Gemistas: Greek Stuffed Tomato Dinner

Tonight's creation is one of my own, with inspiration from a few websites and my own personal tastebud preferences!

Gemistas! - aka stuffed tomatoes. 
(Being a slightly more than carnivorous family, it is EXTREMELY rare to have a vegetarian dinner on the menu - but this one did not disappoint!)


Ingredients (makes 6 Gemistas):

• 6 medium-large fresh tomatoes (my mom graciously got these from Jane and Paul's Farmstand in Norfolk, MA. So fresh you have to slap them!)
• 1 cup orzo pasta
• 1 small onion, chopped (some people in my family don't care for onions, so I chopped them really small so they could be hidden)
• 2-3 garlic cloves (I went with 3... helps keep away the vampires!)
• 5 grinds of pepper (about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoonful)
• 5 grinds of salt (see above!)
• Pinch of sugar
• About 2 teaspoonsful oregano 
• Potatoes
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Rinse the tomatoes and cut about a 1 inch thick slice off the top. Scoop out the pulp and set it aside with the tops (get rid of the hard core part though, that's just useless!
3. Sprinkle the inside of the tomatoes with some salt, and invert on a paper towel to drain them a little.
4. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a pan, and add the chopped onions and garlic. Cook these until they are slightly translucent and soft (not brown).
5. Also, cook the orzo according to directions until al dente.
6. Add the tomato pulp to the pan, turn up the heat a little, and simmer until it is thicker with just a little juice left in the pan.



Your house will smell amazing!

7. Mix the orzo with tomato/onion/yumminess mixture, and add the spices. (The beauty of adding spices is that you can add more or less of what you want. Being a Greek dish, I favored the oregano, but you can also try basil, parsley, dill or rosemary if that is what your palate craves!)
8. Spoon mixture into tomatoes (don't pack them down!), place in a slightly oiled baking dish and put the tomato hats on.

9. Surround the tomatoes with diced potatoes to roast alongside them! (Or any other veggies you like... the potatoes are also helpful in keeping the tomatoes separated in the pan! Again, season according to taste!)
10. Cook for about 50 minutes... finish under the broiler if you'd like to brown up the tops, and serve with whatever sides you like! 
• We did a salad, some fabulous feta (always a good choice), and some crusty bread.

So if you're like my family and feel as though you can't go a meal without meat, I encourage you to try this dish - a healthy and filling meal!
As the Greeks say... Kali Orexi! (Bon appetit!)

Picture found here!

Chicken, Spinach, and Feta Omelettes

Okay friends, we have our first non-baking post today!

Seeing as today was my first day off in about a week... and that I don't have another day off until next Friday.. I thought that a nice brunch was in order.

The true beauty of omelettes are in their simplicity. What foods do you like? Throw them in!


Here is how I created this lovely treat:
Ingredients:

• Eggs! (This omelette was for Chef George and I, so we used 6 because well, we love eggs!)
• Some milk or cream... some liquid to thin it out. We had heavy cream around the kitchen so I put in just a splash of that
• *The Barefoot Contessa claims that less liquid makes for fluffier eggs, so use your best judgement!*
• Salt
• Toppings!



I put the ingredients in ramekins because I had them sitting around and think they look professional!

• In this scenario, we used leftover chicken from dinner the other night, some spinach I chopped up, and some wonderful feta cheese

Directions:

• Whisk together the eggs, liquid, and sprinkle of salt.
• Heat a frying pan on medium-high temperature with some olive oil and a pat of butter.
• This olive oil came straight out of Greece! I thought it made it a more well-rounded Greek breakfast!
• Pour in the eggs and allow them to solidify a bit.
• When the bottom of the eggs seem firm but the top is still a little runny, sprinkle your toppings on: 

• Fold the omelette in half and flip... Cook until you think its about done!

We served ours with some nice crunchy multigrain toast, some Kalamata Olives, bacon, and of course, some more feta cheese.

Paired with a cold glass of orange juice and a coffee, and we had ourselves a lovely brunch this morning!

Nifty Nutella Cupcakes

This was my first creation by request - I stumbled upon this recipe, courtesy of Family Kitchen, and my cousin, Christy, wanted me to let her know how it was!
So here you go, Christy! You judge for yourself! :)

Nutella has never been my favorite... it is good, but not the first thing I reach for in my cabinet. But these cupcakes have changed my perspective on this chocolate-hazelnutty spread! Nutella is not only in the cupcake batter, not only in the buttercream frosting... but also in its pure form inside the cupcake!




Ingredients:
Cupcakes:

• 2/3 cups Nutella
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (I used my old standby: Hersheys!)
• 2 teaspoonsful baking soda
• 1 teaspoonful baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoonful salt
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened (my recipe didn't say salted or unsalted, so I used unsalted and it came out fine!)
• 2 and 1/2 cups buttermilk (a good way to not waste the buttermilk from my last recipe!)

Frosting:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup Nutella
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoonsful vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:
Cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flours, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt. Then just mix it around a bit to incorporate it all. (This stage made me realize I need a real sifter, since the only one we have hold maybe a cup worth of flour. I'm thinking this one from cooking.com: SIFTER!... Only $20, but I'm poor.)
In a separate bowl, beat eggs and sugar until thick, and then add the butter and beat. Then add the Nutella and the buttermilk, and beat until incorporated.
Wear an apron if you have one, this splattered on me. I'm sad I left my big, fat, greek apron upstairs.


Add in the flour mixture about 1 to 2 cups at a time, mixing well after each addition. Fill cupcake tins to about 2/3 full, and bake for about 25 minutes.
(This recipe made me 40+ cupcakes, so I had to do multiple batches, make sure you account for that when you set out to make these cupcakes!)


*Fun Tip!: If you have a pastry bag with a round tip... while the cupcakes are still warm, fill the pastry bag with Nutella, and pipe into the center of the cupcake! Fun surprise!*


Frosting:
*Note: allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting. I used this opportunity to go to Papa Ginos and grab some yummy cheese pizzas!*
Beat together the butter and the Nutella until it is nice and creamy, and then mix in the vanilla extract. Add in the powdered sugar, and mix well. Use the heavy cream to change the consistency as desired - it took me about 3 tablespoons until I liked where it was.


And there ya go! Frost however you want. I topped with chocolate shavings. Yumm!

Pre - chocolate shavings... Just a few of the MANY cupcakes this recipe made!