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

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.

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.

Kartoffel Suppe (Potato Soup)

This is one of the recipes my mom gave me, I will post 2 version here (well ok 2 1/2) hers, my own variation and the add on that works for both versions so that out carnivaurs are happy too. It is a very simple, quickly done soup that is a major comfort food and absolutely awesome on cool or colder days, but works just as nicely in the summer.

The goods for 3 to 5 people

for the original

3-4 medium/large potatoes (if you cook for more people just add a medium potatoe per person approx.)
1-2 medium onions (or 1 large videlia)
1-2 stalks of leek
4-5 carrots
 just enough broth to cover veggies (I use beef broth for this one but chicken or veggie works too)
spices to taste (my mix for this consists out of chilli powder, tumeric, a bit of seasoning salt, nutmeg, italian herbs, black and white pepper)

for my own variation:

same as above, but split the potatoe ratio for half regular potatoes, half sweet potatoes

add on for both variations to satisfy carnivaurs:

once the soup is finished, add sausages or hot dogs and let it simmer until they are heated through


The work:

peel the carrots and potatoes, shred into a large stock pot ( you can slice them too, but shredding saves time later), slice the leek and onions thinly and add to the pot.. cover it all with broth, put the lid on and cook over medium heat till all the veggies are nice and soft, stiring occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom (approx 30 to 45 min). Use a stick or handblender to purree the veggies ( you can leave the chunks, but experience showed that smooth is better in that case). season to taste and let simmer for 5 more minutes or however long it takes for the sausages to heat through if you added them.
Serve and enjoy. This soup can easily be premade and frozen.

Marksklößchen Suppe (bonemarrow soup)

Yes yes I know at first glance it sounds yukie, but trust me it is DELISCIOUS!!!. Another one of my mom's recipes, this one being one that is easy but essential to keep the measurements to a t, course I still managed to find a slight variation hehe.

The goods:

60 g (2 ounces) of bone marrow ( out of a beefbone)
60 g (2 ounces) breadcrumps (variation here would be using flavored breadcrumps, i.e. parmesan, italian and so on)
3 eggs
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste
1 small onion VERY finely diced
1-2 teaspoons of finely diced (if used fresh) or dried) parsley
 broth ( I use chicken or veggie broth, but any is fine)

The work:

melt the bonemarrow in a pan ocver medium heat, do NOT boil.Strain the melted marrow through a very fine strainer to make sure no bone fragments are left behind...slightly roast the onion and parsley, then mixwith the strained marrow and let cool down to at least room temp.  Whisk the eggs and then slowly stir into the COOL marrowmix. add breadcrumps slowly until  firm dough forms, make dumplings (using a teaspoon as sizer)

In a pot heat up the broth and add one test dumpling to cook over medium heat for about 10 min or till cooked through. if the dumpling is too soggie add a bit of bread crumps to the mix, if too firm, add a bit of milk. cook rest of dumplings (like regular dumplings they float when done, but usually around 10 min does the trick).

ENJOY!!

Ramadan Soup

This is one of those things that Chris had growing up and suddenly decided he wanted to eat again, so after asking my MIL for her recipe and looking up recipes online I started playing around and came up with this, my version of the dish. Like my potato soup this is somethign that works wonderfully for a cold winter day and with the adding of various meats can be quite versatile.. mind you, originally the recipe is vegetarian.

The Goods:

- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped white onion
- 1 cup chopped celery or leek
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (or 1 teaspoon minced garlic from a jar, but fresh always tastes better)
- 16 oz crushed canned tomato
- 2 coups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup garbanzo beans
- 1/8 cup lentils
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon tumeric
- 1/4 cup vermicelli, broken in about 2 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves (stems removed)
- 1 tablespoon fresh italian parsley (stems removed)

Add cooked chicken or any other other cooked meat if you need meat in it, boneless skinless chicken breast is best in my opinion

The Works:

in a medium stockpot heat olive oil until sizzling. Add the onion, garlic and celery/leek and cook until translucent. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, garbanzo beans, lentils, black pepper, cinnamon, cumin and tumeric to the stockpot. Cook on lo heat for about 40 min or until the beans and lentils become tender. Add the vermicelli into the pot. Mix flour with lemon juice and form into a paste. Add the flour paste gradually to the soup to thicken. Simmer for an additional 3 minutes, add cilantro and parsley and serve.