Inspired by Stuart?

Hard to believe, I know, but I was.

After seeing some of the tasty meals he and Cynthia have posted here, I decided to try a non-meat dish myself.

So tonight I made a vegetarian styled fettuccini. I sauteed onion and red pepper in some EVOO, added in sliced mushrooms and butter and when the mushrooms got to the tender state I mixed in some cream and milk and let it simmer. Then I threw in some lightly poached asparagus and tossed with fettuccini. Finally I folded in some fresh baby spinach and let it wilt. Topped it with grated paramesan and chowed down.

It was good, but it didn't wow. I think it lacked a couple of things. One, I'm being way to good about salt intake and I was out of fresh garlic and made do with powder. Maybe something more exotic than grocery store crimini 'shrooms might have helped as well.

Garlic. You gotta have garlic. There is no such thing as too much garlic.

Agree on the garlic. And add a nice sprinkle of Smoked Red Savina powder.

And 86 the milk. Just go with more cream. I'm sure your cardiologist will understand!

And, oh yeah btw, I could eat that.

[Jenise]

Similar to Cynthia's response but different: lose the milk, but add wine. For me the dish needed some acid, and a splash of Noilly Prat (dry white vermouth) or white wine to deglaze the mushrooms would have provided some contrasting yang to the cream's sweetness.

Non-meat dishes are easy. Pizza and Alfredo.

I've never been able to get behind Alfredo. On paper, it's perfect- fat and carbs galore, lots of cheesy goodness. But when it gets down to it in reality, I'd rather have mac and cheese (with a healthy sprinkle of SRS) if I'm going to go the cheesy pasta route. YMMV, of course: Alfredo is wildly popular, spicy mac and cheese is decidedly not.

The other thing I do, Doug, is to let the onions and mushrooms caramelize. Brings out a lot of flavor that way. You could try roasting the asparagus too.

I've never been able to get behind Alfredo. On paper, it's perfect- fat and carbs galore, lots of cheesy goodness.

Ditto that. I find it way too bland for my taste, unless I dump about a pound of Reggiano into the pan.
Why bother?

I'd much prefer pasta topped with some good quality butter, freshly grated Reggiano, and some chopped parsley than a traditional Alfredo.

Lots of good suggestions here. Thanks all.

Garlic - I agree (to a point - I have had too much garlic - my SO kept wanting to slather me with marinara and- well, that's another story).

Wine deglazing. I thought of that too late. I was drinking the 05 Rocks and Gravel, which was good with the food but I really didn't want pink sauce.

Carmelizing - doh! I do that all the time, but didn't this time.

Roasting the asparagus - or grilling it over charcoal which is my favorite way to cook asparagus.

I do like Alfredo but only the kind that clogs your arteries when you look at it. Otherwise it's just a cream sauce.

[David M. Bueker]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is Smoked Red Savina powder?

The savina is an offshoot of the habanero. It's been bred to produce a hotter pepper.

rwj

Forgive my ignorance, but what is Smoked Red Savina powder?

From the way they talk about it, I think it is a brand of crack that is poplular with transplants to Montana.

[David M. Bueker]

The savina is an offshoot of the habanero. It's been bred to produce a hotter pepper.

Because we really need something hotter than habaneros.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is Smoked Red Savina powder?

From the way they talk about it, I think it is a brand of crack that is poplular with transplants to Montana.

Everyone here has their addictions. You just haven't revealed yours yet!

Garlic - I agree (to a point - I have had too much garlic - my SO kept wanting to slather me with marinara and- well, that's another story).

On occasion I have had that feeling. However, I find that when something tastes over-gralicky, that is often due to the lack of freshness of the garlic. Once your garlic has begun to sprout, remove that little green section from the middle of the garlic -- you will find that it imparts a strong, bitter garlicky taste (unflattering to most dishes). Also, at the point that garlic gets a little old and starts to have that slightly tan, leathery appearance (like some people's skin who live in the sun belt), toss it. Again, you will note a heavier, less pleasant garlicky taste. For a milder, sweeter, but notably garlic top note, try roasted garlic in place of fresh. I buy garlic in bulk, and when it is not as heavy as it should be (noting a little age) is when I whack off the tops and toss it into the oven with a little EVOO. Place any that you don't use right away into a jar with a little oil and perhaps a sprinkling of herbs of your choice. The garlic can be used in place of butter on your morning toast or bagel, and the oil can be used for all sorts of purposes.

Too much garlic -- me thinks not! But, just one lady's opinioin.

