My Version of Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

Alright, so *Olive Garden has this chicken and gnocchi soup that is actually pretty good, but I live too far from one now and well I like to figure things out and maybe change a few things to my liking.

So I researched online....read over a variety of copy cat recipes compared, took an idea from a few, but ultimately came up with my own version...so without further ado let's get into this soup!

The Goods:

- 1 to 1.5 lbs of diced chicken breast (raw)

- 2/3 medium sized carrots, diced

- 15/20 leaves of a nappa cabbage, roughly chopped

- 2 cups chicken broth (i used low sodium)

- 2 cups milk

- 1 cup heavy whipping cream

- 1/4 cup of all purpose flour

- 1 pack (16 oz) frozen gnocchi

- 2 tablespoons minced garlic

- 1 medium sized sweet onion finely diced

- roughly 1 tablespoon olive oil 

- black pepper, white pepper, cumin, chili powder, thyme, oregano, smoked paprika, ginger to taste

* Short side note* I named these spices without exact measurements cause I have no exact measurements.. I season at 3 points throughout the process, tasting as I go along until it tastes just right

The Works:

In your stock pot heat the olive oil and add the chicken, browning it on all sides, about 5 min....add the carrot, onion and garlic and fry till glassy another roughly 5 min....add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, this is the first point of seasoning ..add your spices with a slightly heavy hand here.

Once it boils, turn the heat down to a lowish, cover and simmer for roughly 30 min, stirring occasionally.

Add the nappa cabbage and frozen gnocchi, taste the broth and adjust seasoning adding more as needed. 

In a medium bowl mix the milk, heavy cream and flour till smooth. Add to the pot, cover back up and simmer for another 15 min, this time stirring frequently. Here your soup will thicken.

Taste and if needed adjust your spices again at this juncture also adding a small amount of kosher salt if you so desire.

The soup will thicken more as it cools, remember that should you have leftovers!

Put in a bowl and enjoy!! 

The Beginning

The Middle (after adding the broth and first round of seasoning)

The End Result

Laugenbrötchen (Pretzel Rolls)

Ok so, this is a must, and since I've been asked a lot now how to make them or to make them just so that people can have them, I decided to finally get of my lazy butt and write it down. So here it is....

The Goods: (makes between 9 and 15 rolls depending how big you make them)

4 tsps active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cup of hot tap water

5 cups of flour (AP is fine, but bread flour works better)
1/2 cup sugar
between 1 and 2 tsps of salt (depends on your taste)
1tbsp oil

1/2 cup baking soda
coarse salt for topping

The Works:

Dissolve the yeast in the hot water with the tsp of sugar, let activate for about 5-10 min in a warm spot

Meanwhile combine the flour, sugar and salt (I sieve the flour before combining everything but that is an optional step). Add the oil and yeast mix and form a dough, kneading it until it forms a firm ball (between 5 and 10 min). Cover and put in a warm spot to rise for an hour.

Preheat oven to 450. While oven preheats, in a medium pot heat a gallon of water and the 1/2 cup of baking soda to a boil. Separate your dough into rolls and give each of them a 15 sec bath in the hot baking soda water, turning them once then putting them on a baking sheet you sprayed with none stick. Sprinkle with the coarse salt and bake between 16 and 20 min on the middle raxck until golden brown. Enjoy

Möhrensuppe mit Ingwer - Carrotsoup with ginger

Well it's cold, so I call it soup season. This one is another yummy, warmign soup for a cold winter (or fall, or spring or maybe even summer) day.

The Goods:

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 medium potato, diced
1 1/2 lbs carrots, diced
2 teaspoon freshly diced giner (if needed this can be substituted with grated ginger out of a glass)
1 1/2 liter (~50 oz) chicken broth or stock
7 tablespoons heavy cream
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste

The Works:

Melt the butter in your soup pot and roast the onion and celery for about 10 min. Add the potato, carrot, ginger and broth. Bring to a boil while stirring, then reduce heat and let simmer for 30 to 40 min, stirring occasionaly to make sure nothing gets stuck to the bottom. Use a stick blender to purree (or blend in your blender in batches), add the cream, mixing it thouroughly, season to taste and enjoy.

