There is nothing like a hot bowl of soup on a cold winters’ day!

And one of our favorites is Chicken Gnocchi Soup.

If you have ever gone to Olive Garden and had their Chicken Gnocchi, this is very much like that.

Except better!

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup celery, chopped fine

3/4 cup onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup carrots, chopped fine

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1/3 cup All Purpose Flour

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

4 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cup cooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast

3/4 cup spinach, chopped fine

16 oz gnocchi

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Start by cleaning your chicken breast. Using heavy tin foil, place chicken on a sheet and add salt and pepper.

Wrap and place in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until done.

Rough chop the celery, onion, carrots and place in the food processor. Mince the garlic and add to the food processor.

Pulse the food processor and scrap sides down until the vegetables are finely chopped. May sure there are no larger pieces.

Melt butter on medium high in a large stock pot or dutch oven.

Add vegetables from the food processor. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add Flour. It should make a paste. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Whisk in heavy cream, milk and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and allow to thicken.

While you are waiting for the soup to thicken, place your spinach in the food processor and chop down fine.

Once soup has started to boil, reduce the heat  to medium and add spinach, gnocchi and seasonings.

Season to taste.

For the gnocchi, I use store bought to save time during the week.

While they aren’t fresh, they are still good.

Remove chicken from the oven and rough chop. Add to the food processor and chop fine.

Add chicken to the soup. Allow the soup to cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve!

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Here is a new recipe I recently tried. It is really good, but I have already thought of several ways to improve on it.

I am sharing the basic recipe now.

Once I play with the recipe and figure out what I am going to change or add, I will post the recipe with the changes.

Enjoy!

Potato and Boursin Frittata

makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients: 

• 8 extra large Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 cups freshly shredded Russet Potatoes (I used Yukon Potatoes)
• 5 Scallions, finely chopped
• 5-ounces Light Boursin Garlic and Herb Cheese
• Kosher Salt and freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper to taste (optional)

Directions:

Shred the potatoes.

Chop the scallions using the white and green sections.

Place an oven rack in top position and preheat the broiler.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and season with salt and pepper.   

Heat the oil and butter in an oven-proof 10-inch non-stick skilled over high heat until hot, but not smoking.

 Add the potatoes, stirring to coat the potatoes in the butter and oil.  

Cover and cook until the potatoes begin to brown, about 4-6 minutes.  

Add the scallions, season with a pinch of salt, pepper and cayenne pepper and stir until combined with the potatoes.

Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes.  Check the potatoes for browning and tenderness.  

You may need to stir, cover, and cook for a few more minutes until the potatoes are to your liking.   

Add the eggs evenly over the potato mixture and place small dollops of the Boursin cheese over the eggs.  

Reduce the heat to medium and cover for 3-5 minutes, or until the frittata is starting to set around the edges.

 Uncover the skillet and place under the broiler until the frittata is just set, about 5-7 minutes.  

Using a heat-proof rubber spatula, carefully loosen the edges of the frittata and slide onto a serving platter.  Cut into wedges; serve warm or at room temperature along with sliced smoked salmon or prosciutto.  

Enjoy!

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I recently saw this recipe on “The Best Thing I Ever Made” on the Food Network. It was a recipe by John Besh. I decided to give it a try tonight, but of course gave it my own twist. In his recipe, it a Pork Shoulder. I had a Pork Tenderloin in the freezer, so I decided to make it instead. Because my tenderloin was smaller, I also had to make adjustments in the measurements.

Ingredients

• 2.5 pound Pork Tenderloin
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh Rosemary (you can’t use dry for this)
• 7 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 1 white onion, rough chopped
• 1 cup baby carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• butcher’s string

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Chop the celery, onion and carrots and place into a roasting pan or glass roasting dish. I lined mine with foil for easy clean up.

Slice up garlic cloves into smaller long pieces. Pull four rosemary stems off and have them ready to use.

Sliced Garlic Cloves

Truss your tenderloin by using butcher’s string. To truss, start by tying the end off.

Then take the string and circle under the tenderloin, while holding the string in place an inch from your first knot.

When you circle the meat, take the string that is coming around and feed it behind the hold spot. Pull slightly to place it.

Repeat until you reach the end. Tie it off in a knot.

Make sure you have them about 1 1/2 inches apart. This will help hold your meat together while it cooks.

After you have finish, take a paring knife and make a small slit in the top of the meat. Take one piece of clove and pull a small spring of rosemary and place both into the slit. Cover the top of the tenderloin with your garlic and rosemary.

Place tenderloin on top of the chopped vegetables. Salt and Pepper.

Place the oven, uncovered for 2 1/2 hours or until your meat has an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Take it from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.

To slice, remove the rosemary and garlic cloves. Cut the butcher’s string from the meat. Slice and serve. Trash your vegetables or use them to make a gravy.

We had our with white rice and gravy, black-eye peas, and collard greens. The gravy I made was not from the dipping in the roasting pan, but a bacon gravy. For being cooked uncovered for 2 1/2 hours, the tenderloin was surprisingly very moist! It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon dinner that any Southern girl would be proud of.

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