It's Dinner, You'll Like It

So what is blogging etiquette? Is it o.k. to post twice or even *gasp* three times in one day or should you save it all up and do one major post each night? Well, things in my life are either feast or famine and I'm pretty sure it's going to be the same with this blog, so forgive my blogging excess and fill up, who knows when I will post again.

I have been trying to branch out when it comes to cooking dinner. Who am I kidding, I'm doing great if I actually cook dinner lately! But, in the last few days I have tried two new recipes and I must admit, I am pretty impressed with myself. The first recipe was Spaghetti Carbonara (made with eggs and no cream) which my husband called "weird" but ended up liking o.k., the recipe needs a few tweaks, but I will probably try it again. The other recipe I tried out tonight.

A few months ago The Hubby and I took Miss M to a horse clinic in Utah with some friends of ours and we ate dinner at The Olive Garden. I ordered their Chicken Gnocchi Soup, which was to DIE for and have been pining away for an Olive Garden to be in Twin ever since. Then a few weeks ago I saw an episode on the cooking channel with one of their chefs making homemade gnocchi and I thought, "Ah-Ha! I can do this." So after some web searching, I found a knock-off recipe for the soup at Olive Garden and another recipe for gnocchi.

The soup itself was pretty simple to make and I had most all of the ingredients in my pantry (or I would have if it wasn't so close to pay day). The gnocchi was a bit harder and in retrospect, I would make the gnocchi one day and refrigerate it to use at a later date rather than try it all at once. I'm not in love with the gnocchi recipe I found, it wasn't quite as "dumpling-like" as I remembered, although it WAS tasty. It was mostly like little balls of mashed potato in my soup-not a bad thing because I love mashed potatoes! I am wondering if I had too much potato and not enough egg. I will experiment and see if I can get it just right. The Hubby and most of the children liked the soup and I know I will be making it again, and probably soon. I will share the soup and the gnocchi recipe with you. It's dinner, you'll like it!

Potato Gnocchi

(this recipe made twice as much gnocchi as I needed for the soup. I will freeze the rest of my uncooked gnocchi to use later)

1 lb. of potatoes-baked, cooled and peeled
1 large egg
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP all purpose flour (divided)
Salt and Pepper to taste (I used white pepper)

Mash potatoes until smooth (use a ricer if you have one). Season with salt and pepper. Stir in egg and 1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP of flour. Knead until a dough forms, but do not over knead or it will become tough. Pour the other 1/4 cup of flour onto the counter. Turn dough onto floured counter and roll into a log about 1 inch wide. Cut log into 1 inch pieces and roll each across the times of a fork (this is what will hold the sauce). Put pieces all at once into a pot of salted, boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Pull gnocchi out with a slotted spoon and use as desired. (I cooked my gnocchi directly in my soup)

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

3-4 chicken breast, cooked and diced (I used 12 tenderloin)
6 cups chicken broth
3 cups heavy cream
1 stalk of celery, diced
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup of carrot, chopped or grated
1/2 onion, diced
1/3 - 1/2 package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 TBSP olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. thyme
salt
white pepper
16 ounces of potato gnocchi

Sautee the onion, garlic, celery and carrot in the olive oil until the onion is translucent.

Add in the chicken stock, cream, salt and pepper, chicken pieces, and thyme.

Boil gently for 10 minutes.

Add in the gnocchi and spinach and boil for another 5 minutes.
(If you would like your soup thicker you can mix a little corn starch and water and add that in.)

I served this soup with a green salad and all the fixin's and Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits. I am still stuffed.

Enjoy!