Stuffed Zucchini or Kolokithakia Gemista

 

When I first moved to Greece and got married, I did not know a thing about Greek cooking. Luckily, my husband was more than happy to show me how to cook Greek style. He taught me many recipes which I make to this day.

Now, I do most of the cooking, but my husband, Ilias, cannot seem to keep himself away from the stove for long.  The other day, I mentioned that I was to make stuffed zucchini and he said, “Girl, let me make it. I will show you how to make it Greek style.” Since he is a great cook, I had no problems with this at all. After watching him prepare the zucchini, I realized our two recipes were completely different. I was going to cut the zucchini in half and stuff it with meat and cheese. He went a totally different direction. This is what he did…

 

How to make Stuffed Zucchini or Kolokithakia Gemista…

 

First, my husband washed 5 zucchini. Then he hollowed out the center of the zucchini with a knife and spoon so that they resembled “tubes”. He set the zucchini “tubes” aside and went to the next step.

In a frying pan, he heated 1/2 cup of olive oil and added a large diced onion, a 1/2 cup of chopped fresh dill, 3/4 pound of ground beef, and salt/pepper. He cooked the mix until the meat was brown and onion translucent. He turned off the heat and added a cup of parboiled rice. After mixing the beef and rice, he stuffed the zucchini and returned them to a large kettle that had hot olive oil and seared the zucchini on all sides. To this, he added enough water to cover the zucchini and put the lid on the pot. he let them simmer for 1/2 hour.

Next…

When he began to ladle out some of the liquid from the zucchini pot, I became confused. Then it became clear. He beat two eggs with olive oil and lemon juice. Slowly, he added the hot zucchini broth. After mixing for a bit, he added the sauce to the zucchini until it thickened. Finally, he put zucchini and sauce on our plates and we were ready to eat!

 

This is our table.

From left to right: Olive bread, Greek yogurt with salt and pepper (a must for this dish), Feta, and cabbage salad with tomatoes. Oh, and heaping plates of stuffed zucchini!

 

I really loved this meal! Would I change anything? Nope! It was perfect. Since, it is hard to see what our prepared zucchini look like stuffed, I found a picture of stuffed zucchini that effectively shows what the zucchini looks like without the sauce. Not my picture, but I thank the stars for the person who took it. Looks nice!

Pizza Dough and Tomato Sauce with Roasted Eggplant

Every two weeks or so, my husband and I have homemade pizza or pizza turnovers. Take-out pizza is expensive and who knows from what the ingredients are made. We have a policy in our house never to have frozen pre-made food (TV dinners, pot pies, fried chicken, burritos, etc.) for meals. So, frozen pizza is out. However, we both like to have pizza every once and awhile. I came up with this pizza dough recipe to make our own pizza or pizza turnovers. Once the dough is made, the topping or filling is pretty much up to the individual.

Today we had sliced leftover pizza turnovers from 2 days ago that were served cold that could be dipped in (or topped) with my Tomato with Roasted Eggplant Sauce. My husband LOVES this sauce and I LOVE to make it! 

To make the Pizza Dough…

• 1 package dry active yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey  or brown sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of dried granulated garlic
• A pinch of basil
• toppings of your choice

Preparation:

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and honey in 1/4 cup of the warm water. Combine the flour and the salt in a big separate bowl. Add the oil, yeast mixture, and the remaining 3/4 cup of water to the flour and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon and then knead by hand. Careful not to add too much extra flour while kneading. The dough should be smooth and firm. Cover the dough with a clean, damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.
Place a pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 500º F. Use the entire dough for one large thicker crust pizza or divide the dough into two balls for two 12 inch thin crust pizzas. Work the ball (or balls)by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball. Repeat 4 or 5 times. Then on a smooth, unfloured surface, roll the ball under the palm of your hand until the top of the dough is smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. At this point, the balls can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
If you use the dough right away, roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Add your sauce and toppings. Finally, cook for no more than 12 minutes (one large pizza). This time varies for the size of pizza and whether your making a turnover or not.
 


To make the Tomato with Roasted Eggplant Sauce…
I don’t have an ingredient list for this. I have the recipe in my head. Here are the brief instructions to make the sauce.

