Jay and O’Ryan’s Cooking Column: Surf ‘n’ Turf Alfredo Edition

Over this past weekend O’Ryan and I cooked a delicious steak and shrimp alfredo with a side baked asparagus. The alfredo sauce was sweet and savoury, the spice really complemented the delicious steak and shrimp surf and turf. The asparagus we baked had an amazing taste of lemon and seasoning salt among others.

The sauce contained of Minced garlic, chopped onions, garlic powder, onion powder, chilli powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. But what really made it a pasta sauce was the butter, heavy cream, tomato paste, and parmesan cheese. First, I seared the onions and garlic in order to soften it, then I added the seasons, melted some butter and tomato paste in the pan, then I added some heavy cream and a whole bunch of parmesan cheese.

We used fettuccine noodles for the pasta. We attempted to make our own, but that didn’t go as well as we thought it would. Let’s just say there was a big mess to clean up. Afterward I figured out what we did wrong. We used a bowl that was way too small and we didn’t properly mix the eggs either. So after we cleaned up the mess, we just boiled some boxed pasta noodles instead. 

For the surf and turf part of the dish, I cubed a ribeye steak (turf), seasoned it with salt and pepper then I  seared it in a cast iron skillet. For the shrimp (surf), I seasoned it with chilli  powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and some salt. I added it to the pan once the steak was seared and developed a nice crust. This let out an aromatic smell into the kitchen. 

The asparagus we baked was tossed in oil with minced garlic, scallions, seasoning salt, salt, pepper, and white onions. And was baked in the oven for about ten minutes. Halfway through we added a splash of lemon juice to give it that zesty after taste. Once we took them out of the oven they had , and a delicious taste with a little spice.

We had a lot of fun cooking everything, the food was delicious as well. Tune into this column during the following weeks to see what me and O’Ryan will cook next!

Ingredients:

Alfredo: 

1. Half a white onion
2. 6 cloves of garlic
3.  A drizzle of canola oil
4.  ¾ tablespoon smoked paprika
5. 1 tablespoon  Onion powder
6.  ¼ tablespoon Garlic powder
7.  ¼ tablespoon Salt 
8. 2 teaspoons black pepper
9. ¼ tablespoon tomato paste
10.  1 tablespoon butter of your choice
11. 6 cups of heavy cream
12. 1½ fettuccine noodle boxes
13.  ½ tablespoon chilli powder
14. 2 packages of parmesan cheese

Steak and Shrimp: 

1. 15 Medium sized, deveined shrimp
2. 8 oz ribeye steak, or any cut of your choice that can be thin sliced
3. ¼ tablespoon salt
4. 1 teaspoon black pepper
5. ¼ tablespoon garlic powder
6. ½ tablespoon onion powder
7. 1 teaspoon chilli powder
8. 1 teaspoon smoked paprika  
9. A drizzle of canola oil

Asparagus: 

1. 1 Bunch of asparagus 
2. 1 Tablespoon canola oil 
3. ¼ Tablespoons of chilli powder 
4. ¼ Tablespoon garlic powder 
5. ¼ Tablespoon seasoning salt 
6. Pinch of salt 
7. ¼ Tablespoon pepper 
8. ¼ Tablespoon lemon juice
9. Minced garlic
10. Diced white onions 
11. Sliced green onions.

Directions:

Alfredo: Chop half an onion, dice your garlic, then in a large pan with some oil, bring the heat up to a simmer, and add your vegetables. After they soften, add smoked paprika, onion powder, chilli powder, then add your garlic powder, and salt. After the vegetables change colour, and there aren’t any large clumps if seasoning, add tomato paste and butter. Once the tomato paste and butter are all nice and melted, add some heavy cream and stir until everything is mixed. Drop the heat to a medium low when the cream starts to settle, slowly start adding the parmesan cheese while slowly mixing, mix until it’s dissolved into the sauce and your alfredo mixture is finished.

Steak and shrimp: For the steak, we used a boneless ribeye. Chop your steak into pieces about the same size as your shrimp (we recommend medium sized pieces), and season  with salt and a pinch of black pepper. For your shrimp, make sure it’s deveined, then season it with a generous amount of salt, onion powder, chilli powder, and smoked paprika. On a high heat start cooking your steak until the majority of it develops a crust. After the crust develops, put your seasoned shrimp in the pan, lower to medium heat and cook for 10 minutes. Once your steak and shrimp is finished pour it into the alfredo and your sauce is done.

Asparagus: Wash your asparagus and pat dry. Once dry, toss asparagus in canola oil with the onions and garlic. Once the asparagus looks coated in the oil, lay it out along with the garlic  and onions on a sheet pan and evenly drizzle the lemon juice over the asparagus. Finally bake the asparagus at 450 degrees fahrenheit for 10 minutes. After the asparagus is done cooking, take it out of the oven and it is ready for dinner.