Käsenocken (cheese dumplings)

Ah this one brings back memories!! It's a recipe from South Tirol, a region in the north italian alps where I used to go skiing all the time. They have some absolutely deliscious food, this is one of them. it works well on it's own or with a nice refreshing salad.

The Goods:

1 oz (1 small) onion, diced finely
1 oz butter
3.5 oz hard cheese (Gouda, Cheddar, something like that), finely diced
5 oz old, dry bread,  finely diced
2 eggs
3.5 oz milk
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
4 table spoons chives
1 oz grated parmesan
salt, pepper to taste

The Works

Brown the onion in butter. In a bowl combine the diced bread, onion and cheese. quirl the eggs and milk, season with half the chives, some salt and pepper and then pour over the cheese mixture. Add the flour and knead into a dough. Using moist hands form small dumplings out of the dough and chill while bringing salted water to a boil in a large pot. add the dumplings carefully and cook for approx q0 min, dumplings are done when rising to the surface. Do NOT overcook. Fry the dumplings briefly in butter after you cooked them, sprinkle some parmesan and enjoy alone, with some salad or as a side dish.

Genoese Minestrone

Well.. my dear friend Tiffany, who is a like minded culinary explorer asked me to bring her back an authentic Minestrone recipe. Genoa is a city in Italy which is known for their Minestrone, so naturally, the recipe I brought back was a Genoese one.

The Goods:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 diced onion
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, sliced thinly
5 oz string beans, cut italian style
1 zucchini, sliced thinly
1 medium sized potato, diced
1/4 head savoy cabbage, cut finely
1 small eggplant, diced
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 roma tomatoes, diced
42 oz vegetable broth or stock (cgicken works, but since it is meant to be a vegetarian dish, to keep it authentic it, I recommend vegetable)
3 oz vermicelli
salt, pepper, paprika, oregano and basil to taste (experience taught me that spices can't really be pre-measured in a dish like this as everyone likes a differnt spice level, so season it to your taste)

The Works:

in a large pot ( you could pre-roast the stuff in a pan and then transfer, but why? you'll only loose all the goodies of taste i nthe bottom of the pan, so do this in the pot you intend to cook the soup in) heat the oil and roast the onions, carrot and celery for about 10 min, add the string beans, zucchini, potatoe, cabbage.. roast for another 3 to 5 min. Add the eggplant, cannelli beans and tomato and give it another quick roast (3 mins tops). Add the broth, season with salt, pepper, oregano and paprika and bring to a boil. reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for about 40 min, stiring occasionally. Add the vermicelly and bring the heat back up, letting the vermicelly cook to all dente (approx. 3 to 5 min). taste and re-season as needed then serve and enjoy.

Basic Bread Recipe (Einfaches Brot Rezept)

Ok, so the original recipe that I modified for my own needs I found on Pinterest and it let me to Simply So Good (this link will take you to the original recipe). Me being me, I of course had to play around, I don't think even the first loaf was exactly according to her recipe, however her recipe is awesome and very easy to follow. So here is my version of it (or better said one of my versions). Before you start collection the ingredients, please note that you need an oven save pot with lid (a Dutch oven, cast iron or enamel is ideal), but any pot or bowl with lid that will withstand the oven temperature and duration should work.

The Goods:

3 cups of flour (simple all purpose works, but preferably unbleached)'
1/2 teaspoon of rapid rise yeast
1 3/4 teaspoons of salt
1/4th cup of dried italian herbs (oregano or the mixed ones)
1 1/2 cups of WARM water

