Olive Garden Chicken & Gnocchi Soup

Again, this is not my recipe, it is from the book To Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur. I love this soup at Olive Garden and I was stalking the Olive Garden website hoping that they would post their recipe there and to my knowledge they have not yet. So here is a recipe that is supposed to be as good as the real thing!!

Ingredients:

Gnocchi:

1 cup potato buds

3/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 scant tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup boiling water

1 egg yolk

2/3 cup all- purpose flour

Directions for Gnocchi:

Mix potato buds with the salt and nutmeg. Stir in the boiling water and continue mixing until no dry flakes remain. Stir in egg yolk until the mashed potato mixture has an even pale yellow color throughout. Stir in flour and knead for about a minute with your hands. Use a half teaspoon to measure out small portions of the dough. Using floured hands, roll the small dough portion around between the palms of your hands, making a ball, then press each ball down onto floured wax paper, making a small disk, When all the gnocchi is made, begin the rest of the soup.

Ingredients:

Soup:

2 TBS. vegetable oil

1/2 cup of shredded carrot

1/4 cup diced onion

1/4 cup chopped celery

1 tsp. minced garlic

2 TBS. cornstarch

4 cups chicken broth

4 cups of water

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 roasted chicken with meat removed and chopped ( about 1 pound of meat)

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

Directions:

Heat oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion, celery, and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes. Whisk cornstarch into the chicken broth and add to the vegetables along with the water. When the mixture begins to boil, add the gnocchi. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the half and half and simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until soup begins to thicken. Add the chicken and spinach and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the soup has thickened and the spinach is tender.

Now, if you want to make this recipe quickly I suggest using frozen gnocchi and a rotisserie chicken from your favorite store. Again I have not made this yet, so if anyone tries it out, let me know!!

Recipe Books

I have these books that are called 'Top Secret Recipes Unlocked'. I love these books because they have a lot of recipes from restaurants that I totally fell in love with there. These books give you the almost exact recipes and they usually turn out the same. So, I have decided that since I have these little gold mines, I will post recipes from them here. I will start with recipes that I want to make eventually and move on to some of the others. There are some that I can not post as they come with pictures on how to assemble the finished product. I will look at those and if it seems too complicated without the picture I will skip that recipe.

Todays dinner was taco salad, which I love. It is quick and easy. Not to mention very customizable. I will post my recipe for that here maybe tomorrow as well. I am kind of tired today and there is nasty weather in the area.  

Mississippi Mud Cake

This is another recipe I have had for a while but never have tried yet. So again, if you make this let me know how it turns out. It looks amazingly rich and sinful!


Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter
1 (4 ounce) semisweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs
1tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. salt
1 (10.5 ounce) bag miniature marshmallows
Chocolate frosting

Directions:
Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until toasted
Microwave 1 cup of butter and semisweet chocolate in a large microwave-safe glass bowl on HIGH 1 minute or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.
Whisk sugar and next 5 ingredients into chocolate mixture. Pour batter into a greased 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and sprinkle evenly with miniature marshmallows; bake 8-10 more minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle warm cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkle evenly with toasted pecans.


Chocolate Frosting Recipe:


Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 (16 ounce) package powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Stir together first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until slightly thickened; remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth.


I would assume that you can change the pecans in the recipe to any kind of nut you like. Although I have not made this recipe.

My Love of Food

I think that my love of food started when I was a kid. Since it is Friday today I will talk about a Friday night ritual in my family. My parents divorced when I was four, so when my mom and I moved back to Florida I found myself spending time with my aunt, uncle, and two cousins I really did not know. At first we lived with them for a bit until my mom could find a place to live for us. On Friday nights, it was the 'no cook' night. So, the kids (all three of us) had to get together and agree on what we wanted for dinner.

