Scrambled eggs with mini cherry tomatoes and chives – Uova strapazzate con pomodorini cherry e erba cipollina – Kajgana s mini cherry rajčicama i vlascem

I’m so lucky to have my parent’s garden (I use to call this place “the garden with the view”, because we have this beautiful bird’s-eye view to the Kvarner Bay!) full of fruits and vegetables during all year long and every time I go back home I bring to Italy some fresh produces. Some means plenty! No need to go to the market several weeks upon my return! But this is part of my travels and being emigrant. I’m also lucky because I have now two homes, I belong to two countries and two different ways of living. Even if my two countries are “neighbours", there are so many different habits and customs and I definitely needed to get used to many new things. After all is said and done, I like all the changes I did and all new changes that still happen day after day. This is life!

Speaking about vegetables again, I must admit that tomatoes are my favourite vegetable (or fruit?!), so I don’t mind if my refrigerator is still full of tomatoes of all sizes. This is the only vegetable that I buy during winter months too, I really can’t resist to it…and I really love, love, love tomatoes. When I was still living in Croatia I used to eat the tomatoes picked directly from the plant. I can remember the sweetness of cold and juicy tomatoes…I assure you, it is heavenly good.

Tomatoes confit sometimes come back! - Pomodorini confit a volte ritornano! - Mini rajčice confit se ponekad vraćaju!

Some days are hard, some are even more hard....all year 2015 is so hard and it runs, runs, it doesn’t stop running and we are already in August, means end of summer, means autumn, means end of another year! The good thing is that we are going to holidays, finally we will relax and forget the haste and all hard days we went through in last months – I’m going home again, another few days and I’ll enjoy the nature, the sea, the food and the feelings.

The recipe that fit well to my present mood is the one I’ve already shared here last year, the one that make me think about new recipes, the one that gives me energy and willpower to continue making something (this is how I am!). I also did some new pictures that I really liked so here we are again: sweet, sweet flavour of tomatoes confit will make you smile and you won’t stop thinking about a new recipe in which you can use them…

Tagliatelle alla julienne with summer flavours – Tagliatelle alla julienne con sapori estivi – Tagliatelle alla julienne s okusima ljeta

This tremendous heat is making our life so difficult, but this hot summer is offering plenty of fresh and coloured vegetables and the aromatic herbs on my terrace are growing so strong and healthy this year. Nevertheless they need a lot care and water too, but it’s a gift to have the possibility to pick your own plants whenever you need some. I’m pretty sure I will find a space on my terrace next year to plant some vegetables too. The courgette is the one I’d like to try to cultivate, because we like to eat them prepared in so many different ways. Its flowers are so interesting, not flavourful, but so coloured, like a sun! If I had a garden with many courgettes, I’d put the flowers in the vase too. In my parent’s garden the courgettes grow very quickly, if you “forget” your courgette plant for one day you risk to find so big fruits and so many of them that you must give them away to neighbours and friends. I like to search for flowers hidden under big leaves and I like most the small courgettes with the flower on it, they are crunchy and the yellow petals give some coloured touch to each dish. And they get cooked in very short time and it’s not bad during hot summer days.

Duck breast with orange – Petto d’anatra all’arancia – Pačja prsa s narančom

Questa è un’ottima alternativa all’arrosto della domenica. E’ profumata, di sapore delicato e completamente di stagione. In più è di facile esecuzione, solo un po’ lunga come preparazione perché la marinatura della carne richiede ore e ore di riposo.
Ho usato anche la salvia e il rosmarino che crescono sul nostro terrazzo e che sono rimasti bellissimi per tutto l’inverno. Il rosmarino è persino fiorito di nuovo mentre la salvia l’abbiamo tagliata solo dopo l’abbondante nevicata di due settimane fa. Le arance non mancano mai in casa durante i mesi invernali….perché la vitamina C fa molto bene, ma non solo le vitamine fanno bene, le arance ci piacciono moltissimo e in tutti i modi. E allora con le arance si prepara di tutto e si sperimenta anche un po’.

Liver paté – Patè di fegato – Jetrena pašteta – 1° day/giorno/dan

Questo post è in due parti, cioè in due giorni. Non perché il patè è una ricetta talmente complicate e importante per meritarsi due pubblicazioni, ma perché non mi piaceva buttare giù giusto le due foto del vasetto pieno di patè e finirla così. Mi è sembrato più carino mostrare il patè anche in un altro modo, pronto per essere mangiato, ma questo fa parte del secondo giorno!

Il vasetto però, è molto fotogenico ed è perfetto nella sua forma (e si sa che la perfezione a me piace tanto)! Si, ma qui parliamo di patè, non del vasetto. E va bene, ma anche il vasetto ha la sua funzione in questa storia. Perché a questo patè così raffinato ho voluto trovare anche un contenitore non banale. Potrei definirmi la collezionista di vasetti di vetro. Mi affascina la trasparenza del vetro e le forme più semplici. Mi piace guardarli riempiti di vari composti colorati, opachi o gelatinosi e nella mia testa ad ogni vasetto e alla sua forma appartiene un composto preciso. E’ per questo che il patè non poteva finire in un vasetto diverso e con il tappo a vite!