The Amalfi Coast

Well, I finally uploaded all my pictures from my trip to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. It was so much fun finally being in a hundred degree area and sweating, while visiting old ruins and houses. But I didn't mind the sun and the weather at all, that's totally me, enjoying the heat and the warm sun rays on my arms. The cold is simply my biggest enemy. 

The first night we took our own little tour around Sorrento and I found this café filled up to the ceiling with all kinds of pastry. And not the healthy types of desserts, but just too yummy to ignore it. 
I guess, I took like a billion pictures and I was the typical tourist the waiters loved to make fun of. But who cares, it just looked amazing!

Spending a week in Italy you are forced to eat ice cream as often as you pass an ice cream store. I almost had more ice cream than other food. Especially when I discovered this spinning ice cream wheel. It was almost like a tiny carousel only made for delicious ice cream varieties. 

On our last night we went out for a really fancy dinner to a restaurant offering homemade pasta with Ricotta cheese and tomato sauce. The sauce still had tomato chunks mixed in and we could taste the freshness (if this is possible). 

For dessert we ordered Profiteroles. Completely dipped in hot chocolate with whipped cream. The filling inside was so moist and the pastry so fluffy: It was the perfect end for our trip. 

Lentil Salad

Finally, the summer has come! I am spending almost all of my free time outside: studying for my last tests, riding my bike, going for a run, swimming and of course eating ice cream. After this horrible spring the summer took the lead at last and made its way to us. Seriously, I am sure it was acknowledged by playing the best part as winter. I can't stand  cold, cloudy days anymore. There were simply too many of those in the last months.

So now I feel my summer taste buds awakening and looking for fresh energetic food. There is always this moment where you can't eat anything but a salad or something light in order not to have a "clogged" stomach when it's too humid outside. And actually this moment was today!
We don't have air conditioning in our apartment, so trying to cool down is definitely not an easy job, especially if opening up the windows makes you melt even faster. Somehow we really do need to bring a fan into here, now that summer is starting to heat up. I don't know how we managed it the past years living here. 

And before the keyboard starts to dissolve under my fingers I rather tell you real quick the foodie type of solution for the horribly humid days: Well, no surprise, a lentil-salad with fresh lemon dressing.
In my opinion lentils are not too heavy, vegetables give me some extra energy through the day and the lemony taste makes me smile :)

Lentil Salad
Single serving 


Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown lentils 
2 champignons 
1 large carrot
1 small pepper
cauliflower (as much as you like)
Romaine lettuce as "base"
few slices of an onion
juice of half a lemon
salt, pepper 
fresh cut basil

Directions:

Cook the lentils in water over high heat until they are boiling. Lower the heat and leave them for about 40 minutes until soft. Then drain the water.
Wash, peel and cut all vegetables. 
Cook the cauliflower in a pot, filled with water, just until boiling. Remove from stove and place in a pan with the champignons, pepper and carrot. Sauté for 10 minutes or until they are turning brownish.
Arrange the Romain leaves like a frame at the sides of a bowl and pour the lentils in the middle. Top with the vegetables and garnish with raw, sliced onions. 
For the dressing squeeze the juice of the lemon into a cup, season with salt, pepper and the basil. Pour dressing on top. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches

I have this tradition with my one friend we try to keep up as good as we can. It all started with increasing our passion for baking together, finding new recipes, experimenting with new ingredients and then feeding our history class with our baked goods.
We were almost forced to bring something in every day, because they got addicted to those new inventions and old traditional recipes.
That was our tradition at school.
And then we had our own private tradition: Bringing something yummy every time just the two of us were hanging out together. We've already had self-made Peanut Butter Cups, Cake balls (we had a whole era of those :) ) and all sorts of cookies.

This time I wanted to go over her house for a movie night after I haven't seen her in a really long time. Well, it definitely feels like a really long time. So I decided, why not stick to the tradition and bake something we've never had before?
For that you have to know that I am obsessed with cookie dough-everything. There is no eating ice cream without cookie dough in my cone. And because I had a cookie dough ice cream before making that decision I had to bake something with cookie dough! I can't believe we've never made anything with it until now (there was a lot of cookie dough in the last sentences). As the day passed on I found the perfect tradition fulfilling recipe for my purpose.

