Chicken Alfredo Cooking Methods. Help!

[BbPassion]

Hi, i am new to Dc. I'm currently taking culinary classes to help me improve my skills in becoming a chef. my culinary class has a final in which we have to come up with a dish or come up with our own interpretation of a existing dish. I decided to do chicken Alfredo but with my own methods that i thought would work; Ill give you my methods and why i think it will work. What i want is for the more experienced cooks here to give me any constructive criticism.

For the pasta I'm making it fresh, using a basic pasta dough. I know potatoes goes will go will with the chicken and the sauce; so i thought why not incorporate potatoes in the pasta? ill incorporate it by boiling them then passing them through a potato ricer then adding it to the mix when i make the dough. Ill only add a small amount of potatoes so it doesn't totally take away from the pasta.

The chicken of was thinking of browning them in some olive oil, then finishing them off in the oven.

For the sauce i found one here on the Dc that a member posted that i liked.

Here's how I make mine at work:

Place a saute pan over HIGH heat (commercial stovetop, double the BTU output of a home stove, so be advised). While the pan is still "cold", add about 2 T of clarified butter. Heat. Add some minced garlic. Shake and toss the pan until the garlic is fragrant. Deglaze with a little white wine. Add heavy cream, about 1 1/2 c. Bring to a boil. Reduce until thickened. Add about 1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese. Toss or stir to combine and melt the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ill finish of the pasta by adding in some fresh basil.

Please let me know what you guys think. also if you have any suggestion to accompany my dish such as a salad etc, feel free to say so.


Thank You

 

[AllenOK]

Oh boy, I'm gonna blush.....

If you're going to do the potato route, why not just go whole hog and make some gnocci and use the gnocci instead of pasta?

Where I work, my Chef and I made some fresh, homemade, gnocci just a week-and-a-half ago. Oh man, was that stuff good!

 

[college_cook]

Chicken Alfredo is such a favorite of everyone- I imagine that it was very difficult for you to make this particular dish your own. If you want to alter your method just a little more, I would say to follow your plan exactly, only use the same pan you cooked your chicken in to make you sauce also. The fond should come off the bottom of the pan and add a little extra chicken flavor straight into the sauce.

 

[BbPassion]

Oh boy, I'm gonna blush.....

If you're going to do the potato route, why not just go whole hog and make some gnocci and use the gnocci instead of pasta?

Where I work, my Chef and I made some fresh, homemade, gnocci just a week-and-a-half ago. Oh man, was that stuff good!

good idea, i still like the idea of the noodles thought. i suppose i can prepare some gnocci dough then just pass them through a pasta machine and make some fettuccine, But would the gnocci dough be strong enough to become pasta?
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Keep your ideas coming.

 

[ChefJune]

I think you want to make EITHER gnocchi OR pasta. Don't confuse the two. Gnocchi as pasta would probably be gummy. If you can try it ahead of time, well, okay... but I wouldn't spring it on myself, if I were you.

and welcome to DC!

 

[AllenOK]

use the same pan you cooked your chicken in to make you sauce also. The fond should come off the bottom of the pan and add a little extra chicken flavor straight into the sauce.

That's what I do when I make Chicken Fett. Alf. at work. I'm not sure if it came through in the post that the OP quoted from me.

Occasionally I'll get an order for a Chicken Alfredo, 86 chicken 68 (or sub) shrimp. I'll do that same thing, saute the shrimp first, then follow with other ingredients. I'll usually pull the shrimp out of the pan before I deglaze, though, so they don't overcook.

Some places will parcook chicken on the grill, cut it up, and hold it cold until an order comes in, then toss the chicken, garlic, and other ingredients into the saute pan to make the dish. While this does help with the cooking, which for a high-volume place is necessary, I've always felt it was lacking in flavor.

I have to go with ChefJune though. I wouldn't attempt to make pasta with gnocci dough. It would probably be to gummy. I'd go with one or the other.

 

[jennyema]

Personally I don't think potato in fettucini dough would work at all. Either make fettucini or gnocchi. IMO the potato will probably prevent you from making decent noodles.

Also, you are supposed to make up your own interpretation on an existing dish but what you are proposing -- chicken alfredo -- isn't really very original. Allen's method is a good one, but it's basic alfredo sauce.

What are your original riffs on it?

 

[Mr Kram]

if you want to incorporate potatoes, here's what i would do. make a regular flour based pasta. i would also make a traditional type sauce. then i would get some chicken breasts and new potatoes and marinate them in some garlic, olive oil, rosemary and a little lemon. either grill or roast the chicken and potatoes, dice and toss with pasta.