Ice Tea
Quench your thirst on warm summer days with this easy and delicious ice tea recipe.
Ingredients
4 organic Rooibos tea bags
1,2 liters boiling water
about 3 Tbsp castor sugar
slices of lemon or orange, mint leaves and ice cubes, to serve
Also delicious mixed with a little mango, pineapple or orange juice.
Method
Allow the tea to infuse in the water for about 5-10 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in the sugar until dissolved. The amount of sugar you add is up to you. You can either add more or less or leave it out completely.
Allow the tea to cool and refrigerate until chilled.
To serve, fill long glasses with ice, lemon slices and mint leaves. Pour over the chilled tea and enjoy.
Biancomangiare
This is the first recipe and piece of writing from one of our new contributors, Jorgina Catala. Jorgina hails from Barcelona and recently moved to The Netherlands. We hope you enjoy this piece and we look forward to more contributions from Jorgina in the near future.
Biancomangiare, a sweet treat from the Middle Ages.
With a presence in several European countries, known as blanc manger in France, or menjar blanc in Catalonia, biancomangiare is the Sicialian version of what we could consider one of the most celebrated and well known medieval recipes. It’s name litteraly means “white dish” and emphasizes the whiteness of this sweet pudding based on almonds and white sugar.
Have you ever thought about the meaning of colour in food?
During the Middle Ages, food banquets where often used to display the power of the high classes; being able to prepare recipes with rare and expensive ingredients would give a hint of the hosts power to all the banquet attendants.
Serving biancomangiare to your guests would mean that the powerful host had access to the extremely expensive and refined white sugar, very difficult to obtain in the XIV century and would also symbolize good values as purity and refinement. The name biancomangiare was a generic name given to different kinds of savory and sweet recipes, based in chicken breast, rice, milk almond milk and other ingredients that gave the dish its characteristic white color.
Today, we are sharing with you the most traditional Sicilian sweet version, a delicious almond pudding, with a delicate almond flavour, lemony fragrance and of course, with its elegant snowy white presence.
Ingredients
1 litre of almond milk (you can buy it or do it yourself using 300gr of peeled almonds and 1,5 litres of water)
Zest of 1 untreated/organic lemon (avoid the white, it will make it bitter)
200g refined sugar
120g of corn starch (Maizena)
a pinch of cinnamon
Method
Keep aside a glass of almond milk.
Pour the rest of the almond milk in a saucepan and heat over a low flame. Add the lemon zest, pinch of cinnamon and the refined sugar.
Meanwhile mix the corn starch with the almond milk you kept aside. Once the corn starch is dissolved, add the mixture to the saucepan through a sieve.
Keep stirring the mixture, preferably with a wooden spoon, till it starts boiling. When it will starts to thicken remove the saucepan from the fire.
Pour the mixture into moulds of your preference. You can choose single portion moulds or a large one. Let it cool down to room temperature and only then put it in the fridge until thick.
The pudding will be ready after around 4 hours. You can then unmould it and decorate as you please. Its delicious eaten on its own, but you can also add some of your favourite jam, some chocolate sauce or cherries and syrup. Just remember that the biancomangiare has a very subtle taste that shouldn’t be over-powered by a strong sauce.
Pistachio-Olive Oil Cake
A delicious and unusual cake with a flavour of the middle east. The cake gets it's beautiful green colour from the pistachios and the olive oil keeps it moist. It's quite a rich cake, so a small piece will suffice. We usually serve it as part of a dessert with a parfait or some marinated pineapple. Yum!
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
50 g fine polenta
200 g ground pistachio nuts
50 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
125 ml olive oil
100 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 eggs
200 g caster sugar
juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 orange
icing sugar for dusting
Method
Preheat the oven to 160 C. Mix the polenta, ground pistachios, flour and baking powder together.
Add the olive oil to the melted butter. Whisk the eggs and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, then slowly whisk in the olive oil and butter. Whisk in the pistachio mixture, then add the lemon juice and zest and orange juice.
Pour into a greased and lined 24 cm springform tin and bake for about 40 minutes. The cake should be slightly underdone in the middle, so that if you insert a skewer it will come out with a little of the mixture sticking to it. While cooling down, the cake will finish off cooking through. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.
Once completely cooled, cut into slices and dust with icing sugar.
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
Lemon Polenta Cake
We've decided to divulge the secret and publish the recipe of a cake that has become quite famous. It's sharp and tangy and it's gluten-free too!
Serves 10-12
Ingredients
400 g soft unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)
400 g caster sugar
400 g ground almonds
200 g fine polenta
16 g baking powder
6 large eggs, beaten
zest of 5 lemons (save juice for the syrup)
for the syrup
juice of 5 lemons
250 g icing sugar
Method
Line the base of a 26cm springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.
