Pappardelle with Chorizo Ragu
One of our favourite cookery writers and stylists, Donna Hay, has inspired this recipe.
Serves 4
Ingredients
400 gr dried chorizo
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
1 red chilli
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
good glug of red wine (about 100 ml)
1 x 400 g can peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
400 g pappradelle
250 g buffalo mozzarella
green salad, to serve
Method
Remove the cases from the chorizo and roughly chop. Place into a Magimix (foodprocessor) and process until finely chopped, resembling minced meat. Set aside.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Finely chop the garlic, deseed the chilli and finely chop half of it (or more depending on how spicy you like it). Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Strip trip the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them roughly. Add the rosemary to the pan and cook for 30 seconds until crisp. Remove and set aside. Add the chorizo, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden and crispy, stirring often.
Add the wine and cooked cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and brown sugar and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook for 5-7 minutes. ( If you find that too much oil has come from the chorizo, you can also spoon a little off). While the chorizo is cooking, cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain and reserve 100 ml of the cooking liquid.
Add a little of the reserved cooking liquid to the chorizo mixture to start with, making sure ragu has a nice consistency. Divide the pasta between 4 bowls. Top with the chorizo ragu and tear the mozzarella over. Sprinkle over the crispy rosemary, drizzle with some of the chorizo oil in the pan and serve with a green salad simply dressed with olive oil.
Partners Dinner
Amsterdam Flavours would not be what or where it is today without the support of our esteemed partners. ArcLinea, Smeg, Wusthof, Le Creuset, Magimix, Baden Baden Interior, Sonos, Leica and Quooker have teamed up with us to create an all-round culinary experience. And it shows at what we have managed to a put together at our new home at the Westergasfabriek.
As a thank you for their ongoing support, we hosted a dinner in their honour last week. A small way we can show our appreciation and how much they mean to us. It was a lovely informal evening with good food, good wine and good conversation. We have decided to make this a yearly event - isn't that what family's do?
A special thank you must go out to Cichi Dining Experience for the beautiful table settings.
A Look Back at Opening Week and Rens Kroes' Book Launch
Wowzers!! What a week we've just had. Last Wednesday 10th June was an historic day for Amsterdam Flavours. It was our first official day open and a race against the clock to get our new place at the Westergasfabriek ready on time. The long days, moments of stress and worry have paid off and we now have a magnificent space to show for it.
We opened straight away with the book launch and pop-up restaurant for Rens Kroes. We cooked and served a menu comprising recipes from her new book Powerfood 2 - van Friesland naar New York. We met the most amazing people in the last few days and the buzz and hype around our new place was phenomenal. We still need to come down to earth!
Here's a look back in pictures of everything that's happened over the past week. And what does the future hold we hear you ask? Many more exciting things!
P.S. please all feel free to visit us at our new place at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam.
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
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
9 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
Pea and Mint Soup
Make the most of seasonal fresh peas in this bright and vibrant soup. If you can't find fresh peas. frozen work just as well.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
olive oil
850ml vegetable or chicken stock
400 g fresh or frozen podded peas
4 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper
50 g fresh ricotta, thinned with a little milk, to garnish
pea shoots, to garnish
Method
Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil an fry the onion for about 5 minutes. Pour in the stock and add half the mint and bring to the boil. Add the peas and bring to the boil again.
Stir in the remaining mint and season with salt and pepper. Blend the soup in a liquidiser until smooth as you like. Taste and check the seasoning, adjusting with salt and pepper if necessary. Return to the pan and reheat.
Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with the ricotta and pea shoots.
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
Guinea Fowl With Curried Cabbage
Guinea fowl is a more posh version of chicken. It's quick to prepare and healthy. Try this great spring recipe for a mid-week meal.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 guinea fowl breasts
olive oil
20 g butter
salt and pepper
Curried Cabbage
2 small hispe cabbages, finely sliced
2 shallots, finely sliced
20 g butter
1 tablespoon mild curry powder
50 ml Noilly Prat
100 ml cream
salt and pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Heat a frying pan over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil and the butter. Season the guinea fowl breasts with salt and pepper. Fry the guinea fowl, skin side down, for 2-3 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy. Turn over and fry for a further 1-1 1/2 minutes on the flesh side. Transfer to a roasting dish, pour over all the juices from the pan and roast for about 12 minutes in the preheated oven.
