Italia, amore mio!

Ciao! We are back from a short trip to Italy. It was a blast. The weather may not have been the prettiest but we still had a lot of fun seeing all the beautiful sites of Bergamo and the towns surrounding Lago Iseo where we spent half of the trip. 

We are both huge fans of Italy. We love its picturesque views, little towns, stone houses and people, yes, italians are the best. So, when I found the tickets a while ago I booked them at once without even consulting it with Kamil. I knew he’d love the idea. 

We flew to Bergamo which is located less than 40km from Milan. We decided to stay there rather than spend the whole time in crowded Milan. To our surprise Bergamo turned out to be a real pearl. It’s not too big and it has the prettiest old town on the top of a hill with a breathtaking view of the city and the surrounding mountains. 

We stayed there until late afternoon, drank a few cafes and had one of the best if not THE best pizza ever. We then went back to the airport to pick up the car we had rented. You can’t imagine how happy we were when we got a Fiat 500. There’s nothing better that traveling accross Italy in a Cinquecento. 

 

 

Citta Alta, Old town of Bergamo

Seriously? Dirty sneakers for almost 200E?

 

Shoes off! Now we’re resting.

We found a lovely spot by Iseo lake. We had to spend the night there, it was just too beautiful. 

If you think it’s impossible to spend a comfortable night in a 500, you’re mistaken. 

Best lunch ever!

The next morning we traveled mostly through tiny and lovely little towns around Iseo (one was even called Lovere, we just had to go there).

I don’t think I have to mention how good italian wine was. There is something special about it (that makes it almost impossible to stop drinking)

The best part of any trip it to see a friend waiting for you with a huge grin on her face :) Too bad the plane landed ahead of time and we didn’t get to make a grand entrance. 

Thank you Rox, you saved us yesterday, otherwise we would have spent another 2 hours getting back home. 

What's for dinner - Chicken Pinacolada

At first, I thought it must be totally strange, too sweet and too fruity. To my surprise, it turned out really great. It's hard to describe what it tasted like but it was absolutely delicious and so fresh. We made it a while ago during winter but I think it's a perfect dish for a spring/summer lunch. If you like coconut, just as we do, you should definitely try it out.

What you need:

1 chicken breast, cubed

200ml coconut milk or 1 fresh coconut

1 ripe pineapple

1 egg

2tbsp brown sugar

1 lemon

5tbsp coconut flakes

2tbsp oat bran

1 chilli

80ml rum

salt, pepper, olive oil

What to do:

Marinade chicken in rum(40ml), brown sugar, salt & pepper and 1tbsp olive oil. Set aside for 15mins or more.

Coat the chicken in egg and coconut bran mix. 

Place on a rack and bake for 10-15 mins in 160C

Now, slice the pineapple and put in a pan. Fry for 1-2 mins, add the remaining rum and flambe until alcohol evaporates. Add coconut milk and cook until pineapple is soft. Blend it all together, season with salt and pepper. 

Serve with arugula or watercrest. Sprinkle with chopped chilli. 

 I'm off to run some errands but will be back with some weekend photos later today. Also, we're packing for a little getaway tomorrow. Italy, here we come!!! 

What's for dinner - Chicken Pinacolada

At first, I thought it must be totally strange, too sweet and too fruity. To my surprise, it turned out really great. It’s hard to describe what it tasted like but it was absolutely delicious and so fresh. We made it a while ago during winter but I think it’s a perfect dish for a spring/summer lunch. If you like coconut, just as we do, you should definitely try it out.

What you need:

1 chicken breast, cubed

200ml coconut milk or 1 fresh coconut

1 ripe pineapple

1 egg

2tbsp brown sugar

1 lemon

5tbsp coconut flakes

2tbsp oat bran

1 chilli

80ml rum

salt, pepper, olive oil

What to do:

Marinade chicken in rum(40ml), brown sugar, salt & pepper and 1tbsp olive oil. Set aside for 15mins or more.

Coat the chicken in egg and coconut bran mix. 

Place on a rack and bake for 10-15 mins in 160C

Now, slice the pineapple and put in a pan. Fry for 1-2 mins, add the remaining rum and flambe until alcohol evaporates. Add coconut milk and cook until pineapple is soft. Blend it all together, season with salt and pepper. 

Serve with arugula or watercrest. Sprinkle with chopped chilli. 

 I’m off to run some errands but will be back with some weekend photos later today. Also, we’re packing for a little getaway tomorrow. Italy, here we come!!! 

Bits and pieces

A few delicious recipes are coming soon on the blog. I'm officially in love with the new Jamie's 15 minute meals programme. Unfortunately, I don't have the book yet and given my extremely short memory I had to improvise. Sometimes I nap during half of the episode and then have to make up. The end result was good enough to share it with you. Again, Jamie, you rule, big time. I love everything you do. 

For my version of the recipe you'll need:

1 cup basmati rice

1 chilli

5cm fresh, grated ginger

a bunch of spring onions

2tbsp olive oil

1 cup green peas

2 fish fillets

3 hard boiled eggs

zest and juice of 1 lemon

What to do:

Start with cooking the rice and eggs. In a seperate pot bring to a boil 0,5l of water with 2 bay leaves, add fish and cook for 10 mins until it falls apart. While the rice and fish are almost ready heat olive oil in a big frying pan. 

Fry chilli, ginger and spring onions for 1-2 mins. Drain rice and put it in the pan together with peas. 

Add lemon zest and juice, season with salt and pepper, cook for 2 mins until peas are soft (not too soft). Serve with chilli yoghurt (yoghurt with chilli sauce) and fried italian cabbage with oyster sauce (both my idea).

As soon as I get the book, I promise to post the original recipe, unless, maybe some of you know it :) 

 We've been drinking Vietnamese coffee for the last 2 weeks. We got it as a gift from my brother and his wife. The original coffee calls for condensed milk but we ran out of it and had to replace it with regular milk. 

I love this little pumpkin and all her faces. 

We also made some super easy, 3 ingredient coconut macarons. We used them as ice cream sandwiches. 

We love when there is not much in the fridge and the things that end up on our plate are just plain delicious. Here, chicken quesadilla with plum sauce (thanks Mom for home made plum jam).

This has been happening for the last few days but we're almost in the clear. I love our new ofice/study. We'll post it very soon.

Now, we're packing our bags and leaving for a spring weekend. We couldn't be more excited.