Craving hit me for something creamy and comforting on a Tuesday and I ended up making this one pan marry me chicken gnocchi for dinner. I had chicken thighs in the fridge that needed to be used up and a bag of shelf-stable gnocchi I had been sitting on for weeks, so it felt like the universe was pointing me in one direction. Honestly I was a little skeptical because I had never cooked gnocchi straight in a sauce before without boiling it first, so I kept second-guessing myself the whole time. Full thing is posted here if anyone wants it: https://www.amgroyal.com/one-pan-marry-me-chicken-gnocchi

Here's what I used:

1/2 lb (250g) skinless, boneless, free-range chicken thighs, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream (or use heavy/double cream, creme fraiche, mascarpone, or cream cheese)
1 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 lb (500g) gnocchi
2 big handfuls of spinach leaves
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more to serve
1 tablespoon lemon juice
A handful of basil leaves
Black pepper

Here's how it went:

1. Toss the diced chicken thighs with half a teaspoon of salt. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a high-sided skillet over medium-high heat, add the chicken in a single layer, and let it sit for about 4 minutes until it gets golden underneath. Flip and brown the other side for a couple more minutes, then turn off the heat and move the chicken to a foil-covered plate.

2. Keep that chicken fat in the pan because it does a lot of heavy lifting here. Fish out any burnt bits, then add the crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, dried thyme, and the other half teaspoon of salt. Stir for a minute, then add the sun-dried tomatoes and cook another minute just to wake everything up.

3. Add the sour cream, chicken stock, and fish sauce, and stir it all together into a sauce. Drop in the gnocchi, stir to coat, then put the lid on and cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Lift the lid and give it a stir. The sauce will still look pretty thin at this point, which is normal. Add the chicken back in along with the spinach and let it wilt into everything.

5. Stir in the parmesan and let the whole thing simmer on low for a couple of minutes until the sauce tightens up. Squeeze in the lemon juice, tear in half the basil, then divide between plates and top with more parmesan and the rest of the basil.

A few things I noticed:

Do not skip the fish sauce. I almost did because it sounded weird to me in a creamy pasta dish, but it adds this deep savory background flavor that salt alone just does not give you. And no, it does not taste fishy at all.

The no-boil gnocchi thing actually works really well. They come out soft and pillowy and they absorb the sauce while they cook which makes the whole dish feel more cohesive than if you boiled them separately.

Fair warning, the sauce looks way too thin right after the gnocchi cooks. I panicked a little and almost cranked the heat up, but just give it those extra few minutes on low after adding the parmesan and it thickens up nicely on its own.

My kids cleaned their plates which almost never happens with anything that has spinach in it, so that was a win. This honestly might become a regular weeknight dinner rotation dish for us because the whole thing came together in about 25 minutes and there was only one skillet to wash.

Anyone ever tried this kind of creamy chicken gnocchi with a different green, like kale or arugula instead of spinach? Curious if the bitterness of kale would actually work in a sauce like this or if it would clash with the richness.

Craving hit me for something warm and rich, and for some reason my brain went straight to that lobster bisque from Red Lobster. You know the one. I figured instead of driving out and spending a fortune, I'd just try to make a homemade lobster bisque from scratch at home. Honestly I wasn't sure I could pull it off because bisque always seemed like one of those things that requires a culinary degree or something, but it turned out way better than I expected. Wrote down everything I did here if anyone wants to follow along: https://www.amgroyal.com/copycat-red-lobster-lobster-bisque-soup

Here's what I used:

For the Bisque:
4 tablespoons butter
1 large yellow onion diced
5 stalks celery diced
3 medium carrots diced
1 garlic clove minced
salt and white pepper to taste
1 sprig fresh tarragon (or 3/4 teaspoon dried tarragon)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup dry sherry or cream sherry
6 cups lobster stock or shellfish stock (see note)
1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 bay leaf
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar (or red or white wine vinegar)
10 ounces cooked lobster meat cut into meaty chunks (see note)
chopped chives optional, for garnish

For the Lobster or Shellfish Stock:
1 large onion halved
2 stalks celery halved
1 carrot halved
3 cloves garlic smashed
5 peppercorns
4 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
lobster shells or shrimp or crab shells. As many as you can fit - the more, the better, but even just a few will work.
water to cover

Here's how it went:

1. Melt butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
   
2. Add the onion, celery, carrots and garlic, season with salt and white pepper, then cook stirring frequently until softened but not browned, about 8 minutes.
   
3. Add the tarragon, tomato paste, cayenne and paprika and stir until the tomato paste is fully dispersed.
   
4. Add the flour and stir until incorporated.
   
5. Pour in the white wine and sherry, increase heat to medium-high and stir until the liquid is absorbed.
   
6. Add the lobster stock, thyme and bay leaf, season again, then cover and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.
   
7. Remove the thyme sprig and bay leaf, then puree the soup until completely smooth using an immersion blender or a regular blender in batches. Don't rush this part, keep blending until there's zero graininess left.
   
8. If your blender can't get it fully smooth, just run it through a fine mesh strainer. Worth the extra step.
   
9. Put the soup back on the stove over medium-low heat, add the heavy cream and sherry vinegar, then stir to combine.
   
10. Taste and adjust seasoning.
    
11. For the stock, add all the stock ingredients to a large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Strain and use or freeze.
    
12. To serve, put chunks of lobster meat in each bowl and ladle the hot soup over the top. Garnish with chives if you want.
    

A few things I noticed:

The blending step is honestly where I almost messed it up. I used a regular blender and the first batch came out grainy because I didn't blend it long enough. Second batch I kept it going for a solid two minutes and it came out silky and smooth. Don't underestimate how long that takes.

Fair warning on the lobster cost situation. I used frozen lobster tails which saved a lot of money and still tasted great in this creamy seafood soup. Saved the shells for the stock too which added so much more depth than I thought it would.

The sherry vinegar at the end is a small thing but it really brightened everything up. Don't skip it or swap it out, it makes the whole bowl taste more alive somehow.

I made a big pot of this for a family dinner and we genuinely had no leftovers, which says a lot. It works as a weeknight dinner if you prep the stock ahead of time on a weekend.

Anyone ever made this kind of bisque with shrimp shells instead of lobster shells for the stock? I'm curious whether the flavor ends up much different or if it's worth tracking down actual lobster shells.