Submission Thread for F&DB Noodle Challenge

Another good use for leftover crawfish boil stuff... crawfish boil fettuccine Alfredo.

I have been using these challenges to cook things that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time or something I haven’t done before. One of the things is making fresh pasta noodles so it was a perfect opportunity to try it out.

Pulled out my ingredients from the freezer to start preparing them and realized I did not have mushrooms like I thought so I had to whip some up on the stove for this project. I peeled the garlic but it is pretty soft so I expected it to just break apart in the dish although I would be all right if it had some chunks.






After my hotdog experience in my teeny tiny food processor I decided to upgrade that device back then. So rather than mixing the flour and egg on the countertop making a big mess I popped it in this. I wasn’t sure how much pasta I would get from a batch so I went with 4 cups of “00” flour and six eggs with a little salt and olive oil. I could have probably done a single batch with 2 cups of flour and three eggs salt and oil. “00” flour is just some extra fine ground flour and it makes for nice soft smooth pasta.






After about 30 seconds in the food processor I had a good base for my dough. A lot faster and less mess than doing it on the counter with the same results. Took the clump out and kneaded it on the counter with some flour until I had a nice smooth ball of dough that was springy when you pressed your thumb into it. At that point wrap it up tight and let it rest for about a half hour or so until the springiness is gone.






Fettuccine making time! Chopped it up into a more manageable pieces, pressed them out kind of flat, and then ran them through the machine. As they came off the machine I hung them on a rack to dry until I needed them.






Time for the Alfredo sauce. I first browned the sausage some to add a little layer of flavor. I also had to cook some chicken breast because my daughter does not eat crawfish (da fuk) Then melt some butter in the pan, mix in some heavy whipping cream, a little bit of cream cheese, and some fresh graded Italian Parmesan until I got a good thick consistency.

I wanted to make sure it was extra thick (thiccc) because a that’s how I like it I also thought/hoped the mushrooms and other items would release some boil liquid thinning the sauce adding that boil flavor. You can adjust as you go adding more cream or butter to thin it or more cheese to thicken it I found. Only other thing I added was a little extra salt and white pepper.

Mushrooms and sausage first so they can cook their juices out for flavor and they won’t overcook. Crawfish last so they don’t over cook, garlic in the middle.












Finished, time to boil the Fettuccine. Fresh pasta does not take very long to boil at all. Once it was to the tenderness that I want I took some out and mix it into the Alfredo sauce.








Time to eat, Miss GT getting antsy




It was fantastic if I must say so myself It had just the right amount of that boil flavor/spice without overpowering the rich creamy cheesy Alfredo sauce.

As always thanks for looking and thanks for the outlet to try some stuff out. if you have not had fresh pasta before give it a try it’s a worth while upgrade to dry IMO.

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Mardi Gras Noodle Pizza

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Really unique idea. I'm trying to decipher how this would taste and I really don't have anything to draw from. Looks great.

Fried Fresh Pasta w/ Meatballs Three Ways



This figured to be the perfect way to finally use the pasta roller kitchen aid attachment that has been sitting in our pantry for years. So, first step, fresh pasta using flour, eggs, a little olive oil, and a bit of salt & pepper.









While that rested it was meatball time. I started with one pount of ground beef base for all three variations and then did one with a pound of pork, one with a pound of lamb, and one with a pound of antelope. The pork had plenty of fat to bind well, but the other two needed a little beaten egg to help out. And of course some generous seasoning.







Once those were ready, it was time to roll out the pasta.











After several passes at the widest gauge, then narrowing down to the 7 gauge for a final pass, I had a lot of noodle sheets... and I didn't have a past cutter attachment! So, it was cutting by hand for all of the noodles, which left a bit of an inconsistent width, but fortunately they were all thin.





And into the boil...



While the noodles were boiling I put the meatball in at 350 for 30 minutes... which gave me time to boil the noodles, let them rest, and then give them a fresh flour coating and fry in batches.







For plating, meatballs three ways with three different topping sauces (pesto, BBQ, and white pizza sauce) with a marinara for dipping. Pasta strings for dipping and for stabbing meatballs!