I know, I =KNOW= that people's tastes vary, as a Biochemist I even have a working knowledge of WHY they vary so dramatically.

But it's hard for me to take in the fact that some people consider the merest whiff of garlic to be "too much."

Often I think that if those people weren't told that there was garlic in the dish they wouldn't even realize it. That is particularly true when the garlic is cooked for some time, like with a garlic soup, or chicken with 40 cloves of garlic.

On another board I posted a favorite recipe that I had worked out for guacamole. I finally decided that what brought out the flavor of the avocados the best was to use NO ONIONS but instead one clove of garlic and a finely minced shallot per two avocados. I had people freaking out over "too much garlic" -- I even said "I meant one CLOVE of garlic, not a whole HEAD of garlic" but they had understood that.

There was one of those BBC productions on PBS a few years ago. I can't remember the novel or the author but the plot involved a family that had fallen on hard times and was being forced to make do on essentially no money. The father was one of those British blow-hard types always telling everyone what to do. Finally they realized that one of the household servants, who was I think Spanish, was also an extremely good cook. And (over Father's objections) he became the Cook and he would find wild onions and garlic in the yard and snare a rabbit or something and concoct these delicious dishes. There was some resistance at first to the garlicky aromas but the daughters loved it, one took a deep whiff and said "It smells of abroad!"

Frank

PS I think it was "Love in a Cold Climate" by Nancy Mitford. Father was played by Alan Bates and one of the male characters was simply called "Boy" by everyone.

[Jenise]

I've never been able to get behind Alfredo. On paper, it's perfect- fat and carbs galore, lots of cheesy goodness. But when it gets down to it in reality, I'd rather have mac and cheese (with a healthy sprinkle of SRS) if I'm going to go the cheesy pasta route. YMMV, of course: Alfredo is wildly popular, spicy mac and cheese is decidedly not.

Ditto. I've eaten it numerous times in restaurants and at other people's houses, but never been moved to make my own version at home where other versions of pasta and cheese inspire craving.

Last week, while my sister was still in town, and in order to try out my new pasta maker, I made a very similar dish, as my son Tim has been vegetarian for several months now. I made the fettuccine, and sauteed onion, garlic and crushed red pepper in olive oil. I then a jar of roasted red peppers (diced) with the packing liquid, sliced portabellas, vegetable stock and some wine and allowed it to cook for a while. I thickened it with a bit of corn starch, stirred in some romano cheese and served over the cooked fettuccine with more grated romano at the table. It worked quite well.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is Smoked Red Savina powder?

It is an addictive substance made by Jim Campbell of Mild to Wild Pepper Company. He is sadly out of it at the moment, but we still have one bottle left!

Well, less than that now, because we both used it liberally last night on a good sharp cheddar mac & cheese.

To my tastes the dish also sounds a bit busy. Red peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, and spinach seems like a lot going on and potentially muddled flavors. I guess it all depends on the proportions so it might work if some of those ingredients were standing in the background. But this is also because I tend to like focused dishes (vegetarian or not) with a few clear ingredients and supporting elements.

Also, am curious why you call this a 'vegetarian' recipe. What would you have done differently with meat? A bit of background ham?

The savina is an offshoot of the habanero. It's been bred to produce a hotter pepper.

Because we really need something hotter than habaneros.

Well... Yeah!

It's not the heat that the Thing, it's the flavor. There's a smoky, fruity quality to the flavor, and the heat is rather unique- it's a back-palate, finish-y sort of heat. There's nothing else quite like it. PERFECT on mac and cheese. I've also used it in a pineapple dessert.

To my tastes the dish also sounds a bit busy. Red peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, and spinach seems like a lot going on and potentially muddled flavors. I guess it all depends on the proportions so it might work if some of those ingredients were standing in the background. But this is also because I tend to like focused dishes (vegetarian or not) with a few clear ingredients and supporting elements.

Also, am curious why you call this a 'vegetarian' recipe. What would you have done differently with meat? A bit of background ham?

It wasn't muddy, it just lacked a little zip - which would have been handled by using real garlic and deglazing the pan with some white wine. Mushrooms were the primary element, with the rest acting as a supporting cast.

As for meat, I would have added chicken during the saute phase.

It wasn't muddy, it just lacked a little zip - which would have been handled by using real garlic and deglazing the pan with some white wine. Mushrooms were the primary element, with the rest acting as a supporting cast.

As for meat, I would have added chicken during the saute phase.

Ok.

Everyone's style is different.