Eat This While You Read That: David Weber
While at LibertyCon this summer I had the opportunity to meet and chat with David Weber for a bit. He's a lovely man, devoted to his family, and a talented author who has more titles to his name than I ever dream of. I've enjoyed his work since I found Baen's Bar, so this was a delightful opportunity. I asked him if he'd be willing to take part in this series, and he enthusiastically told me about some of his adventures in the kitchen, including making this dish for 42 people. He suggested a few alterations to the ordinary recipe, but I did the recipe up based on classic versions as we didn't have time for me to write out his recipe that evening. The only thing about this dish is... it's not terribly photogenic. Especially when the ten year old in the house picked out the pasta based on it looking 'cool.' But I think David will understand. His stories of the children in his life, and his reassurances to me that my son was behaving well under the circumstances (first large professional party) let me in a on a secret. David may write mostly about wars... but his heart is wrapped around his family.
I highly recommend Sword of the South to begin reading with this meal. It's a satisfyingly big book, so you likely won't finish it! The next trilogy of adventures in the world which introduced us to Bahzell and Brandark, it's an excellent sword-and-sorcery fantasy. With, pleasingly enough for this meal, a family theme to it.
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I will note that I did alfredo sauce for this series once before, and although it came out very tasty, the texture was a bit off. I did some research and realized that although I don't buy the 'stuff in a green jar' even the pre-shredded parm I do use has anti-clumping stuff in it. Which then comes out in the sauces as unwanted texture. This sauce, made from a wedge of parmesan I shredded moments before use, came out silky smooth.
Fresh Parmesan! Well, ok, aged, but you know what I mean.
Other than the shredding - and I cheated with my food processor as you can see. Took seconds! - this is a very fast and simple dish to put together. It's so rich you won't want it often, but there is no reason you have to wait until you're out at a restaurant for it, or settle for the stuff in a jar.
Shredded and ready to use. The wedge made about 4 cups, more than I needed, but we use it a lot. It won't go to waste.
I used half and half in this recipe on David's recommendation, and as he said, it came out perfectly even without using heavy cream. It's still not something you'd want to eat every day, but a little less caloric!
Wagon wheel pasta with homemade alfredo sauce, and a but of chiffonaded basil for tasty garnish.
My son at his meal, showing how he feels. Muscles? Maybe in time...