Preheat the oven to 150°C
Beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped, in a Magimix Patissier or freestanding mixer.
Mix together the almonds, polenta and baking powder and salt. With the machine running, add the eggs to the butter, a little at a time.
Add the almond and polenta mixture and blend the mixture well. Finally, beat in the lemon zest. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 60-70 minutes.
It may be slightly wobbly, but if the cake is cooked, a cake tester should come out cleanish and, most significantly, the edges of the cake will have started to shrink away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in the tin.
Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and icing sugar in a small saucepan. Once the icing sugar’s dissolved into the juice, it's done.
Prick the top of the cake gently all over with a cake tester (or toothpick), pour the warm syrup over the cake, and leave to cool before taking it out of the tin. Serve in slices with whipped cream or creme fraiche.
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
Prawns with Sumac and Grilled Fennel - Persiana
Persiana has taken the culinary world by storm. Sabrina Ghayour grew up in an Iranian family and was brought up on Persian food. Through hosting supper clubs, at which she served her style of Middle Eastern cuisine, her first cookbook was born.
We absolutely adore this type of food. It's about bringing people together over large plates, helping themselves and interacting with others. The recipes make use of easily available ingredients but combining them in amway to achieve authentic flavours.
We cooked her recipe for Prawns with Sumac, Coriander, Lemon and Garlic. An absolute winner of a dish. We made a couple of adjustments - you'll find our feedback under the original recipe.
Prawns with Sumac, Coriander, Lemon and Garlic
Serves 4
Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
grated rind of 2 lemons and juice of 1/2
2 tablespoons sumac
5 large garlic cloves, bashed, peeled and thinly sliced
1 x 20 g packet coriander, stalks and leaves finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
800 g large raw peeled tiger prawns
Method
Select a wide, shallow vessel in which to make your marinade. Put in the olive oil, then add the lemon rind, sumac, garlic and coriander. Season well with a generous amount of sea salt and black pepper, add lemon juice and mix the ingredients together well.
Place the prawns in the marinade and mix well to ensure they are evenly coated, then cover the dish with clingfilm and marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator if you can. Of course you can cook the prawns immediately, but a little marinating time will allow the flavours to permeate the prawns. As the marinade contains acid (lemon juice), I would not recommend marinating the prawns for longer than a few hours, as it may partially cook them (although they will be perfectly safe to eat).
Preheat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once it is hot, shake off the excess marinade from each prawn and place it straight into the frying pan. Cook the prawns for 2-3 minutes on each side until they turn pink and serve immediately.
Chefs notes: we adjusted the recipe a little to suit our tastes. We used 3 instead of 5 cloves of garlic, chopping them finely. We brought the amount of sumac back to a heaped teaspoon instead of 2 tablespoons and we served our prawns with grilled fennel, so that we had a vegetables accompaniment.
Publisher: Good Cook Publishing
Author: Sabrina Ghayour
Price: 24,95 euro
Crepes Suzette
Today, February the 17th is International pancake day. While we love the traditional pancakes with a little cinnamon-sugar and lemon and American pancakes, we felt that we wanted to make it a little more indulgent. So here is an absolute classis which everyone should have in their repertoire.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
100g flour
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
about 300 ml milk
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon oil
butter for frying
Suzette Sauce
75 g butter
150g sugar
2 lemons
2 oranges
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or orange liqueur, or to taste
Method
Mix the egg and egg yolk with the flour, oil and a pinch of salt and add part of the milk. Whisk until you have a thick mixture and add as much of the remaining milk as needed. (This can also be done in the food processor.) The batter should be the consistency of cream.
Allow the batter to rest for ± 30 minutes. Cook the crepes in a crepe pan or frying pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Grate the zest of the 1 lemon and 1 orange and squeeze the juice from all. Place the sugar in a pan and caramelise over a medium heat until an amber colour. Carefully add the citrus juices and cook over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Mix in the butter, grated zests and Grand Marnier or orange liqueur. If you dare, flambé the liqueur before adding, but please be very careful!
To serve, fold the crepes into quarters and reheat briefly in the sauce. Serve with scoops of vanilla ice 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
Club Sandwich - Amsterdam Flavours Style
All too often, we are served sandwiches consisting of limp bread and flavourless, uninspiring fillings. So, we've taken it upon ourselves to change all that and show you with just a little care and attention, that a sandwich and be exciting and leave you wanting more.
