httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc0fX_E1wI0

“Nemesis ” – An opponent that cannot be beaten or overcome. Well, I found such a beast in this book that I just could not master, so I demanded a rematch! More on that later.

I love Fettuccine Alfredo , so I had been dying to try this “Loaded Alfredo” recipe out! Of course, I had not found a recipe that gave me anything close to what I’d previously enjoyed at the Olive Garden (okay, so it’s not real Italian food but, in my early twenties, that was all I could afford and I fell in love with this dish, so I’m being sentimental). Most if not all Olive Garden restaurants are gone from Canada now, though I discovered that there is one in the US county where I happen to travel to fairly frequently for work. I get my fix then – just don’t ask for the nutritional facts as it’s a killer dish. 😉

Want to know just how much of an obsession I have for this place: well, let me tell you a story…. [Evil editor is paying rapt attention.]

Once upon a time, my friend Peter and I attended Chicon2000 (the 58th World Science Fiction Convention ) with Lynda, another friend of ours. Upon arriving at the hotel, Peter and I agreed that we just missed our favorite Italian restaurant and those wonderful breadsticks (which have changed over the years and are not quite the same … sigh), so we just had to get to the nearest one there. I, being crafty, had brought printed Mapquest directions from home directing the way to this eatery. According to the map, it was only a mere 10 minutes away from the hotel, so I thought PERFECT … well, NOT! As it turned out, it was not a mere 10 minutes thataway, but one hour later and a not-so-little US$45 cab ride (the Canadian dollar was much lower in value at the time, so we probably spent something close to a million – yeah … slight exaggeration). By the time we found the place, we were committed so we ate and, yes, I did have my Fettuccine Alfredo (which was great). Seeing as this was our first night (with at least seven more days to go) and we’d spent that much money on cab fare, we decided that perhaps taking the subway would be better. It was but not without its own fun; I’ll save that story for another time.

Getting back to this episode. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was talking about making mistakes. Well, this one was full of them (though looking at the show you cannot tell – but WE know!).

1/ Whole wheat pasta, at least the kind I bought, did not seem to fit this recipe (plus I used a wee bit more than the recipe called for which added to the issue).
2/ Juggling preparing the vegetables with making the sauce and then cooking the pasta all within a certain time frame worked against me (i.e., burned veggies, undercooked pasta). Okay, so I guess I won’t be a short order cook anytime soon (no matter how smooth the finished YouTube version looks, according to Helenka).
3/ I used 1% milk though the recipe called for 2%. Not really sure if that contributed to it or not, but I’m putting it in there.

Everything smelled wonderful (of course, cooking with garlic helped)! In fact, at the time, other than the veggies, I didn’t expect the outcome; however, when we sat down to eat, our hearts were just not into finishing our plates (as the combined flavours were off). The taste was just not there, so I decided to have a rematch off-camera. Nemesis or not, this alfredo sauce was not going to get the better of me (I’m stubborn – you see lol). So I did do the rematch later on. To find out how THAT worked out, you’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, do check out our latest creation. Perhaps you can learn from it, too. We certainly did.

Enjoy!
B&H =:)

Please note: We try and review the recipes in the cookbook; however, in an effort to respect copyright, we are not able to reproduce the actual printed recipes here. If you do have the book, please follow along with us!