well, I think I bombed my first recipe lol

[flyinion]

I tried to make the alfredo so I'd have something for lunch at work tomorrow. I'm wondering if I needed to add a LOT more water than what was called for. The texture is sort of grainy, I didn't get it chopped into a smooth texture like the book said. This was in a cuisinart 11 cup Prep II plus. Maybe I should have put it in dough mode and see if it had extra power lol. Oh well, maybe with some tips I'll try it again, we'll see, macadamia's are expensive :eek:

[rawpriestess]

I don't think you bombed,

I made it and it was alittle grainy, but you can put it back in the food processor and re do it.

I pushed off the "alfredo sauce" back into the food processor and let a few of the "noodles" go in there too, and reprocessed it, it was much better.

But if you let it sit a few hours, the zucchini noodles give off alot of liquid.

I usually place it on a plate in the dehydrator to warm it up, and that also leaches out alot of liquid into the sauce.

Good luck on this.

don't give up.

Blessings,
Rawpriestess

[SamL]

I like mine a little runnier, and I let it go in the processor a long time so it's creamy.

[FEELIN'GOOD]

Yeah- this recipe wasn't a favorite of mine. A better recipe is the marinara and angel hair pasta... or the RAW lasange recipe- YUM! The alfredo is expensive and the result is okay- I think the texture has a lot to do with it.

And these recipes with zuc's in it do give off a lot of liquid if they set too long... you should make it and eat it fairly quicly or don't mix the sauce and the noodles until you are ready to eat so you can drain the water from the zuc's before you eat it.

Just a tip I learned the hard way...
You are doing great!

~Melissa~

[Sharon in Colorado]

I found that if the nuts/seeds aren't soaked to begin with, using my food processor isn't usually going to get a very smooth result. It is better to use my blender for that, and of course add more liquid as needed to get it going.

[vegangelist]

you probably did not mess it up. i have found that several recipes that i have made from alissa's book have either too much or too little water indicated in the recipe. And i have wound up with a runny mess or a big glop. And, all of these times i have followed the recipe to the letter. i think it may be related to the fact that the book was not edited very well (there are other editing issues as well).

however, i have made fantastic alfredo sauce before. i think it was from raw food primer, which is a great little book. i will try to look it up and see if that was where i found it...if so, i will post it...b/c it satisfied even meat-eaters :)

kristi

[askcassyfirst]

Soaking nuts always makes for a creamier smoother texture. Also, as with most recipe books, you can always adjust and modify a bit based on your ingredients on hand, and your preference. I found myself adding spinach in place of extra basil to the pasta marinara recipe. I liked it. My hubby wasn't as impressed. Taste is an individual thing. I guess that is what makes it an adventure~ :)

One of the things with nearly all uncook books, and this is across the board, is that there are issues with raw produce. The problem is that each item is unique. You may pick up a juicier sqash then Alissa used, or a drier one at that. Same goes for things like tomatoes, dates, and many others. The longer one uncooks, the more this becomes clear. So, you play around with the liquids till you get it right. (Kind of like how cooking at different altitudes requires adjustments.)

The thing is, many of us are used to using pretty standard measurements when we cook, such as a cup of flour, a half pound of pasta, a dash of dried basil... In a way it is our great fortune that raw cooking is so different: No preservatives and processing to create the "standard" means a healthier product for our bodies.

Cassy :)

[Punky]

I agree with Cassy; uncooking is not always exact.
I think Alissa mentions this in her book somewhere too. I think at the beginning of the recipe section.
You can make the same recipe several times and they can differ
because produce is not always the same.
I always adjust as needed. I made Alissa's falafals and it was too much
water and it was too runny to roll up into balls. So I just added
some more almonds and it worked great. Feel free to adjust as needed.
It will become more intuitive the more you experiment with recipes and get familier with what all the ingrediants do.

My zuchini pasta is also very watery; I lay it out on papertowels for
awhile before eating or put it in the dehydrater for a little bit.
I haven't made the alfredo yet, but all these tips sounds helpful.

[Rawkinlocs]

Soaking nuts always makes for a creamier smoother texture. Also, as with most recipe books, you can always adjust and modify a bit based on your ingredients on hand, and your preference. I found myself adding spinach in place of extra basil to the pasta marinara recipe. I liked it. My hubby wasn't as impressed. Taste is an individual thing. I guess that is what makes it an adventure~ :)

One of the things with nearly all uncook books, and this is across the board, is that there are issues with raw produce. The problem is that each item is unique. You may pick up a juicier sqash then Alissa used, or a drier one at that. Same goes for things like tomatoes, dates, and many others. The longer one uncooks, the more this becomes clear. So, you play around with the liquids till you get it right. (Kind of like how cooking at different altitudes requires adjustments.)

The thing is, many of us are used to using pretty standard measurements when we cook, such as a cup of flour, a half pound of pasta, a dash of dried basil... In a way it is our great fortune that raw cooking is so different: No preservatives and processing to create the "standard" means a healthier product for our bodies.

Cassy :)

OMG!! Thank you so much for posting this Cassy!

I was just sitting here thinking to myself, "Now, there have been folks who have given this recipe the HIGHEST of praises and then on the other hand, some hate it." I have never tried it, but I do know that not all recipes will always appeal to all people. I also realize that when making some of the raw recipes, you really have to blend the heck out of 'em or as it was previously suggested, soak the nuts to get a creamier consistency if it's too gloppy.

I remember making recipes with my blender before getting a processor that came out awful but when I got the processor and ran the thing long enough, I got the desired results.

[flyinion]

Thanks again everyone. Yeah I thought about maybe I should have soaked the nuts first but after I made this I searched the boards for alfredo topics and in it someone asked if Alissa had soaked the nuts first and she responded and said no. Maybe the nuts I used were just drier, or because it's winter less moisture in the air or something. I have her DVD too so I know that it wasn't that I didn't put enough water in, I had at least that much or more in there.

Charles

[lvg4him]

Also, Alissa talks about this in her DVD when she makes this recipe. She says you really have to mmix the sauce into the noodles with your hands and not be afraid to really crush it in there. This brings out the liquid in the squash and zuchinni and gives it a better texture. She has her hand doing this for about 5 minutes (quite along time as I usually give up after about 1-2 minutes).

Anyways, HTH!

[rawpriestess]

Hi,

I think several of you may have hit it.

I have been a gourmet chef for years, and Gourmet Raw chef for only 4 years.

But, there are several reasons that the alfredo may or may not taste right.

It only has a few ingredients, so if any ingredient isn't exactly as it was in Alissa's kitchen it could drastically altar the taste and texture in this dish.

I made it 3 times, as I was having a raw catered feast. I used her recipe exactly all three times, each time it came out so differently, I had to actually double check the ingredients to make sure I did it right.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, where the air is very wet, so I usually have to add much less water, than the recipe calls for.

Also, I grow my own garlic, and I grow 4 different kinds, each one has a differnt flavor, and in this I used the Elephant garlic, it was way too mild, so then I used the purple garlic, and it was much better.

We grow our own zucchinis so I used a big zucchini first, and it was too dry, then I used a couple of baby zucchinis, and they were much wetter, the sauce was actually drippy.

I think like many of you have said, it could be the produce, or the nuts, or the garlic, or the wet/dry air.

There are so many variables.

Even when I was catering SAD food, I ran into this, you just have to learn to adjust what you are doing in the kitchen, and remember taste test everything, over and over and over again. LOL

Blessings,
Rawpriestess