Since 90% of the time, more than one kid can not agree on anything it took some doing! We could choose from pizza, Mc Donalds, Browns chicken, etc... But we all had to agree. For me, I was not the picky eater here, that was my cousin Tyson. Usually most of the time, we did agree but there were a few times that I was fearful that we would not be eating dinner!!

I also claimed Fridays as 'no cook' days when I had my kids. And for the most part they did agree on what they wanted. Although sometimes, the adults did  not want what the kids wanted! If that was the case, then I would make exceptions to the you both have to agree rule, as long as it was within reasonable amount of distance. There were times where my ex and I wanted Taco Bell, so the kids could choose what they wanted and they pretty much were good about agreeing with each other.

So, since today is Friday and still a 'no cook' day in this house, I am thinking pizza tonight for me. I love pizza.  Still working on the recipe from scratch though. Have not been experimenting a lot lately. But I have some free time and might try to do it again. I love Friday nights because they are so full of possibilities food wise for me. Sometimes I go out and lately staying in has been nice. Just chilling with a good movie and good food. I love Fridays. So, tell me, how do you spend your Friday nights?

Bertolli Spaghetti & Meatballs

I have tried and tried to make meatballs and for some reason I can not do it. They either come out all messed up or they fall apart totally. I have not made this recipe yet, so I am hoping someone will make this and tell me how it works.

Ingredients:

1 pound of lean ground beef

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup water

1 egg

1 tsp. finely chopped garlic

1/4 tsp. salt

1 jar Bertolli Tomato and Basil sauce

8 ounces of spaghetti, cooked and drained

Directions:

Combine ground beef, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, water, egg, garlic, and salt in medium bowl; shape into 12 meatballs.

Bring sauce to a boil over medium-high heat in 3-quart saucepan. Gently stir in uncooked meatballs.

Reduce heat to low and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes or until meatballs are done. Serve over hot spaghetti and sprinkle, if desired with parmesan cheese.

Bertolli says cost of this recipe is $8.39

Cost per serving: $2.10

I am hoping that this recipe is my final try for the meatballs. So make it and tell me how it comes out.

Chicken With Peas, Parmesan & Prosciutto

This is a recipe I got from Bertolli recipe club. I have not made this yet, but hoping that someone will and let me know what it is like. I love Italian food and Bertolli is one of the few jar sauces that I actually like.

Ingredients:

1- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into large chunks.

1TBSP olive oil

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 jar Bertolli Vodka Sauce made with fresh cream

2 ounces prosciutto, chopped

1/2 cup frozen green peas, partially thawed

1/4 grated parmesan cheese

Parmesan cheese shavings (optional)

Directions:

Season chicken if desired, with salt and ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook onions stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook stirring frequently about 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook turning occasionally, about 6 minutes or until browned. Stir in sauce and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in prosciutto, peas, and grated parmesan cheese. Simmer 1 minute or until peas are heated through and chicken is thoroughly cooked. Serve if desired over hot cooked pasta and garnish with Parmesan cheese shavings.

 

According to Bertolli, the cost per recipe is $11.60

Cost per serving of this recipe is $2.90

When I make this I will omit the onions, but I left them in the recipe because I know others like onions. If you make this, let me know how it turns out!!

Mashed Potatoes

I love mashed potatoes and the easier they are to make the better!! I actually stole this tip from Rachel Ray a while ago and I have to say it honestly works every time!! So feel free to steal it and use it.


When I make mashed potatoes, lately we have been using red skin potatoes. It really depends on your preference of potato. When you get ready to make this, make sure you cut your potatoes in about the same size pieces or this trick will not work so well. Put the potatoes in water and bring to a boil, once they have reached a rolling boil, put a lid on them and turn the heat off. Let them sit for 11 minutes with the lid on the pot. Now the idea is that when the 11 minutes is up the potatoes will be fork tender and ready to mash. Finish the mashed potatoes in the usual way. I use lots of butter and milk. I have also added in some other things such as cheese and bacon. If this is done correctly your mashed potatoes should be quick and easy!!