green tomato chutney

A perfect way to preserve fresh green tomatoes. Serve with cheese or cold cuts.

Ingredients
1,5 kg green tomatoes, roughly chopped
600g light brown sugar
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
700ml malt or cider vinegar
salt, to taste

Method
Place all the ingredients into a large, heavy based can over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and cook for about 50 minutes until the chutney has thickened.

Pour the hot chutney into sterilised jars and seal.

 


Sabayon with Raspberries

Sabayon, in French or Zabaglione in Italian is a well known dessert of eggs yolks, sugar and usually an alcohol of some sort, whisked over a bain-marie until the eggs become light and fluffy. A delicious classic and a technique everyone should try and master.

English

Serves 2

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 punnet raspberries
45g sugar
6 tablespoons Marsala, sweet white wine, Grand Marnier of orange juice

Method
Place a small pot with some water on to boil. Turn the gas to its lowest setting; the water should not be allowed to boil anymore. Crack and separate the eggs, placing the egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar and orange juice or alcohol of your choice. Whisk it well until frothy.

Set the bowl over the pot hot water (making sure the bowl is not in contact with the water) and whisk until the mixture is frothy and thick enough that it doesn’t fall back on itself, at least 5 minutes. Do not overheat the sabayon or it will turn into scrambled eggs! When the sabayon is ready, remove the bowl from the pan and whisk for a few more minutes until it cools down a bit.

Divide the raspberries between 2 bowls or glasses.

Spoon the warm sabayon over the raspberries. If you have a blowtorch, you can lightly caramelize the sabayon for an extra finish. Serve at once.

Nederlands

voor 2 personen

Ingrediënten
3 eieren
1 bakje frambozen
45g suiker
6 eetlepels Marsala, zoete witte wijn, Grand Marnier of sinaasappelsap

Bereiding
Zet een pannetje met een laag water op het vuur en breng aan de kook. Zet het vuur laag, water mag nu niet meer koken. Splits de eieren en doe de dooiers in een kom met de suiker en sinaasappelsap en /of alcohol. Klop goed met een garde.

Zet de kom boven op de pan met warm water en klop het mengsel schuimig tot het dik genoeg is  zodat het niet meer inzakt, minstens 5 minuten. Laat de sabayon niet te warm worden, dan wordt het roerei!

Verdeel de frambozen over 2 kommen.

Lepel de warme sabayon over de frambozen. Mocht uw een gasbrander hebben, dan kan de sabayon van boven licht gegratineerd worden. Serveer meteen.


Easy Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon buns are everywhere at the moment. It takes time and patience to make your own which is definitely worth. However, we're all often short of time. If you want a quick fix but haven't go the time, try these easy cinnamon buns with ingredients available at any store.

Makes 12 buns

Ingredients
240 g can ready-made croissant dough
50g unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp soft dark brown sugar

Method
Heat oven to 170C. Line a 20cm cake tin with a square of baking paper so the corners stick up (this will help you to lift the buns out).

Unroll the croissant dough from the can and lay it out on your work surface. Cut it into three sections along the dotted lines, but don’t cut the diagonal line. Spread over half of the butter.

Mix the cinnamon and sugar together. Using one square of dough at a time, sprinkle over 2-3 tsp of the sugar and roll up the dough. When you have three rolls, cut each one in half and then each half in two. Arrange the rolls in the tin – they will rise and spread a little. Stick the end bits in among fatter pieces from the centre of the rolls so they cook evenly. Bake for 15-18 minutess or until the buns are risen and cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining sugar-cinnamon mix with the remaining butter until you have a thick caramel (don’t worry if some of the butter separates out, it will soak into the dough). If it's too grainy, add a little boiling water from the kettle to the it down and smooth it out.When the buns are cooked, brush over the caramel. Leave to cool a little, then eat warm.


Rose Water and Pistachio Meringues

Ingredients
half a lemon
200 g egg white
400 g castor sugar
rose water, to taste
50 g chopped pistachio nuts

Method
Preheat an oven to 110 C and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.

Rub the bowl of an electric mixer with half a lemon to ensure it is grease free.

