Simple Seafood Alfredo July 13, 2009
Posted by CE in Dinner.Tags: alfredo, butter, garlic, heavy whipping cream, scallops, seafood, shrimp, simple
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My boyfriend has recently taken a serious interest in learning how to cook. To many this may seem like ho-hum news, but for those with significant others who don’t cook – ever – think of my accomplishment as a symbol of hope.
Our first collaboration, wherein I teach and he listens, was Seafood Alfredo; the kind you pay 15 dollars a plate for at Olive Garden. However, if you shop smart you can significantly reduce that cost and still cook everything from raw ingredients.
We were able to purchase what we needed from Fred Meyers (a branch of Krogers) for less than $9, but to buy everything from scratch would cost much (upwards of 50%) more. Anyways, we’ll get to that nitty-gritty later, here are the three parts to Seafood Alfredo in the order they should be prepared:
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S O S….let me guess….Seafood Of Sorts ? ? ? …..not a chance Confusus say person who not know what S stands for was either born under Big rock or was never in the Army.
I was thinking it could stand for Simply Obvious Seafood Alfredo (S.O.S. Alfredo) or Simply Ordinary Seafood Alfredo. Acronyms are a beautiful thing!
I am the only other person who tasted this recipe first hand, and I have to say that I was very pleased.
Shrimp prep:
I’ve been cooking A LOT of shrimp this year for some reason, so much so that the wife (a prawn junkie when we go to out for Chinese) is tired of shrimp now, and claims its because of overexposure, not my botched prep of said shrimp…
Anyway on to my point.
I’ve been frustrated with the amount of shrinkage that I get from my shrimp when I stir fry or sauté them. They end up looking like little worms, and have the consistency of rubber. The difference between perfectly stir fried/ sautéed shrimp and rubber worms is as little as 10 seconds.
I recently discovered that a much better approach is to thaw, marinate (for 15 – 30 minutes) in a key lime or lemon based marinade, oil or spray with PAM, then BROIL in their shells. As soon as you hear the shells start to crackle, and the shrimp is that nice orange color, you are done, pull them out, let them sit until the shells are not so hot that they burn you, then remove them from the shells, and top your pasta (or whatever else you had in mind) with them.
Extra bother? Maybe, but considering the price of shrimp, it’s worth it to me.