Egg en cocotte

Serves 2

Ingredients
50 g samphire
knob of butter
125 ml crème fraiche
50 g grated Parmesan
2 free range organic eggs
2 thick slices white or whole meal bread
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Place the roasting tray in the oven and half fill with hot water. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and cook the samphire for 1 minute. Drain off the water and leave in the colander.

Grease 2 ramekins or oven-proof cups with butter and divide the samphire between them.

Beat the crème fraiche to loosen and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into the ramekins, grind over some pepper and sprinkle over half the cheese.

Press lightly with the back of a spoon to create a ‘crater’ and carefully break in the eggs, ensuring the yolk stays intact. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

Place the ramekins in the roasting tray filled with hot water and cook 8-10 minutes for soft cooked or 20 minutes for hard cooked.

Toast the white or whole wheat bread until golden brown and cut into ‘soldiers’ (strips). Serve the eggs cocotte with the toast soldiers.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Weekend Canapés

The weekend is a great time to visit the market and different specialty food shops. Here are 2 simple and delicious recipes to serve with drinks. Click here to find out how to make crostini's.

Mushroom and Taleggio Crostini

Ingredients
15 g dried porcini
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove
500 g mixed mushrooms
salt and pepper
100 ml cream
300 g Taleggio cheese

Method
Soak the porcini in warm water for about 10 minutes.

Finley chop the garlic, slice the mushrooms. Squeeze the water out of the porcini and chop them up too.

Heat a frying pan with 3 tablespoons olive oil and fry the mushrooms and porcini over high heat. Add the garlic about half way through the cooking. Season with salt and pepper and add enough cream to bind the mushroom mixture, about 100 ml.

Slice the taleggio. Top the crostini with some mushroom mixture, a slice of Taleggio and place in a hot oven until the cheese has melted, about 3 minutes. Serve while still warm.

 

Veal Sweatbreads with Capers

Ingredients
500 g veal sweetbreads
seasoned flour, for dusting
olive oil, for frying
100g unsalted butter
4 tbsp capers, drained
squeeze lemon juice
3 tbsp chopped parsley

Method
Bring a pot of seasoned water, flavoured with a bay leaf, some sprigs of thyme and parsley stalks to the boil. Add the sweetbreads and poach gently for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pot, weight between 2 plates and allow to cool. Once the sweetbreads have been weighted down and cooled, peel the skin off using a small kife. Lightly dust the sweetbreads with seasoned flour.

Heat a frying pan and add enough oil to just cover the bottom of the pan. Add the sweetbreads and fry undisturbed until golden and crusty underneath. Turn and repeat with the other side.

Add the butter to the pan and cook until dark and nutty, flipping the sweetbreads in it. Add the capers, lemon juice to taste, parsley and a pinch of salt.

Spoon on to crostini and serve.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Easy 'Fondue' (baked cheese)

Ingredients
2 Saint Felicien or other favourite cheese, in an oven-proof container
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
1 small Turkish bread
2 figs
2 Belgian endive
olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 200° C. Remove the plastic from the cheeses and place them back in their containers. Make a few incisions in to the cheeses. Slice one garlic clove into thin slivers and finely chop the other. Pick the rosemary leaves off the stalks. Insert the garlic slivers and some of the rosemary leaves into the incisions made in the cheeses.

Drizzle the bread with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the remaining rosemary and finely chopped garlic clove. Place the cheese in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Place the bread in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time. Slice the figs into wedges and loosen the leaves from the endive.

Slice the bread into ‘fingers’. Serve the melted cheese in their heatproof dishes on a wooden board with the figs, endive and bread.