Serves 3
Ingredients
9 slices white spelt bread
2 free range or organic chicken breasts
100 g smokey bacon rashers
2 avocados
1 small red onion
50 g rocket
mayonnaise, for spreading
salt and pepper
olive oil
Method
Heat a grill pan over high heat and grill the bread on both sides. Halve the avocados, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Mash roughly using a fork and season with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Finely slice the onion and halve the chicken breasts horizontally, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil and fry the bacon until crispy. Remove on to a plate. Fry the chicken in the same pan with the bacon fat for about 3 minutes on each side.
Lay out the slices of grilled bread. Spread the mashed avocado on the first layer and top with the crispy bacon. On the second slice of bread, spread generously with mayonnaise. Top with a handful of rocket leaves and some red onion. Slice the chicken breasts and lay them on top.
Place the chicken layer on top of the avocado layer, topping the sandwich off with the remaining grilled bread and securing it with a skewer.
Serve on wooden board or plates and dig in!
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
Duck Salad with Preserved Lemon Aioli
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 duck breasts
salt and pepper
2 oranges, peeled and segmented
small bunch of radishes, finely sliced
75 g lamb's lettuce
1 container pea shoots
1 container beetroot cress
Preserved Lemon Aioli
75-100 g preserved lemon (or to taste)
1 large clove garlic
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt
250 ml sunflower oil
Dressing
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2-4 teaspoons honey (or to taste)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Begin with the aioli. Finely chop the preserved lemon and garlic. Place in a magimix (food processor) with the egg yolks, lemon juice and salt, to taste. Blend until the mixture is smooth. With the motor running, slowly pour the sunflower oil in until the ingredients have emulsified and formed a mayonnaise. Check the seasoning and set aside.
Place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Score the fat of the duck diagonally with a small sharp knife, making sure you don't cut into the meat. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat and fry the duck, fat side down in a dry pan to render as much of the fat of as you can.
As the fat accumulates, carefully pour it off into a bowl. After about 5 minutes when the fat has cooked away and has turned golden brown, increase the heat of the pan to high, flip the duck over and fry on the meat side for 1 minute. Transfer to a roasting dish. Place in the oven for about 8 minutes. You want the duck to still be pink. Remove from the oven and rest for about 5 minutes.
Place a spoonful of the aioli on the base of each plate, spreading it out a little. Arrange the orange segments, radishes and lamb's lettuce on top. Slice the duck breasts and arrange them on top. Drizzle with the orange dressing, top with the pea shoots and beetroot cress 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
Lemon, Parmesan and Pine Nut Encrusted Schnitzels
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 pork or veal escalopes
75 g bag panko breadcrumbs
1 lemon
75 g Parmesan, grated
50 g pine nuts
3 sprigs rosemary
100 g lambs lettuce
10 roseval potatoes
11 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons flour
2 eggs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
balsamic vinegar, to taste
Method
Wash the potatoes and cut lengthways into quarters. Heat 5 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan and fry the potatoes together with the leaves from 2 sprigs rosemary for 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (This can also be done in the oven for about 30 minutes at 180 C instead of in a pan).
Grate the zest from the lemon and mix with the Parmesan and panko in a bowl. Finely chop the leaves from the remaining sprig rosemary and the chop the pine nuts and add to the panko/Parmesan mix. Combine well.
Place the flour on to a plate and beat the eggs in a small bowl.
Season the schnitzels with salt and pepper. Dust them in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg and finally press the panko mixture on firmly.
Heat 4 tablespoons oil in a frying pan and fry the schnitzels for 2-3 minutes on either side until golden brown and crispy. Cut the lemon into wedges.
Dress the lamb’s lettuce with 2 tablespoon olive oil and a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Serve the schnitzels with the salad, the fried potatoes and a wedge of lemon.
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 Chicken with Heritage Carrots and Fennel
Serves 4
Ingredients
1,8 kg whole free range or organic chicken
1 lemon
1 small bunch thyme
5 cloves garlic
olive oil
50 g butter
salt and pepper
2 bunches heritage carrots (12-16 carrots)
2 fennel bulbs
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C - 200 C. Cut the lemon into quarters. Fill the cavity with the lemon segments, thyme and garlic cloves. Rub the butter all over the chicken and drizzle with some olive oil.
Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper making sure you don't forget to season in the cavity as well. Place in a roasting dish, breast side down and roast for 45 minutes.
In the meantime, peel the carrots and slice diagonally. Trim the hard outer layer away from the fennel and roughly slice. After the 45 minutes, take the chicken from the oven, turn over and baste with the juices in the pan. Add the carrots and fennel around the chicken, mixing them well with the juices. Add a little salt and pepper. Return to the oven for a further 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and golden brown.
Remove from the oven and rest for 5-10 minutes before carving and serving with the roasted carrots and fennel.
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