Fettuccine Alfredo

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Doesn't this look delicious?  Well in this blog I'm going to give you ingredients and step by step instructions on how to recreate this lovely meal.

What You'll Need for this Recipe:

• 1 bag of 51-60 white shrimp, uncooked (the bad should say that it contains 1LB of shrimp)
• Mushrooms (I honestly don't think it matters what kind, at least to me it doesnt, you can just buy a container of pre-cut and pre-rinsed ones at the store)
• 1 loaf of french bread
• Olive Oil (I don't have exact measurements because some of the measurements aren' really exact, just have a good amount of olive oil ready)
• 1 cup of butter (That is equal to two 8tbsp blocks of butter, don't do anything with the butter yet, it will be in the procedure, just make sure you have it)
• 1-2 cups of heavy cream
• 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of Parmesan (You will start off with exact measurements, but depending on the amount of sauce you want it can change so just have that much ready) 
• 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of finely grated Asiago cheese (Most Asiago cheese is sold in solid triangles at the store, which is fine, I grated mine in my Magic Bullet and it worked just fine)
• 2 tsp of white whine vinegar
• Fettuccine noodles (most Fettuccine comes in boxes with 1LB of noodles, you will only need about 8 oz. = half of the box)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced or minced
• Salt
• Pepper

Procedure:

Procedure for Fettuccine Sauce:

1. Put 1/2 cup (one 8tbsp block) of butter in a medium sized pot with 1 cup of heavy cream, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup of Asiago cheese.  Add desired Pepper and Salt.
2. Heat on a low medium setting and stir occasionally, you don't want to burn the sauce.
3. If you want a little bit are a garlic taste to your sauce, add a 1/4 teaspoon of Garlic Powder.

Now for me I just put all of the ingredients in and heated them (like the procedure above), but my ending sauce hadn't completely melted the cheeses, so if you have a way to melt cheese before combining the ingredients then go ahead and do that.  Be sure to leave a comment telling me what you did so I can add it to the procedure!

Procedure for Cooking Shrimp and Mushrooms:

1. Peel the shrimp (remove the shells or any veins that weren't completely removed; I would suggest having three bowls: one filled with water just below room temperature where you put the frozen shrimp to thaw a bit, one bowl for the shells and veins that you remove, and a third bowl for the shrimp that have gone through the process.  TIP: Wear some cheap rubber gloves, the water get's cold quick and the shells tend to love to stick to skin)
2. Take out a medium/small pan and cover the bottom of the pan with Olive Oil (this is why I didn't use exact measurements, all pans are different).  Turn the heat on to a low medium setting and carefully place the shrimp on the pan.
3. Keep an eye on the shrimp!  They cook fast!  Your shrimp should have looked grey when you first got them but as they cook they begin to turn pink, and the edges should begin to curl.  You shouldn't cook your shrimp for any longer than 2-3 minutes.
4. When the shrimp are done get out another bowl (yes, I know, you need a lot of bowls for this recipe, but what cook doesn't have tons of bowls?) and place the shrimp in the bowl.  DO NOT EMPTY OUT THE POT OF THE OLIVE OIL MIXTURE!!
5. Put the pan back on the stove.  Take out your mushrooms (amount depends on consumer) and cook them in the pan.  COOKING TIME IS THE SAME FOR MUSHROOMS!!!  You should NOT cook your mushrooms any longer than 2-3 minutes (maybe 3 minutes and 30 seconds depending on the size of the mushroom pieces).  We cook the mushrooms in the same olive oil that the shrimp were cooked in to give the mushrooms a little more flavor, and it also connects the seafood with the magnificent fungi.
6. When you are finished with the mushrooms, yes, you'll need another bowl, put the mushrooms in the bowl.  DO NOT RINSE OUT THE PAN!!!  Pour the Olive Oil mixture into a cup or bowl of some kind and save it for later.

Procedure for French Bread and Topping:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Take half of your shrimp and move them onto a cutting board.  Dice them up, they don't have to be diced so much that they are like apple sauce, but dice them enough so that there are large and small pieces throughout.  
3. Move the diced shrimp into another bowl (yes, another bowl, you need a lot of bowls to make a good meal!) and add:
• one tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of white whine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt (you can also use half that amount and replace the other half with finely grated Asiago cheese to connect the sauce and the bread)
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
4. Set this bowl aside and grab your loaf of bread and a bread knife.  Cut off the heal and enjoy it, because you are working hard to make this meal.  Cut your loaf with a slant and make sure the pieces are each about 3/4 of an inch thick.  Depending on the size of your loaf of French bread you might have to cut each of these pieces in half.
5. Take your diced/minced garlic, olive oil, and a little bit of butter, and top each piece of bread with them.  Make sure each piece has an even amount.
6. Take half of the pieces of bread and top them with a bit of Asiago cheese (I'll explain why you only top half in a moment).
7. When the oven is preheated, put the bread in for about 5-7 minutes or until lightly toasted.
8. When bread is done, take the half of the pieces that do NOT have Asiago cheese on them and top them with the diced shrimp mixture that you made.

Procedure for Fettuccine Noodles:

1. Get a large pot and fill it with water.  Bring water to a rolling boil.  DO NOT ADD ANY SALT!  Asiago is a very salty cheese, so if you add salt to the water that the noodles are absorbing you could get a very salty meal, unless you like it that way, then go ahead.
2. Put your 8 oz. of fettuccine into the boiling water and cook until you have reached your desired tenderness.

The Next Steps:

1. When the noodles are cooked, move JUST THE NOODLES into the pot of fettuccine alfredo sauce you prepared.  Keep the heat on LOW, EXTREMELY LOW, as to keep the sauce and noodles warm but not cook them too much.  
2. If there isn't enough sauce, simply add a little more cream, Parmesan, and Asiago cheese until you have reached the desired amount of sauce.  You can also add some of the starch water from where you cooked your fettuccine noodles to make more sauce as well.
3. Spoon out your desired amount of Fettuccine Alfredo and top it with shrimp and mushrooms (your desired amount of course).  And feel free to enjoy some garlic french bread toast or some lovely toasted french bread topped with Shrimp Vinaigrette.

(Click image for larger view)

Enjoy!
Don't like Mushrooms or shrimp?  Just skip those  steps!

If you have leftover shrimp, mushrooms, and Asiago, you can make yourself a lovely gourmet Omelet the next day!


Why Eat This?
Shrimp are an excellent source of selenium and unusually low-fat, low-calorie protein.


Mushrooms are packed with antioxidants, they provide a good source of fiber, and they have high glutamic acid levels which are known to enhance flavors in foods.


Vinegar will clean your internal systems by killing potentially harmful bacteria, and it also helps control blood sugar and insulin levels if you ingest it after eating a meal that is high in carbohydrates.


French bread is low in fat, and sometimes it is even fat free!