Grilled Chicken & Mozzarella Ravioli with Alfredo

I was in Costco about a month ago and was looking in their refrigerated food section when I came across a container of Grilled Chicken and Mozzarella Ravioli. I’ve purchased ravioli before but have only been able to find beef or cheese filled and once in a while spinach and cheese but never anything that looked this good. So I purchased it, took it home and put it in the freezer to use later.

I kept thinking about this ravioli and wondering how I would serve it…as much as I love red sauce, it just didn’t sound like it would go that well with this ravioli. A few weeks later, I decided on Alfredo….this would be wonderful served with an Alfredo sauce. I’ve never made Alfredo sauce before so now had to search for a recipe. I pulled out my trusty Fannie Farmer Cookbook, which is my favorite cookbook, and searched for the sauce, then went online to look too. Eventually I decided on the one in the cookbook.

Alfredo
from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, by Marion Cunningham

Print Recipe

1/4 pound unsalted butter, melted
1 cup heavy cream, warmed
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Have a large bowl warmeed and ready before you cook the noodles. Drain the cooked noodles and put them into the bowl. Quickly add remaining ingredients, tossing briskly to coat all the noodles, and serve at once. Serve over 1/2 pound noodles, 1/4 inch wide.
Makes enough for 4

This was actually two separate containers of ravioli so I was able to have it for two different meals.

This is my favorite cookbook...it's full of scraps of paper, clippings and a few actual bookmarks, making it easy for me to find my favorite recipes and "how to" instructions.

First thing I did was put a pan of water on to boil for the ravioli, then prepared the ingredients for the alfredo...melted butter, grated cheese and warmed milk.

Then while the ravioli cooked, I filled a bowl with hot water.

Just before the ravioli was ready to drain, I poured the water out of the bowl and dried it.

Drain the ravioli and place it in the warmed bowl.

Add the cheese, butter and warm cream, pepper and salt, to taste and gently combine....try not to break up the ravioli.

This was easier to make than I expected and good but not as good as I had anticipated. The ravioli itself was delicious but the alfredo, although it had a nice flavor, wasn’t as creamy as I would have liked.* This is the first time that my favorite cookbook has ever failed me! I may try this again and adjust the amount of butter and cream that I use or may just try to find a different Alfredo sauce recipe…..anyone have a good one you would like to share? So the Grilled Chicken and Mozzarella ravioli is a winner, I'll definitely buy that again, but this Alfredo recipe isn’t.

Michael had his own opinion regarding the Alfredo…when I had my back turned, he added this after my negative comment……* But for the rest of us, it was just fine.

Crab Cakes

Michael and I met, via Internet, on November 2, 2008 and it didn't take me long to realize that he liked seafood and especially liked crab cakes. It seemed as though whenever we would talk on the phone, he had just finished eating crab cakes, or was getting ready to eat them for dinner. On our trip to the Carolina's, while in South Carolina, he usually ordered a meal that had some type of crab in it, and more often than not...you guessed it, it was crab cakes. Then and there I decided that sometime I was going to make some crab cakes for him.

Not being a seafood lover myself, I felt mystified at preparing anything that wasn't poultry, beef or pork. One day, while shopping in Williams-Sonoma, I picked up a Crab Cake mix...I thought this would be an easy way to make them, and they should be good. I was afraid if I tried something from scratch, it could be a failure. I left the box of mix at Michael's and finally on Sunday, got around to making them.

I looked everywhere trying to find Jumbo Lump Crab...I found some on the shelf at Kroger, but wanted something a little more fresh. I was shopping at Jungle Jim's one day and went into their seafood shop and found a 1 pound can...it was in the cooler section and said it was to be kept refrigerated. So, I packed it in my cooler and took it to Hilliard with me. I wish I could remember the brand of crab that I bought...the crab was very nice indeed. I'll buy it again sometime and post the name.

Sunday night, around 9:00 PM, I decided to make the crab cakes. I had been trying all weekend and something always came up. Actually wanted to make them for Michael's birthday on Saturday, but ended up going out to dinner with a few members of his family. Anyway, I opened and drained (I was impressed because there wasn't much to drain) the crab then proceeded to follow the directions on the box....that was the easy part. The box of crab cake starter consisted of two packages of bread/seasoning mix and two packages or panko crumbs...this way you can make crab cakes using 1/2-1 lb. of crab. When I tried to make the crab and bread/seasoning mixture into patties, I couldn't get them to hold together....needless to say, when I tried to turn them in the pan, they fell apart. I was not at all happy! Michael kept saying that it wasn't important as long as it was good. Not being someone who likes to cook, he doesn't understand that we want the food we prepare to look nice as well as taste good. Around the time I tried making the fifth cake, they started staying together, so I ended up having several crab cakes...intact. Michael and I sampled some of the ruined cakes and both decided this mix was quite tasty.

The next time I make crab cakes, and there will definitely be a next time, I want to make them from scratch, although I will pick up another box of this mix when I'm in Williams-Sonoma, to keep on hand for a quick meal...it was delicious. That says a lot coming from a meat and potatoes girl.