Sticky Toffee Pudding

Ingredients
75 g butter, plus extra for greasing
175 g soft brown sugar
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 eggs
2 tablespoons black treacle
200g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
200g pitted dates
300 ml water
1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel Sauce
300 g sugar
300 ml cream
50 g butter
generous pinch of salt

Method
Preheat an oven to 180 C. Grease a 30 cm x 20 20 cm square cake tin with butter and line with baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the golden syrup, treacle, vanilla extract and eggs, a little at a time, and blend until smooth. Mix the flour and baking powder together. Add the flour and blend, at a low speed, until well combined.

Meanwhile, place the dates in a pan with the water and bring to a boil. Blend the dates and water in a Magimix (food processor) to a smooth purée. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and vanilla.

Pour the date mixture into the batter and stir until well combined. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is springy and golden-brown.

To make the caramel sauce, place the sugar in a pan and het gently until it dissolves and is caramelised to a mahogany colour. Carefully add the cream, stand back as it will spit and splatter. Keep on the heat, stirring now and again until the caramel dissolves. Turn off the heat, stir through the butter and salt.

To serve, cut the pudding into 12 generous squares and place serving plates. Pour over the caramel sauce and serve. Delicious with a scoop 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


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


Bilder & de Clercq's New Recipes Week 48

As you may know by now, we are the chefs behind Amsterdam hotspot, Bilder & de Clercq. Every week we develop 3 new recipes for the stores and we'll be keeping you updated with the week's newest recipes. This weeks new recipes are:

Mushroom RavioliSloppy JoeChicken in red wine


LINDA. Magazine

LINDA. Magazine wrote a great article about Amsterdam Flavours. Click on the here to read it.

 


ELLE Eten Magazine No.5 - 2014

Since April 2013, ELLE Eten magazine features one of our Bilder & de Clercq recipes. For each edition, we hand pick a recipe. This edition features a festive dish of venison with grilled pear.

ELLE Eten 1ELLE Eten 2

 


Blender Amsterdam - Kids Concept Store and Cafe

Imagine a place where you can enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee with a bite to eat while your kids can play in a dedicated kids zone, order from a special kids menu and can even get spoilt by you in a store specially dedicated to them.

Blender Amsetrdam is such a place!

A light and bright contemporary store with a relaxed atmosphere. They also organise children's parties and have a hairdresser, specially for the kids, twice a week. The perfect place for the whole family.

For more information, please visit Blender Amsterdam.


Roasted heritage beetroot

Get your beet on! As a side for dinner tonight, try roasting some heritage beetroot. Line an oven tray with a long piece of foil. Lay on the beet, add some whole, unpeeled garlic cloves, thyme, bay, olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap up loosely with the foil and bake in the oven at 200C for about an hour or until the beets are tender. Peel and serve with a protein of your choice or turn into a salad with a vinaigrette, some herbs and goats cheese.


Launch of the Restyled ELLE Eten Magazine

Last week, together with Bilder & de Clercq, we catered the launch of the restyled ELLE Eten Magazine.

ELLE Eten is one of Holland's premier food magazines and in each edition, one of Bilder & de Clercq recipes is featured.

The event was held at the beautiful new Siematic Flagship Store, which is filled with the most magnificent kitchens and appliances.

The new magazine has been beautifully refreshed, with a new look and feel.

Read the evening's report on the ELLE Eten website.

 

 


Chilled Oysters with Caviar

This is perfect to serve as a canapé or serve 3 to 4 as a starter.

Ingredients
1 cucumber, cut into thin julienne
2 slices of smoked salmon, cut into thin julienne
2 shallots, finely chopped
12 sprigs of dill, finely chopped
375ml crème fraiche
salt and pepper
lemon juice, to taste
24 Gironde oysters
1 pot Avruga caviar

Method
Gently mix the julienne of cucumber and smoked salmon with the shallots and dill. Season the crème fraiche with salt and pepper, add just enough of the crème fraiche to bind the cucumber mixture. Add a little lemon juice to taste.

Open the oysters and clean the deep half shells. Place the shells on four oyster plates and fill with the cucumber and salmon mixture.

Place the oysters back in their shells and add a teaspoon of caviar to each. Serve immediately.

For an alternate presentation, or if you don’t have any oyster plates, serve the oysters on a bed of very fine julienne of carrots, leeks and beetroot.

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


Palmer & Co. Brut Reserve - Champagne

Champagne Palmer has evolved considerably over the past half century from its roots in Avize. It is now one of the most succesful Co-operative houses, based in the centre of Reims. With over 300 hectares of vines, 180 of which are rated Grands Crus, they have an enviable array of quality Chardonnay (50%) & Pinot Noir (40%) with which to blend their beautiful wines. The Blancs de Blancs exemplifies the overall quality of this Domaine.

The Brut Reserve of Champagne Palmer is made up of about of 50% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Meunier.
The taste of the Brut Cuvée depends not only on grape varieties coming from 40 different crus; they also result from the wine making and the ages of the wines which compose the cuvée. The grape harvest provides the main note, and is embellished by the addition of Reserve Wines which give a rare fullness and maturity.

To the eye, it offers a beautiful and bright straw-yellow colour; the bubbles are abundant and persistent. On the nose, the aromas are clear and cut; they develop a rich and wide aromatic palette, aromas of white fruits (pear), apple (cooked), freshly picked fruits (apricot), with subtle notes of honey, fresh coffee, dried fruits (roasted hazelnuts, dried currants) and a discreet buttered touch evoking croissants and pastries.

On the palate, this champagne is ample, round and fleshy; it offers the same intense sensations of fruit already present on the nose evolving towards in a more ‘compoté’ note. The finish is long lasting, harmonious and structured, ending with a beautiful freshness.

Culinary advice
Delicious served with our oyster recipe.

Buy or taste this wine? For more information visit Wijnkoperij De Gouden Ton