The works:

in a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, salt and herbs together... add the water and stir with a spoon till it is a gooey mess. cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for 12 to 18 hours. (hence I usually set the dough on around noon and then bake the next morning. Now forget your bowl till that time is up (usually the next morning) and don't worry if it sits longer or just slightly less it will forgive you. But make sure you had a large bowl cause the dough will rise.
The next day.... put your pot with the lid in the oven and pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees (I always put the pot in while it pre-heats already, given it even more time to warm up). Once the oven is pre-heated, set the timer to 30 min and let the pot warm up. Meanwhile... put a generous amount of flour on your counter or where ever you dumb the dough out of the bowl. form a ball and cover it with the plastic wrap you had used for the bowl, letting it rest while the pot pre-heats. Once the 30 min are up.. carefully take your pot out, remember it will be HOT by now... put the dough ball into it, no grease or nothing needed, close the lid and put back in the oven for 35 min, same temperature. Take the pot out and carefully take the loaf of bread out of the pot and put on a rack to cool. Remember it is HOT and don't leave in the pot to cool either cause the pot will keep baking it since it traps the heat. ENJOY.

If you want different bread, you can easily add different things...like garlic powder, dried onions.. whatever you want... you can also divide the flour into rye, wheat and so on...but be warned that the dough will not rise as high, will still taste as delicious though. I tried 1 cup rye, 1 cup wheat, 1 cup regular flour before...for example. Add shredded cheese for a cheesy bread... there really is not many limits.

resting dough

the Result of a pure white bread

Crock Pot Sirloin Roast in White Moscato-Creme Sauce with Roasted and glazed Carrots and Tators

Well. I experimented with my Crock pot..this is not a fully crock pot put it in in the morning and dinner is done when you come home at night, since only the meat was done in the crock pot, but it is yummy, fairly easy and the meat you can pretty much forget all day  long. This one is truly and fully my creation and hubby tested.. hehe.

The Goods:

top sirloin roast (roughly 5 lbs) sliced in 4-5 1inch thick slices

1 large red onion, sliced but not too fine

about 1/2 baby carrots, fresh from the farmer's market (or carrots cut into about baby carrot size, which I prefer cause I do not like the taste of  packaged baby carrots)

about 1 lb small to medium potatoes

1/16 cup balsamic vinegar

1 bay leaf (whole)

2 star anise (hole)

small piece of  fresh ginger (about 1 inch long) also whole

salt, pepper, paprika to taste

olive oil, salt, pepper and sesame seeds for the carrots to roast

For the Moscato Sauce:

 1/4 cup sweet, white Moscato

1/4 cup whipping creme (does not have to be heavy, can be light or normal too)

1 table spoon chilli sauce (Sambal Oelek is my favorite)

salt, pepper, bit of cayenne pepper (to taste, depending how much heat you like)

For the carrot/potato glaze:

1/2 cup honey

1/8 cup ponzu sauce (soy or teriyaki works too)

The Works:

Cut the Roast in 1 inch thick slices and pepper them, Slice your onion.. then layer the meat and onions in your crock pot...drizzle the Balsamic Vinegar over it, season with  salt, pepper, paprika and add the bay leaf, ginger and star anise. Cover Crock Poy and turn on low for 8 hours...walk away.

After about 6 1/2 hours Wash and peel your potatoes (you can quarter them now or after you boil them, I usually do it before boiling to keep myself from burning my fingers). Boil in salted water for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on size, you want them done but still firm. While they boil pre-heat your oven on  425 and split the racks so that they are even. Wash and peel then cut your carrots. If you have fresh, small carrots from the farmers market it might be better to just wash and scrub them, since peeling will take too much of them. Dry them with a paper towel, then toss in olive oil, salt and pepper them..arranging them on a cookie sheet in one layer.. sprinkle with sesame seeds. Take the meat out of your crock pot to add the creme, moscato, chilli sauce and spices, stir, return the meat and close lid again. Roast the carrots for about 15 min in the pre-heated oven.

Meanwhile you mix your honey and ponzu sauce together. The potatoes should be boiled by now as well..arrange them on a second cookie sheet, slightly salt and pepper them and brush with the ponzu/honey glaze. Get your carrots out of the oven, brush them as well with the glaze and then put both cookie sheets back in the oven for another 20 min.

Once they are done... the meat and the sauce are done too...Serve and enjoy.