I know I am not pregnant, but while I was browsing the net tonight my tongue suddenly filled, out of the blue, with a familiar food taste: fried goat or sheep organs and intestines. Oh, God, I missed (true) Greek food so much. There is no way I can find such animal parts here in the US to cook something like this (I am afraid that I might even get jailed for asking a butcher where to find such animal parts). The vast majority of people don’t even eat goat meat here, let alone its guts.

I remember how my mother prepares them very well. My uncle (or occasionally my father) would slaughter and skin the free-range goat from his own herd (he’s got over 200 goats), my aunt who doesn’t like cooking this involving recipe much would bring the guts to my mother (who doesn’t mind it) within the hour, and then we would share the final outcome.

My mother would find a 40cm length, 1 cm width, stick/branch from a tree, clean it up to make it straight and then she would pull the branch into the intestines to turn them inside-out. The branch is a very good trick to turn intestines inside-out, because it’s imperative they are cleaned well with lots of cold water on the inside, because it’s their inside part that’s mostly dirty (as this is where food goes to become poo in the animal). I can’t explain it how the branch turns the small intestine inside-out, but it does, you have to try it to see it for yourself. You also clean up well with lots of cold water the liver, kidneys, heart, lungs and spleen. Remove any parts that are not directly part of the organs. If you see discoloration or weird spots on some of the organs, you throw away either the entire organ, or you clean it up very well by removing these cancerous parts (yes, sometimes goats and sheep have cancer).

Then, you put them all to boil in a big pan, uncovered. In the first few minutes that they will start to boil, floating blood will come out of them (it will look gray, not red), and you need to use a spoon to remove the blood from the boiling pan. After a while, no blood comes out anymore. You remove the water, you put new, clean water in the pan, and you boil again. Boil for 30 mins, and then you throw that water away too. You change the water yet once more if the animal is old (older animals are more smelly than young ones). For the final water change, you add new cold water, you boil again, but this time you cover. You let the guts cook for over 1.5 hours (much less if you have a pressure cooker). Then, you remove the water again, and you let the guts get cold so you don’t burn your fingers while carrying out the next step.

You take a knife and you cut all the guts in small pieces, about 1″ in size (2-3cm). You put lots of olive oil in a big frying pan, you add your guts in there (you probably will need to fry twice, as a full goat’s guts won’t fit in a single frying session), you add lots of oregano, some salt & pepper, and you fry until they become dark in color and rigid. You add 1/5 cup of lemon juice on each of the frying sessions and you fry for 2-3 more minutes.

Then, they are ready to eat, usually with home-made French fries (also with oregano and salt on them). It’s a lot of work to properly clean and prepare this recipe, but it’s yummy, yummy, yummy. Another way to cook the intestines instead of boiling/frying them is to rotisserie them on a horizontal stick, just like this (press enter on the URL to view image). This is called “Kokoretsi” and you can ask for this dish on most grill houses in Greece.

As for the stomach of the goat, we keep that aside, along with some of the intestines, to make a soup called “patsas“. Another favorite of mine. My mother makes one of the best patsas ever in an avgolemono-like recipe (as in my recipe on the link, but with no rice or chicken, but with lots of garlic and the rest of the technique as described there).

Regardless, they are lovely animals too, not just tasty. Sheep are my favorite animals, but goats are really smart.

Inspired by a “Pasta Pomodoro” dish called “Tortellini alla Panna” (not the same recipe though). We had the following tonight with JBQ and we liked it a lot. A very rich dish.

Ingredients (for 2)
* Cheese tortellini for two
* 3 slices of uncoooked bacon
* 150 gr of chicken breast
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1/5 cup white wine or champagne
* 2 tbspoons of frozen spinach
* 1 garlic clove
* 2 tbspoons olive oil
* Some basil (or sage or parsley)
* Black pepper to taste

Execution
1. Cut chicken into strips. Cook pasta as per package instructions and boil the chicken strips with it too. Drain, separate the chicken from the pasta, and set both aside.
2. Cut the bacon in small bits. In a pan heat the olive oil and start frying the bacon. Stir occasionally.
3. Two minutes later add the chicken into the saucepan and fry it together with the bacon for a few more minutes. Stir occasionally.
4. Cut the spinach, garlic and basil in small bits. Add to the frying pan and fry all for another 2-3 minutes until the bacon is crispy and the chicken has taken some color.
5. Add the wine, and cook for one more minute. Add some black pepper. Add the milk and the sour cream. Stir for a while to melt all ingredients together and turn off the heat when the sauce is still creamy.
6. Mix the pasta in it, stir everything for 30 more seconds and immediately serve. Enjoy!