This sauce takes 4 hours total to make. Start early! First dice two small eggplants or one large eggplant into small pieces. Heat oven to 175 Celsius. Coat a baking pan with olive oil. Spread eggplant on baking pan and sprinkle with sea salt and lemon juice. Put eggplant in oven until golden brown.
While the eggplant is roasting…
Blanche 5 large tomatoes until the skins easily pull away. Set aside. Blanche 2 medium green peppers, one sweet red pepper, and one long yellow chili pepper until skins pull away easily. In a large saucepot, add about a 1/4 inch or more of olive to coat bottom of pot. Sauté a large clove of garlic and a finely diced onion in the heated oil. Take the skins off the tomatoes and peppers and chop into small pieces. Add the tomatoes and peppers to the onion and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add one beef stock cube, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, tablespoon basil, tablespoon oregano, tablespoon thyme, one teaspoon black pepper, red pepper flakes to taste, 2 bay leaves, and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Stir all of this together. Now add a little box of tomato paste and two cups of water. Stir. The eggplant should be done by now. Add the roasted eggplant with it’s oil to the sauce. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover with a lid for one hour while stirring occasionally. Remove lid and continue to simmer for 2 hours. The liquid should reduce to a nice level. If it reduces too much, just add more water. Not enough reduction, simmer longer.
That’s it!

This is really good on a hot summer day.
When I became pregnant, we banished our cats to the outdoors for obvious reasons. They have adjusted well. Even though they are outside, our little momma cat still comes everyday at dinner time to watch me set the table and have a chat. I thought I would share this picture with everyone. It has brightness problems, but you can still see her little head. Meow!

Tuesdays Tabboulah and Cheese Pies

Lately, it has been so hot that the idea of having a hot meal makes me cringe. Because of this, today we are having cool dishes for dinner. I will make Tabboulah salad, small cheese pies, and hummus. The salad and hummus will be chilled. the cheese pies will be served at room temperature. I may put down hard-boiled eggs with vinegar and dill too, but we will see how hungry I am by dinnertime.

I have posted the recipes for the Tabboulah and the hummus. I will save the cheese pies for a later day in fear of making this too long a post.  At the end of this post, I have made a few comments of what I would change concerning the recipes.

Making the Tabboulah…
This recipe will make a lot of Tabboulah, which is great! It can be eaten for two days! I start my Tabboulah early in the morning around 10:30 am (early for me considering what time I wake up) . By 3pm, it will be nice and cold. In this recipe, I will be using mint from our garden and cayenne that I dried from last year.

• 2 cups bulgur (To me, it does not matter if it is fine ground or not)
• 2 cups boiling water
• 3 green onions, sliced finely
• 1 fistful of parsley, stems removed, chopped finely
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped finely (I may use less)
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (our oil comes from our neighbors olive trees)
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I will add one tablespoon of balsamic too)
• 1 lemons…juice of the lemon that is…
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• salt and pepper
• 1 dried cayenne crumbled

Directions:

1. Place bulgur in a large mixing bowl. Cover with boiling water and let stand 5 to 10 minutes, then fluff grains with a wooden spoon or fork.
   
2. Add onions, parsley, mint, cucumber, and tomatoes and mix well.
   
3. Finally, add the rest of the ingredients one at a time. Mix thoroughly. Chill in the refrigerator and toss once again before serving.

That is it! Pretty easy.
 
A few days ago, I made chickpeas and spinach which turned out very well. A new favorite summer dish for sure! However, I soaked and boiled too many chickpeas. An easy solution to a bounty of chickpeas is to make hummus. There are so many recipes for hummus. I think I have read them all. This is what I have come up with by combining a few of the good ones and following a few tips.
 
Making the Hummus… 
 

• 1 2/3 cup or 2 cups of chickpeas
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (or just squeeze half a lemon)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves garlic, halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• one crushed cayenne
• 1 pinch paprika
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

Directions

1. Place the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, crushed cayenne, and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. (I chill before serving)
2. Drizzle olive oil over the mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

There you go. Two summer-ish recipes.

Here is our dinner table.

From left to right: Tabboulah, Greek yogurt, Hummus, Olive bread, and Cheese pies.


What I would change:
The Tabboulah was good. We learned through experience that less parsley is better, at least for our taste. Maybe I would add more vinegar, but my husband thought it was fine. I will boil the bulgur in a light chicken stock next time.
The Hummus tasted as hummus should taste. Personally, I would have liked like more lemon .
Oh, the cheese pies! The filling was great, but this is the LAST time I buy store-bought frozen phyllo dough. I will make my own pastry dough for cheese pies and share the recipe.

New blog direction…Forward!

 

Lately, I have been thinking about this blog and what I would like to do with it. I figure the best thing to do is write what I know and love. So, I am going to write about food, cooking, and gardening.

My husband and I share a deep love of cooking and gardening. Everyday at 3pm, we sit down to our main meal which always includes a salad and fresh bread. Most of the time we have vegetarian style dishes, but we cook meat on occasion. 

I will post our recipes, pictures of new culinary creations, and describe how we use the herbs and vegetables from our garden.