She replies "Nope, we're all out". Um, does that mean that all HEB's are out right now. "No". Um...Can you call them for me? "Oh, sure, would you like me too?" Okay, now I'm not exactly the most patient person as many people can attest, but really?! This lady was driving me crazy! Anyways, I left my shopping cart of groceries at that HEB and went to another one nearby that had the damn shrimp.

So, shrimp...check! Now, where the hell do I find clarified butter for the fettuccini? In the cookbook it does say how to make clarified butter, but surely they sell it at the grocery store pre-clarified? Nope, it turns out they don't, or I'm blind and the HEB employees didn't know what they were talking about. With that said, I took a stab at making clarified butter with the margarine I had on hand and I guess margarine won't clarify? Hell if I know, but I'm not really sure if it mattered in the recipe anyways. We used unclarified margarine. Both the "Shrimp Scampi" and the "Classic Fettuccine Alfredo" turned out pretty delicious!

And then...the dessert! "Nancy's Tiramisu"! Well, I don't typically order dessert out at Italian restaurants unless I'm pregnant and can't have wine with my dinner, which I consider my dessert. And when you are pregnant you can't have Tiramisu anyways because it has alcohol in it. Therefore, I have probably tried Tiramsu once or twice. Now, Tiramisu is a multistep process and takes a little bit of time and patience, but it is really not that hard to make. It did help, however, to have both Brandy and I making it together. While I combined the egg yolk and sugar and double boiled the mixture for 10 minutes, Brandy was busy beating the whipping cream "to soft peaks". One thing I would have done ahead of time in hindsight was to make the espresso so it could be chilled. I do have an espresso machine, but it hasn't been working right so I bought some instant espresso. I was very worried about this because I don't like instant coffee at all and I wondered how this would taste. (I even thought about going into Starbucks to ask them for 1 3/4 cups of espresso...what would they have thought of that?!) Anyways, the brand I bought was "Medaglia D'Oro" Instant Espresso Coffee. We made it, added some ice to it, then put it in the freezer to chill for a few minutes.

Next step, dip the ladyfingers into the espresso/brandy mixture (we didn't use grappa) and place in casserole dish. (On a side note, HEB does carry ladyfingers at the refrigerated bakery section of the store). It even tells you to do it quickly because the ladyfingers dissolve quickly. Well, I attempted it first. Failed. It completely fell apart and disentegrated. Okay, try number 2...place on fork...dip...same result. Brandy insisted on taking a stab at it too...quite literally :) She thought she'd try to do it very quickly and for visual purposes imagine someone very large doing a cannon bomb off of a diving board. Yep, those poor little ladyfingers were forced right into that espresso/brandy mixture and made a huge mess. It was quite funny though (and Brandy got her try...glad I didn't give in and let her try to separate the egg yolks from the whites too). So, forget dipping them. We layered them in the dish and poured half of the espresso over them, then after layering (as in the directions) we did it again.

As it turns out, maybe whoever Nancy is has a great Tiramisu recipe, and it tasted delicious, but she could have made it easier from the get go if she would have just told us to layer them and pour rather than dip.

"Marinated Antipasto"

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 pint (2 cups) cherry tomatoes
  • 1 can (14 ounces) quartered artichoke hearts, drained
  • 8 ounces small balls or cubes fresh mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup drained pitted kalamata olives
  • 1/4 cup sliced fresh basil leaves
  • Lettuce leaves
  1. Whisk oil, vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in medium bowl. Add tomatoes, artichokes, mozzarella cheese, olives and basil; toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
  2. Line platter with lettuce. Arrange tomato mixture ofver lettuce; serve at room temperature.
"Classic Fettuccine Alfredo"

  • 12 ounces uncooked fettuccine
  • 2/3 cup whipping cream
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Generous dash white pepper
  • Generous dash ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
  1. Cook past according to package directions. Drain well; cover and keep warm in saucepan.
  2. Meanwhile, heat cream and butter in large heavy skillet over medium-low heat until butter melts and mixture bubbles, stirring frequently. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Stir in salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in Parmesan cheese until well blended and smooth. Return to heat until cheese is melted, if necessary. (Do not let sauce bubble or cheese will become lumpy and tough.)
  3. Pour sacue over past. Cook and stir over low heat 2 to 3 minutes or until sauce thickens and pasta is evenly coated. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately.
"Shrimp Scampi"

  • 1/3 cup clarified butter (see Tip)
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 pounds large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 6 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • Chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Lemon wedges (optional)
  1. Heat clarified butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until softened but not brown. Add shrimp, green onions, wine and lemon juice; cook 2 to 4 minutes or until shrimp are pink and opaque, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add parsley; season with salt and pepper. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.
  • Tip- To clarify butter, melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Skim off the white foam that forms on top, then strain the clear butter through cheesecloth. Discard cheesecloth and the milky residue at the bottom of the pan. Clarified butter will keep, covered, in the refrigerator fur up to 2 months.
"Nancy's Tiramisu"

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups mascarpone cheese
  • 1 3/4 cups whipping cream, beaten to soft peaks
  • 1 3/4 cups cold espresso or strong brewed coffee
  • 3 tablespoons brandy
  • 3 tablespoons grappa (optional)
  • 4 packages (3 ounces each) ladyfingers
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  1. Beat egg yolks and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale yellow. Place in top of double boiler over simmering water. Cook, stirring constantly, 10 minutes. Combine yolk mixture and mascarpone cheese in large bowl; beat with electric mixer at low wpeed until well blended and fluffy. Fold in whipped cream. Set aside.
  2. Combine espresso, brandy and grappa, if desired, in medium bowl. Dip ladyfingers individually into espresso mixture and arrange side by side in single layer in 13x9-inch baking dish. (Dip ladyfingers into mixture quickly or they will absorb too much liquid and fall apart.)
  3. Spread half of mascarpone mixture evenly over ladyfinger layer. Sift 1 tablespoon cocoa over mascarpone layer. Repeat with another layer of 24 ladyfingers dipped in espresso mixture. Cover with remaining mascarpone mixture. Sift remaining 1 tablespoon cocoa over top. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

1 comment:

  1. Brandy's Reaction/Scoring (1-5): GOES ON THE BEST LIST
    Score - Course - Reaction
    1 - Appetizer - I'm not an artichoke fan, but this salad was different, had a great mix of ingredients, and is going in my "salad" top list.
    2 - Alfredo - Nice, but could use some slight adjustments to make it even better.
    1 - Shrimp - Easy and very good.
    1 - Dessert - This is pretty easy and is absolutely on my faves list.
    This meal was the best one so far ... BY FAR!!!! Next week Mark is supposed to select our meal, so I'm looking forward to it!

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