I suppose there's a first for everything, but I can't believe it...

...I have found a cream-cheese based recipe that I don't like. I'm shocked... the concept sounded so good. It all started with a free tub of Philadelphia Cooking Creme...

I'm not one to buy something just so that I can get another item for free, however I was already buying the two bags of Kraft Naturals Shredded Cheese that was the required purchase for the free item, so I figured why not? I picked up the Cooking Creme in Original Flavor (which I'm glad, because the reviews I read about the Italian are horrid), and last night I decided to make it into a cream sauce to put over spinach fettuccine with shrimp and crab meat. So I added my half n half and milk to the Cooking Creme and stirred until smooth on a low heat. Some of the other reviews I had read complained of a gritty texture to the Cooking Creme after it was heated, but I figured that they had possibly heated it at too high of a temperature and I believe I was correct. It melted into a smooth cream sauce easily. The texture was perfect. I added Italian seasonings, a little salt, and some Italian shredded cheese. Again, texture was perfect. It even tasted pretty good. Not what I had in mind, but good nonetheless. I threw in my shrimp and lump crab meat, and gave it a stir. It was even good at that point. Actually, a lot better than I expected at that point, due to the bad reviews of it (although to be fair, the bad reviews I found were for the Italian flavored variety).

Then I put it over noodles. That's when my opinion changed. It wasn't that it was bad. It just wasn't what I wanted. I was looking for more of an Alfredo flavor, hence the cheese being added to the sauce, and that just wasn't it. It would have probably been fine if I had used it for a shrimp and crab dip, and just left it like that. But as soon as I poured the sauce over noodles, my opinion of it changed. And I was amazed - I have finally found a place where cream cheese flavor doesn't belong - and that is in Alfredo sauce. Ugh.

So to make it all better I think I'm going to have to make some real Alfredo soon. The recipe I use is less of an "official recipe" and more of a "lets throw things together" recipe, but I usually use...

3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp butter
1 33oz carton of Central Market Organic Free Range Chicken Broth (usually a low sodium variety)
1 - 1.5c heavy cream
1 bag of Kraft Naturals 5 Cheese Italian Blend shredded cheese
garlic powder
onion powder
Italian seasonings

I make a roux out of the butter and flour, just enough to thicken the chicken broth. I realize that traditional recipes are mostly cheese and heavy cream - and they are deathly fattening. I actually find that using the chicken broth adds a certain depth of flavor while making it lower in calories and fat, and the low sodium variety is perfectly fine because the cheese adds enough saltiness to the sauce. Thicken the broth slightly (till it starts to bubble and coats the back of a spoon), and add your cream. Add all of your cheese at once, and stir constantly till incorporated and smooth. Add more cream (or milk if you want to cut the calories) if necessary, and then finish off with your seasonings to taste. Use over roasted chicken and spinach, shrimp and broccoli, or with just fettuccine noodles if you want to forgo the extras. Its also a great sauce for dipping bread in, if you want to half the recipe and serve as an appetizer. Here's a picture over roasted chicken and wilted spinach:

(A tip: to wilt spinach, simply rinse your leaves under cool water, and then transfer while wet into a saucepan or pot. On medium heat, gently toss the spinach until it just begins to "wilt.")


Happy Cooking!