It was a lot of fun baking for my friend again. Although my sandwiches turned out a little large they were still loved by everyone.
Sometimes I have the feeling I have to practice how to make real pretty cookies, which will come out perfectly in the end with the right size and form.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches

    makes about 20 sandwich cookies

Ingredients:

For the Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

For Cookie Dough Filling:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed, scraping the side of the bowl occasionally, until smooth. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Cover and transfer the dough to the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a 1½-inch ball and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten balls slightly into 3/4-inch disks. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the balls about 2 inches apart.

Bake until cookie edges are slightly golden brown, about 9-11 minutes. Cool cookies for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

To make the cookie dough filling, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in flour, powdered sugar, and salt on low speed until incorporated. Slowly add heavy cream and vanilla extract and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

To assemble, Spread a heaping tablespoon of filling on the flat side of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, forming a sandwich. Repeat with remaining filling and cookies. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Grilled Vegetable Goat Cheese Toasts

"What are we having for dinner?" Who hasn't heard this question like already five thousand times? Thinking about dinner is most times the hardest task of the day. Nobody ever wants to make a decision and take the responsibility of serving the wrong meal. Or we simply don't care about which type of food is served, more important there is something on the plate.
Of course we had that problem come to our kitchen . It had to be something filling, yummy and somehow healthy - for my part - and for that one time no pasta.

"So what about going out for dinner?" Maybe a Mexican restaurant would make us all happy right now. Well.... no! We weren't that hungry, so going out would be a little wasted. And the food discussion went on. How can a conversation actually go on that long talking about this kind of topic? I guess, if you have food fanatics in your house.
A few hours later - ok, I am exaggerating - later we had the perfect dinner idea for everyone.

Grilled Vegetable Goat Cheese Toasts

serves four!


Ingredients:

1/2 of a big zucchini
2 champignons
1/2 cup chanterelles
1 yellow bell pepper
pinch salt, pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 slices goat cheese
4 slices whole wheat toast


Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F

Wash and dice all vegetables. In a big pan over medium heat toss the vegetables with the oil until they start getting a little brown at the bottom about 10-15 minutes. Garnish with salt and pepper.

Place the four slices of toast on a baking sheet and spread the vegetable mix evenly on top of the bread slices. Top each toast with one slice of the cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt and you start seeing the silhouettes of the vegetables underneath the cheese. Turn off the oven and serve hot.

Hot Coconut Milk Oatmeal

Last night I went to bed, thinking about what to do with my leftover coconut milk, which was waiting in the fridge to be used after some Thai meal I had the other night. 

When I want to sleep my brain does the complete opposite, it starts to think about all different kinds of unimportant stuff that doesn't come to my mind the whole day. So there came the idea of making one more of all those multiple oatmeal recipe experiences, which exist out there in the world. 

The idea: swap any milk of choice with my coconut milk (I am sure I am not the first person with this matchless idea, but anyways, I was all excited about it).

The next morning came and I almost ran into the kitchen, starting to create this fantastic recipe. While I was running I thought about more unique ingredients I could add to this oatmeal - Ok I thought about the ingredients for longer than I was running, because my trip into the kitchen is not that long.  

Afterwards I think I was quite creative with my oatmeal, adding some oriental tastes. And it kept me full for the whole day!

Hot Coconut Milk Oatmeal 

Single Serving!


Ingredients:

4 tablespoons coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/2 cup rolled oats (40g)
5-6 dates, chopped
2 tablespoons small almonds + some more for topping 
1 teaspoon coconut oil
(optional: 1 tablespoon shredded coconut, for garnish)


Directions:

In a medium sized pot over medium heat, whisk together the coconut milk and the cinnamon. 

Stir in the oats. Adjust heat if necessary or bring heat to low if it starts to boil. Cook for about 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently. When the mixture has thickened up, turn off heat - if you haven't already done this - and stir in the chopped dates and the almonds. 

Before taking the pot off the stove whisk in the coconut oil until well incorporated. Now remove pot from heat and pour into a bowl.

If you want you can top your oatmeal with some more small almonds or shredded coconut.