* Saint Felicien is available at Bilder & de Clercq stores in Amsterdam.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Fattoush

Ingredients
2 pita pocket breads, cut into strips about 2 cm wide, then toasted and crumbled
2 heads Romaine lettuce, chopped
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
4 tomatoes, diced (let them drain a minute or two if extra juicy)
1/2 cucumber, diced (same size as tomatoes)
small bunch coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
small bunch coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley (leaves only, no stems)

Dressing
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped (depending on how garlic you like it)
1 teapoon salt
lemon juice, to taste
1 teaspoon Sumac, plus more for sprinkling at the end if desired)
125 ml extra virgin olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C. While the oven heats, mash together the chopped garlic and salt using a mortar and pestle, or the side of a knife. Put the garlic paste in a small bowl, then the add lemon juice and 1 teaspoon Sumac. Whisk in the olive oil and set dressing aside. (You can also make the dressing in a glass jar and shake to combine.)

Cut the pita into strips about 2 cm wide and arrange on baking sheet. Bake until the pita strips are crisp but only just starting to brown, less than 10 minutes. Watch carefully as they can go from crisp to overly brown rather quickly.

Remove the outer leaves from the Romaine, trim the stem end and then wash and dry with paper towels. Cut  the Romaine into quarters lengthwise, then turn and chop crosswise into small pieces. (If you have a salad spinner, you can chop the Romaine first, then wash it.) Put chopped lettuce into salad bowl large enough toss all ingredients.

Chop tomatoes, spring onions, cucumbers, mint, and parsley and add to the lettuce. Add about half of the dressing and toss, then add the crumbled pita chips and toss again with more dressing. (You may not want to use all the dressing, but this salad should be quite wet.) At this point the salad should sit for a few minutes (or longer) to let flavours blend and so the pita chips absorb some of the dressing. To serve, arrange the salad on a platter and sprinkle with a bit more Sumac.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


The perfect green salad

The perfect green salad relies on the freshness of it's ingredients, the variety of lettuces and herbs you add and of course the perfect balance between a good olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice.

Start with a selection of leaves and herbs, preferably from the market. Examples are butter lettuce, cos, frisse, chicory, rocket and watercress. Bring in some freshness with herbs - mint, flat leaf parsley, onion cress, chives and basil.

You can add some texture if you like in the form of green asparagus (lightly blanched or grilled) or croutons.

Place all the ingredients for your salad in a large bowl. It's important to have room to lightly toss your salad with the dressing so that each leaf is evenly coated and not bruised by being over-worked.

The next important step is the dressing. The dressing should never overwhelm a salad, but compliment it's ingredients. The simplest and best form is a vinaigrette made from good olive oil, good vinegar or lemon juice, salt and pepper.

 

Basic vinaigrette dressing
2 tablespoons vinegar or 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (optional)
90 ml extra virgin olive oil

Method
In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar or lemon juice with the salt, pepper and mustard if using.
Gradually whisk in the oil in a steady stream until the vinaigrette is blended and thickened. Taste for seasoning. If the dressing separates, bring it back together by whisking rapidly.

Once you have your dressing made, pour it over the salad at the very last moment just before serving. Remember the word 'dressing' says it all - it should just be a light coating around the leaves and not flood the salad. Remember too that if the dressing is added too long in advance, the vinegar or lemon juice will begin cooking the leaves and they will turn limp and soggy.

Your salad can be put together with whatever you have or is in season. Feel free to add other ingredients to turn it in to a more substantial meal. Think too about adding different flavours to your vinaigrette in the form of chopped garlic, shallot, herbs or flavoured vinegars.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Parsley Soup

Ingredients
olive oil
30 g butter
2 leeks
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 large floury potato
1 large bunch flat leaf parsley
about 1 liter vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
splash of cream

Method
Finely slice the leeks and onion and finely chop the garlic. Peel the potato and cut into 1 cm dice.

Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and the butter in a pot over medium heat. Add the leeks, onion, garlic and half the parsley and sweat gently for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, bring a small pot of water to the boil. Remove the stalks from the remaining parsley and blanche the leaves for 20 seconds in the boiling water. Remove and plunge immediately into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.

Add the potatoes, stock, salt and pepper to the vegetables and bring to the boil. Cook for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Roughly chop the blanched parsley and add to the soup. Blend until smooth. Adjust the seasoning if needed and should it be too thick, thin down with a little extra stock.