My parents in law came to visit today, so I made this cake. We call it an apple pie in my Greek hometown, but it’s more of a cake really. It’s very easy and fast to make.

Ingredients (for 8 )
* 3 eggs
* 1/3 cup of sugar
* 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
* 1 big apple (or 2 smaller ones)
* 1 cup of general purpose flour
* 3 teaspoons of baking powder
* 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Execution
1. In a large bowl add all ingredients except the apple(s).
2. Using an electrical mixer, mix for 2-3 minutes on high power until the batter becomes somewhat fluid. Add more flour or some water to get the right balance.
3. Preheat oven at 390 F (200 C). Add the batter in an oven dish (the batter should be half an inch tall while on the dish).
4. Peel the apple, remove its kernels, and cut it vertically in very thin slices. Place the slices on top of the batter. The batter should be “thick” enough to keep the apple slices afloat, but also fluid enough too.
5. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Eat hot or cold.

This (originally Swiss) recipe is directly from JBQ, who as a good Frenchman is cooking Cheese Fondue for us regularly during winter. You will need an electrical fondue pot, which costs about $50.

Ingredients (for 6)
* 1 day old French bread or 2 days old country style white bread
* 1 kg of cheese (1/3 emmental, 1/3 comte, 1/3 beaufort)
* 1 bottle of dry white wine
* 1/5 teaspoon nutmeg
* pepper

Execution
1. Grate the cheeses, or just cut them in very small pieces.
2. Cut the bread in medium size cubes and set aside.
3. Turn ON the fondue pot on high heat. Add the cheese, wine, pepper, nutmeg and using a wooden spoon keep stirring to melt the cheese and evaporate the wine.
4. When the cheese is all melted a few minutes later, lower the heat to medium-high, and place a piece of bread at the tip of your fondue stick. Using the stick, dip the bread into the fondue pot to get some hot cheese on it. Enjoy!

JBQ loves this traditionally Russian dish, I cooked it again tonight after a long time…

Ingredients (for 2)
* 220gr beef fillet, cut in strips
* 2 cups of thick-sliced mushrooms
* 2 shallots, chopped
* 1/3 teaspoon nutmeg
* 3/4 cup sour cream
* 1/2 cup white wine
* 3 tbspoons butter
* 150gr fussili pasta or egg noodles
* salt and pepper

Execution
1. In a large pan add water and cook the pasta/noodles as described in its packaging directions.
2. In a large frying pan add the butter and chopped shallots and fry in high heat for 2-3 minutes until browned.
3. Add the beef strips into the pan and stir continuously. Fry the strips for 3-4 minutes until browned.
4. Add the mushrooms, salt, pepper, nutmeg and stir occasionally, for about 5 minutes, in medium heat.
5. Add the wine and cook for an additional 5 minutes, also in medium heat. Stir occasionally.
6. Add the sour cream, stir vigorously, and cook until the sauce has thickened. Serve hot with the pasta/noodles, although Stroganoff is freezer-friendly too.

Chicken livers the way my mom makes them. I personally prefer chicken hearts (cooked the same way as below), but livers are nice too.

Ingredients (for 2)
* 1 cup of chicken livers
* 1 cup of canned chunked tomatoes
* 1/3 cup green frozen peas
* white rice of your choice
* A bit of jalapeño pepper
* 1 shallot, diced
* 1 garlic clove, crashed
* 2 tbspoons olive oil
* 1 tbspoon butter
* salt & pepper

Execution
1. Put the livers in a drainer and run lots of cold water through them to make sure there is not much of their “bloody” juice left.
2. In a pan, add the oliver oil and shallot under high heat. When the shallot starts to get golden, add the livers and stir regularly.
3. Bring the chunked tomatoes into your cutting board and dice them smaller if they are too chunky. Dice the jalapeño in small pieces too.
4. When the livers start getting some brown color and most of their juice has evaporated, add the tomatoes and jalapeño pepper pieces. Also add the garlic clove and some salt and pepper. Stir occasionally.
5. After about 2-3 minutes, lower the heat to “low”, and add 2 cups of water. Cover the pan and let it cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce is now thick.
6. Fifteen minutes before that happens, cook the rice as per package instructions. Also add in the pan with it the peas. After draining the peas and rice, bring them back to the pan and “butter” them. Serve both the rice and livers immediately.

Saganaki is a Greek fried or broiled cheese favorite. My husband loves it, so I made it tonight for him (fried version).

