Rose: Ah! Good question! Er.... They are meatballs made from (I think) pig's liver and onion.
Brains is a name of a frozen food firm that makes them and their recipe includes various spices and stuff.
harley: Who in their right mind would buy 'Brains'? Me! Or does that prove your point?
I like Brains faggots. (waits for giggles from our American cousins to die away....)
1 shot of Irish Cream
1 shot of Port
Separate the ingredients into two shots.
Do not take these yourself!
This should be given to that special person that you don't like.
Have them take the irish cream first and tell them to hold in their mouth.
Then they can do the port shot.
Watch as the contents of their mouth solidify and curdle...
We eat this all year round at home but traditionally on Christmas Eve every household in Greece bakes a Christopsomo or "Christ bread". The loaf is often decorated with engravings on the crust that represent aspects of the family's life and profession. A loaf from a fishing family might have a picture of a fish on it, for example. Here is the recipe for the Christopsomo.
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom seeds (seeds removed from the exterior husk) [OR crushed aniseed]
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Grease an 8-inch circular cake pan.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and allow to stand for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar, salt, egg, milk, cardamom and butter in a large bowl and mix well. Add the yeast mixture, both types of flour, raisins and the walnuts. Mix well. If the dough is too moist, add a little all purpose flour to make softer dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Shape into a round loaf.
Place the dough into the cake pan, cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350.
When risen, bake the loaf for 35 to 40 minutes or until brown and it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
MELOMACARONA - Traditional Greek Christmas cookies soaked in honey syrup.
INGREDIENTS (makes about 40 pieces)
400 ml olive oil
120 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
250 ml beer
4 ml ground cinnamon
1 ml ground cloves
orange peel (use the grated peel of one orange)
200 g sugar
350 g finely ground semolina
600 g flour
2.5 ml baking soda
2.5 ml baking powder
5 ml salt
300 g sugar (for the syrup)
500 g honey
250 ml water
60 g chopped walnuts
PROCEDURE
(1) Put the olive oil, butter, beer, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until they are thoroughly blended.
(2) Sift about one cup of flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt, and blend into the mixture.
(3) Add the semolina, a cup at a time, into the mixture.
(4) Add the enough of the remaining flour, a cup at a time, until you get a rather firm dough (you may need a bit more or less than the amount mentioned in the ingredients list). Use your hands to do the mixing, as an electric mixer will be useless after the first two or three cups of flour have been added.
(5) Roll the dough into cylinders, about 5 cm long and 2 -3 cm in diameter, flatten them with your hands, and place them on cookie sheets greased with a little olive oil. Bake at 175 deg. C for half a hour.
(6) Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool for about half an hour.
(7) Make the syrup: mix the sugar, honey and water, and bring them to a boil. Cook on low heat for three minutes and skim off the foam that forms on top.
(8) Pour the hot syrup over the cookies, sprinkle them with the chopped walnuts and let them soak overnight.