I am a simple cook with very few culinary skills to speak of. I can light coals pretty good, I guess. I do pretty well at stirring, but lose focus, sometimes. Chopping onions makes me emotional, but I can usually get through it.

So I usually cook easy dishes for these challenges and set my expectations really low. I like to cook comfort food. And nothing says comfort food like Mac and Cheese. A good mac and cheese has a velvety smooth texture and cheesy flavor that warms the soul. That's why I decided to make beef stroganoff. I know one of you bastards (excuse my French) will choose mac and cheese and make it better than I ever could, so stroganoff it is.

So here is what I finished with:


First, I googled "best cuts of beef to use for beef stroganoff". The results came back, "Top sirloin, boneless rib eye, beef tenderloin, or filet mignon tips". Damn. All I have is chuck roast. This is going swimmingly, so far. That's sarcasm.

I pulled up pictures of beef stroganoff. Most of them look nasty - lot's of gray, beige and brown, which is understandable, because it's Russian. Welp, I'm committed now, because my chuck roast is thawed and I can't wrap my head around how to make mac and cheese with chuck roast.


I took my chuck roast and cut it up into 2" chunks and quartered a bunch of mushrooms.



I browned the chuck roast in batches so the pieces wouldn't touch and would brown better. It took me three batches.


I put some butter in the same pan that I browned my chuck roast and sauteed my onions and mushrooms, along with several cloves of minced garlic. I added some cabernet sauvignon, some Better Than Bouillon Beef Base, salt, pepper, paprika, and whatever else I had within reach, being careful to scrape up all the bits and pieces of meat stuck to the pan. I let the liquid reduce for a while. The dogs started getting excited. The puppy peed on the floor.


I put the beef in a cast iron dutch oven and dumped the onion/mushroom concoction on top and put it in the oven at 325 degrees and went to watch the Tigers in the tournament (on TV, not in person).


I would have made my own noodles, but I realized that goes contrary to my MO of making simple dishes that even a trained monkey can make. So I bought a bag of Pappardelle noodles, which I chose mainly because the print on the bag was in Italian and I couldn't find any Russian noodles.


After three hours, I removed the meat and here is what it looked like. Why three hours? Because that was when the game was over, and I remembered that the meat was still roasting in the oven. The meat was pot roast tender and melted in your mouth. The red wine liquid it was basting in was rich and flavorful.


I ladled some of the beef over my noodles and added a dollop of sour cream. I garnished it with some chives to give it a little color. By deconstructing it like this, you can choose how much sour cream, if any, you want to add. I like a lot. You can stir it in, or not. I started out by taking a little sour cream on my fork and then stabbing a piece of meat and a couple of noodles. After a couple of rounds of that, I just said, "Screw it" and stirred it all together. I just gave it a couple of quick stirs so that it was unevenly distributed and each bite had different sour cream/meat/noodle ratios. It was delicious. The broth the meat cooked in was rich and intense. The sour cream really smoothed it out.



In the end, our neighbors, whom we invited for dinner, 2 of my 4 children, my wife and her boyfriend all raved over it and nobody got sick. Success!

See? So easy even I could do it.

Seafood crispy deep fried noodles

ingredients


deep frying noodle(wonton)


ready for the topping


carrots, onions, garlic in. wok


adding shrimp then oysters then crab meat


adding the snow peas, baby bok choys, mushrooms


adding fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce


adding shrimp stock made from the heads, corn starch


finished product


ready to eat

Looks great. I've done crispy noodles before. Not on purpose, of course, but they are good.

All of y’all depress me with how good it all looks, dammit!

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Boo seems to have a thing for 3 Ways...

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It was pretty easy to do three different meatball blends!

I did a chicken pad thai last week I thought i'd upload. Nothing fancy.



Cooked the noodles and rinsed in ice water and made the suace.


My wok isn't all THAT big so it's typically a messy process. Since it's chicken i'll cook it separate unlike shrimp.




My wife is from Ohio and her family never cooked so that's a double whammy to her be able to tolerate any heat. Heat level is low for her and the kids so I add plenty of some homemade chili oil.