In the meantime and using the same frying pan, add another 20 grams butter to the pan and ffry the shallots for 3 minutes. Add the cabbage and fry for 3 minutes. Add the curry powder and fry for 1 minute to cook the spices out.
Add the Noilly Prat and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Add the cream, bring to the boil and simmer over a medium to low heat until the cream has thickened slightly. Season with salt and pepper.
Take the guinea fowl out of the oven and rest for 5 minutes.
Divide the cabbage between 4 plates. Lay a guinea fowl breast on top of each, spoon over the juices 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
Chicken Tikka Masala
This is one of our favourite 'Indian' dishes. It's easy to make with readily available ingredients and it's always a crowd pleaser. We say Indian in inverted commas, as it's origins are not quite known. It's thought that it originated in Glasgow in the 1970's. The story goes: "On a typical dark, wet Glasgow night a bus driver coming off shift came in to the Shish Mahal restaurant and ordered a chicken curry. He sent it back to the waiter saying it was dry. At the time the owner had an ulcer and was enjoying a plate of tomato soup. So he said to the chefs why not put some tomato soup into the curry with some spices. It was sent back to the table and the bus driver absolutely loved it. He and his friends came back again and again and since then it was put on the menu."
Serves 4
Ingredients
sunflower oil
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
1 red or green chilli
5 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 small tin tomato puree
2 tins peeled tomatoes
1 kg boned and skinned chicken thighs, cut into cubes
10 curry leaves (optional)
4-6 tablespoons natural yoghurt
bunch fresh coriander, chopped
steamed rice, naan bread and poppadums, to serve
Method
Finely slice the onion. Heat 2 tablespoons sunflower oil in a pan. Add the onions and fry on a medium-low heat for a good 15-20 minutes until they become soft and caramelised. In the meantime, deseed and chop the chilli, ginger and garlic. Add to the pan with the onions and fry for a further 2 minutes.
Add the chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and sugar to the onions and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the the tomato puree and fry for a further 1-2 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Place the sauce in a bowl or a jug and blend with a Bamix (stick blender) until smooth.
Add 1 tablespoon sunflower oil to the same pan you cooked the sauce in and fry the chicken pieces until lightly coloured, about 5 minutes. Pour in the blended sauce and curry leaves, if using, and some salt and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes until the chicken in cooked through and tender.
Stir the yoghurt and half the coriander through the tikka masala. Garnish with the remaining coriander and serve with steamed rice, naan breads and/or poppadums.
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
200 years of Wüsthof
Wüsthof was founded 200 years ago and to mark this special occasion, they are celebrating in style!
It is not without reason that Wüsthof is a leading brand name in kitchen knives and many other accessories. Two hundred years ago, in 1814, Johann Wilhelm Wüsthof started his manufacturing business that would later grow into one of the most prominent companies in the world of kitchen knives. All Wüsthof knives feature the distinctive trident logo, which was registered as a trade mark as far back as 1895. As a symbol of design and exclusivity, it is legally protected in nearly every country in the world. Wüsthof is continuing to innovate. In a state-of-the-art factory, Wüsthof employs the latest technology to produce top-grade products. Today, Wüsthof knives are available in more than 90 countries worldwide.
Special Anniversary Knife
More than 400 employees work tirelessly day in and day out to ensure that the German city of Solingen continues to deserve the title of ‘the knife capital of the world’. Every year, more than two million knives are produced by Wüsthof. This year, they have produced a unique limited edition anniversary chef's knife which is manufactured from carbon steel and palisander wood and crafted in the traditional way. This unique knife comes festively packed in a gift box.
Amsterdam Flavours is giving away a limited edition Wüsthof 200 year anniversary chef's knife. Like and share our Facebook page and you could be the lucky winner. THE WINNER IS: Linda Weusthof. Please send your address to: info@amsterdamflavours.com. Congrats and enjoy!