Reheat the soup gently. Divide between 4 bowls and serve with a swirl of cream.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Pizza Bianca

Ingredients
1 1/2 mugs self raising flour
about 1/2 mug luke warm water
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic
3 sprigs rosemary
75 g grated Parmesan
75 g grated Provolone
2 medium roseval potato
50 g rocket
6 anchovy fillets
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to  220 °C. Place the flour, water, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor and plus to a smooth dough. This can also be done by hand if you don't have a machine. Leave to rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough out on a work surface, sprinkling with a little extra flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan. Roll the dough over a rolling pin and lay it carefully into the pan. Place the pan over medium heat and cook until the dough is cooked through, turning once during the cooking.

Strip the leaves from the rosemary stalks. Rinse the roseval potato and slice as thinly as possible. Peel and finely chop the garlic clove and place in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil, about a third of the rosemary and a pinch of salt. Brush the pizza base with half the garlic oil.

If the frying pan you're using doesn't fit in the oven, transfer the pizza base to an oven tray. Spinkle over the Parmesan, Provolone and remaining rosemary, leaving a 1 cm border.

Divide the finely sliced potato evenly over the pizza and drizzle with the remaining garlic oil. Season with a touch of salt. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the pizza id golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through.

Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle over the anchovies.

Dress the rocket with olive oil. Top the pizza with the salad, drizzle all with a little extra olive oil and serve.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Red onion soup

Ingredients
15 g butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 large red onions
1,2 litres  vegetable stock
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 slices French baguette
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
50 g grated Gruyere cheese
4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Method
Halve the onions and slice thinly. Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan and add the onions. Sweat them gently until soft, about 30 minutes.

Add the balsamic vinegar, thyme and bay leaf to the pan.

Add the stock to the pan and increase the heat. When the soup boils, turn down to a simmer and cook gently for a further 10 minutes.

Preheat the grill. Spread the mustard on the slices bread and top with the grated cheese. Transfer to an oven tray.

Place the tray under the grill for 2 minutes until the cheese is melted. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

Divide the soup between 2 bowls and place the grilled cheesy bread on top.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Ravioli with ricotta, mint and peas

Ingredients
16 pea, mint and ricotta ravioli
125 g ricotta
1 lemon
200 g fresh or frozen peas
1 container pea cress or 50 g rocket
grated Parmesan, to finish

Method
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil.

Place the ricotta in a bowl. Grate the zest from half the lemon over the ricotta. Mix together along with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place the ravioli and peas in the pot of boiling water and cook gently for about 2-3 minutes. Drain off the ravioli and peas and return to the pot.

Mix the ravioli and peas gently together with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper. Divide between 2 plates. Spoon the lemon-ricotta on top. Finish with the pea cress or rocket, a drizzle of olive oil and a grating of Parmesan.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup

Ingredients
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 red chilli pepper
1 tin diced tomatoes
2 red peppers
1 vegetable stock cube
1 small French baguette
black olive tapenade and basil cress, to serve

Method
Roast the peppers over a flame or in a hot oven (225° C) until blackened. Place in a tightly closed plastic bag for ± 10 minutes to steam. Remove the skin from the peppers.

Dissolve the vegetable stock cube in 600 ml hot water. Finely chop the onion, garlic and chilli. Slice the peppers into strips.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan and sweat the onion until soft. In the meantime, cut the baguette lengthways into thin slices, drizzle with olive oil and toast in the oven at 200° C for 6-10 minutes until golden brown and crisp.

Add the finely chopped garlic and chilli to the pan and fry for 2 minutes. Add the strips of roasted pepper and the tin of tomatoes and mix well. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Blend the soup with a stick blender or in a traditional blender for a smoother finish. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the soup into bowls and drizzle with olive oil. Top the toasted baguette with a little olive tapende and basil cress and rest it gently on each bowl. Serve at once.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours