Morgan & Mees
Morgan & Mees is a brand new hotel and restaurant situated in a completely renovated historical building in Amsterdam West. The interior matches the characteristics of the monumental building, but with a modern twist. With an elegant timeless look and an eye for detail Morgan & Mees is a stylised hotel for international travellers and locals.
The bar, restaurant and hotel are tastefully designed, classical, yet modern at the same time.
The restaurant menu is brasserie inspired with very accessible dishes. In the evenings, the bar is really popular and even standing space is hard to find.
In the short time they've been open, Morgan & Mees has gained quite a following and they are certainly a valuable addition to the area.
For more information, please visit Morgan & Mees.
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
Amsterdam Chocolate Festival
This past weekend we paid a visit to The Amsterdam Chocolate Festival. The festival documented an array of chocolates made using cocoa from around the world.
Products, for example soaps, made using cocoa butter, were also on show. There are so many different chocolates available at the moment and this gives one the opportunity to be able taste and understand the differences and nuances that can be found in chocolates from different countries.
What is chocolate and how is it made?
Chocolate is a typically sweet, usually brown, food preparation of Theobroma cacao seeds, roasted and ground, often flavored, as with vanilla. It is made in the form of a liquid, paste or in a block or used as a flavouring ingredient in other sweet foods. Cacao has been cultivated by many cultures for at least three millennia in Mesoamerica. The earliest evidence of use traces to the Mokaya (Mexico and Guatemala), with evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BC. In fact, the majority of Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavour.
After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to produce cacao nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, pure chocolate in rough form. Because the cocoa mass is usually liquefied before being molded with or without other ingredients, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor also may be processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened baking chocolate (bitter chocolate) contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.
For more information on the festival visit Amsterdam Chocolate Festival.
A great magazine available for the coffee and chocolate industry is Koffietcoao.
Tomato, Basil and Parmesan Quiche
Ingredients
Pastry
280 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140 g cold butter, cut into pieces
a pinch of salt
Filling
300 g cherry tomatoes
10 ml fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper
drizzle olive oil
50 g parmesan, grated
2 eggs
250 ml cream
small bunch basil leaves, shredded, plus a few small ones left whole for scattering
Method
Heat the oven to 120 C. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and lay on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Sprinkle with thyme leaves, salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and bake for 1 hour until slightly dried and the flavour concentrated.
To make the pastry, tip the flour, a pinch of salt and butter into a bowl, then rub together with your fingertips until completely mixed and crumbly. Add 8 tablespoons cold water, then bring everything together with your hands until just combined. Roll into a ball and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a round about 5cm larger than a 25cm tin. Use your rolling pin to lift it up, then drape over the tart case so there is an overhang of pastry on the sides. Using a small ball of pastry scraps, push the pastry into the corners of the tin. Chill in the fridge or freezer for 20 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 180 C.
Lightly prick the base of the tart with a fork, line the tart case with a large circle of greaseproof paper or foil, then fill with dried beans or rice. Blind-bake the tart for 20 minutes, remove the paper and beans, then continue to cook for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove the tart case from the oven.
While the tart is cooking, beat the eggs in a large bowl. Gradually add the cream, then stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. When the case is ready, sprinkle half the cheese over the base, scatter over the tomatoes, pour over the cream mix, then finally scatter over the rest of the cheese. Bake for 20-25 mins until set and golden brown. Leave to cool in the case, trim the edges of the pastry, then remove from the tin. Scatter over the remaining basil and serve in slices with a green salad.
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 10 - 2015
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:
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
Bagels with Pastrami and Sauerkraut
Bagels are continually gaining popularity in Holland. They should be dense and chewy, as bagels are first boiled and then baked. Combined with a pastrami (which is beef that has been brined, spiced, smoked and steamed) and a few other delicious things, you're on to an absolute winner.
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 bagels
100 g sliced pastrami
3 pickled gherkins
about 50 g of sauerkraut
3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise mixed together with piccalilli (according to your taste)
Method
Slice the bagels in half. Spread the tops and bottoms with the piccalilli mayonnaise.
Lay the sauerkraut on the bottom half of the bagel. Top with the sliced pastrami.
Slice the gherkins lengthways and place on top of the pastrami. Replace the caps of the bagels 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