Ingredients (for 2)
* Kasseri or Kefalograviera cheese
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup white flour
* Olive oil
* 1/5 cup of brandy

Execution
1. Cut the cheese horizontally, to create two triangle halves. It’s a hard cheese, so be careful while cutting it.
3. Beat the egg with a whisk, and then dip the cheese halves on it, on both sides.
4. Coat the cheese well with the flour.
5. In a frying pan heat some olive oil in medium/high. Fry the cheese halves until they get a golden brown color, on both sides. [Optional: you can choose to broil it instead]
6. Moments before removing the cheese from the fire, pour the brandy. Turn one more time and when the alcohol is evaporated, serve hot.

I felt like cooking something new and low-calorie today. This is a pretty filling dinner plate that only has 200 calories for 3 big pieces of spring-like rolls.

Ingredients (for 1)
* 40 gr whole grain or whole wheat flour (120 cals)
* 1 cup of vegetables: shredded carrots, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, other. (30 cals)
* 45gr of tenderloin pork or chicken breast (50 cals)
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce (0 cals)
* 0 calorie non-stick spray

Execution
1. Set aside 1 tablespoon of flour (that’s about 5 grams). Get some warm water and set aside. Take a bowl and put in it about 25 grams of the remaining flour, while saving the rest 10 grams. Very carefully, add 1 tablespoon of the warm water in the middle of the flour in the bowl. With a fork try to create the dough, by adding small bits of water and the rest of the 10 grams of flour as needed each time. Be very careful not to add too much water, or you will have no alternative but to add more flour to make the dough rigid enough (and that would mean more calories). When the dough is rigid enough and it doesn’t stick to your hands anymore, cut it in 3 pieces and set aside.
2. Cut the meat in very small pieces. On a small frying pan spray some non-stick spray and stir-fry the meat for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add the vegetables and stir-fry for another minute. Add the soy sauce and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes until the vegetables get softer. Set the frying pan aside and let it cool. Preheat the oven at 375F (190C).
4. On a clean surface sprinkle some of the flour that you had left aside in the tablespoon. Using your roller pin and flour from that tablespoon as needed, roll each of the 3 dough pieces into a rectangular shape, until it becomes a very thin fylo pastry.
5. When all three dough pieces are shaped, take a tablespoon and equally distribute the frying pan’s mixture in the middle of each fylo pastry. Then carefully and safely shape each as a spring roll.
6. On a cookie sheet sprinkle some non-stick spray, place the rolls there and then spray their top. Place into the oven. On the 7th minute, turn the rolls over. In about 7 more minutes, the rolls are ready (or until they start to get a brown color). Enjoy warm!

A year ago I published my low calorie smoothie recipe, but here’s the normal one. Of course, be prepared to rush to the toilet and pee after you drink all that…

Ingredients (for 1)
* 1.5 scoops of frozen Sherbet of your choice
* 150gr of frozen fruit chunks of your choice
* 100ml pure orange juice (more as needed)
* A few bits of fresh fruits (optional)
* 1 ice cube

Execution
1. Place all ingredients in the blender. Secure the blender.
3. Start the blender in high-speed, or in its ice-breaker mode (if it has such a mode).
4. If the ice doesn’t seem to break, add more orange juice. Blend until smooth, usually about 50 secs.
5. Pour into a glass and enjoy it through a straw. Beware of brain freezes!

Tip: Do not mix many different kinds of fruits. They don’t taste bad, but they look like goo!

I had this Pineapple smoothie this afternoon, yummy!

At our home we eat shellfish regularly (from shrimp to full crabs), but this was the first time we bought and cooked lobster. In fact, it was just my second or third time in my life that I had a lobster tail. It was pretty good, but the price still seemed steep ($14 each). Here’s how I cooked it tonight.

Ingredients (for 2)
* 2 lobster tails
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/2 cup lemon juice
* 1 medium onion
* paprika
* salt

Execution
1. Wash the lobster. Get your cooking shears and carefully cut and discard the semi-hard membrane along the belly of the lobster in order to expose it for easier cook-through.
2. Peel, and then cut the onion in small pieces. Place the pieces in a large bowl.
3. In the same bowl add the oil, lemon, some salt and a generous amount of paprika. Using a fork mix everything well.
4. Place the lobster tails there too and let it marinate in the fridge for one to two hours.
5. Preheat the broiler for 10 minutes. In a grilling oven dish place your lobster with the hard shell facing down and pour half of the marinating sauce on it. Broil for 4 minutes.
6. Turn your lobster tails so the hard shell faces up and broil for 7 minutes.
7. Turn again, add the other half of the marinating sauce and cook for 3 more minutes. Enjoy with spicy tartar sauce and vegetables.