Place the egg whites in the bowl and whisk on medium-high speed until the whites become thick and frothy. Add the sugar, a little at a time, until well incorporated and dissolved before adding the next batch. Once all the sugar has been mixed in and the egg whites are thick and glossy, add the rose water to taste.

Pipe or place spoonfuls of the meringue on the baking tray. Sprinkle over the chopped pistachios and place in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 100 C and bake for a further 1 hour and 30 minutes. Once the meringues lift easily off the paper, they are done. Turn off the oven and leave to cool down.

Serve the meringues with whipped cream and a selection of summer fruits.


Grape Chutney

We brought the recipe for this delicious chutney back from our trip to South Africa last year. It makes the perfect accompaniment to a cheese board. In our quest not to waste anything, we often use up leftover grapes in this recipe.

Ingredients
5 Granny Smith apples
1 onion
100ml balsamic vinegar
150ml brandy
1,1 kg white or red grapes (preferably seedless)
175g brown sugar
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
salt, to taste

Method
Peel and core the apples and finely chop the onion. Pick the grapes from the stalks and wash under cold water.

Place the apples, onions, balsamic vinegar and brandy together in a heavy-based pan. Place over medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook until the fruits break down and the chutney has become thick and pulpy, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Spoon into sterile jars, allow to cool and store in a dark cupboard or in the refrigerator.


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.

 


Rhubarb and Strawberry Eton Mess

This is one of those desserts that's easy to make and always a guaranteed success.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
Meringues, crumbled

Rhubarb compote
1 kg rhubarb
sugar to taste
1 vanilla pod or 2 star anise
a splash of water to get it going

750 g strawberries, rinsed, hulled and halved
750 ml cream, whipped and sweetened with a touch of sugar

Method
Make the meringues according to the recipe. You'll find the recipe by clicking above.

Make the rhubarb compote by trimming the rhubarb if stringy. Chop roughly and place in a pan with sugar (start with about 200 g and add more according to your taste), the vanilla pod or star anise and a splash of water. Bring to the boil and simmer until the rhubarb is soft, with some pieces still holding their shape. If your rhubarb isn't very pink, you can always add some Grenadine syrup to give it a blushing pink colour. Allow to cool completely.

To assemble the Eton Mess, take a large glass bowl. Crumble some meringues in the base and spoon in some rhubarb compote and scatter over some strawberries. Top with a third of the cream and repeat. You want to end with a layer of cream. Top a few strawberries and crumbled meringues and serve straight away.

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 


Jam Doughnut Muffins

Ingredients
140 g castor sugar, plus 200 g extra for dusting
200 g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100 ml natural yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
140 g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing the tin
12 teaspoons raspberry or apricot jam

Method
Heat an oven to 180 C. Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin.

Place 140 g sugar, the flour and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl and mix to combine. In a jug, whisk together the yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Tip the jug's contents and melted butter into the dry ingredients and quickly fold with a metal spoon to combine.

Divide two-thirds of the mixture between the muffin holes. Carefully add 1 tsp jam into the centre of each, then cover with the remaining mixture. Bake for 16-18 mins until risen, golden and springy to the touch. Leave the muffins to cool for 5 mins before lifting out of the tin and rolling in the 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


Chocolate Mousse

There are certain recipes one needs to have in their repertoire and a good chocolate mousse is one of them. Here is our recipe that we have been making for years.

Serves 4

Ingredients
175 g dark chocolate (minimum 50% cocoa solids), chopped
60 ml strong black coffee
4 eggs, separated
15 g butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 15 ml liqueur of your choice
45 g castor sugar

Method
Heat the chocolate in the coffee over a low heat, stirring until the chocolate has melted. Simmer until slightly thickened but still falling easily from the spoon. Remove from the heat and beat in the egg yolks, one by one, in to the hot mixture so that they thicken slightly. Beat in the butter and vanilla or liqueur. Let the mixture cool until just warm.

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Add the sugar and continue whisking for 30 seconds to make a light meringue. Fold into the warm chocolate mixture. Pour into pots or glasses and chill in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours. Serve lightly dusted with cocoa powder of with whipped 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

 


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