Baby Beetroot
Autumn is the season for root vegetables and one of our favourites is beetroot. If you are able to find them, spend that little extra and treat yourself to a bunch or two. They are a bit of a pain to clean. Be sure to rinse them well to remove all the sand. Trim off the leaves, leaving a little bit of the stalk. If the leaves are fresh and in good condition, you can use them too. Just walk briefly until wilted and they make a great side dish.
Place the beetroot on an oven tray lined with foil. Lay the beetroot on top, add some fresh thyme, whole unpeeled garlic cloves, a good drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Wrap the ends of the foil tightly together and place in a 210 C oven for about 1-1,5 hours until tender. Allow to cool slightly and then peel of the skin with the help of a small knife. Serve as is or with a balsamic and olive oil dressing. The uses for beetroot are seemingly endless.
Roasted Pumpkin and Harissa Hummus
Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
5-6 tbsp tahini paste
1-2 tbsp harissa (we buy ours fresh from the Noordermarkt)
2 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
olive oil and smoked paprika, to finish
crisp breads, crackers and fresh vegetables, to serve
Method
Preheat oven to 200C. Place the butternut and garlic cloves on an oven tray. Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss the ingredients well together and roast for about 45 minutes or until the butternut is really tender. Leave to cool.
Place the butternut into a Magimix (food processor) with any juices from the tin. Add the garlic cloves, squeezed out of their skins. Add the remaining ingredients, season with salt and blend to a paste. Add a little extra olive oil if needed.
Scrape the hummus into a bowl. Drizzle with extra olive oil and sprinkle with smoked paprika. Serve with crostini, crisp breads, crackers and an assortiment of crudités (raw vegetables).
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
Filled Focaccia
We're all thinking of ways to enjoy summer eating, whether that be in our outdoors. Here is a great recipe/idea for summer eating. You can practice your bread making skills and use your favourite vegetables or whatever is season.
Make a batch of focaccia.
Use an array of your favourite vegetables. We like a combination of peppers, courgettes, aubergine and red onion. Cut each into bite-sized pieces. Toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill in a grill pan until the vegetables have bar marks and are tender and cooked through. You can also finish them off in the oven to get them more tender.
Once they and the bread have cooled down, slice the bread in half. Spread with pesto (either homemade or shop bought). Top with the grilled vegetables and then tear some buffalo mozzarella over. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Dot a few fresh basil leaves over and a handful of rocket leaves. Close the bread to form a giant sandwich. Cut into pieces and serve.
Bilder & de Clercq's New Recipes Week 28 - 2016
As the chefs of Bilder & de Clercq, we develop new recipes for them every week. We'll keep you updated with the week's newest recipes. This weeks recipes are:
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.
Babylonstoren
Earlier this year, to celebrate 10 years of working together, we travelled to Mischa's home town of Cape Town in South Africa.
We were greeted by warm summer sunshine, the most amazing food and gorgeous wines. For some time now, we had heard about the beautiful wine estate of Babylonstoren, situated between Franschoek and Stellenbosch. Driving up on the long dirt road on a scorching hot Sunday afternoon, with vineyards on either side and the mountains ahead of us, we were certainly in for a treat.
The manicured and sculpted gardens, also referred to as the Versaille of Africa, welcomed us. The fertile land produces the most amazing, ripe and varied ingredients which are used in their two restaurants, The Greenhouse, which offers a more laid back and relaxed atmosphere and their fine-dining restaurant Babel.
Hours can be spent wandering through the gardens and surroundings. If you have more time, and the budget, you can also stay in the Farm Hotel, which is tailored to be your home away from home. There's also a spa where you can be pampered and rejuvenated.
The shop sells the most beautiful local produced - think artisan breads baked right on the premises, meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables. Not to mention their own label wines, books and other beautiful items.
The only way to best appreciate this magnificent part of the world is not by reading the written word, but by experiencing it trough photos and images, or better yet, by going and visiting it for yourself.
For more information, visit Babylonstoren.
Bilder & de Clercq's New Recipes Week 25 - 2016
As the chefs of Bilder & de Clercq, we develop new recipes for them every week. We'll keep you updated with the week's newest recipes. This weeks recipes are:
Tempura Green Beans
If you're looking for an easy and delicious snack to serve with drinks, look no further. There isn't really and hard and fast recipe, so here's what you need to do:
Get some Japanese tempura flour from your local Asian grocer or supermarket. Whisk it up with cold sparkling water until it's the consistency of cream. Dip trimmed green beans into the batter and deep fry them in hot sunflower or vegetable oil.
In the meantime make a simple jalapeño ponzu dipping sauce. Take some soy sauce and season it to your liking with fresh or pickled chopped jalapeño, some yuzu juice (from a Japanese citrus fruit) or some lime juice if you can't find yuzu juice and some sesame oil.
Drain the tempura green beans on kitchen paper and serve the hot and crunchy with the dipping sauce on the side.
Bilder & de Clercq's New Recipes Week 22 - 2016
As the chefs of Bilder & de Clercq, we develop new recipes for them every week. We'll keep you updated with the week's newest recipes. This weeks recipes are:
Bircher Muesli
If you want to enjoy this muesli for a delicious and healthy breakfast, you have to start it the night before.
Ingredients
250 g organic oats
30 g red quiona, toasted in a frying pan with a little sunflower oil
50 g dried apricots, chopped
50 g dates, pitted and chopped
500 ml -1 liter milk
250 g natural yoghurt
1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon demarara sugar
1 large apple, grated
Method
Place the oats, quiona, chopped apricots, dates, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Add the milk and yoghurt and stir to combine.
Grate in the apple and mix it through immediately to prevent the apple from discolouring. Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
Before serving, give the muesli a good stir and add some extra milk to slacken it slightly. Serve in bowls with fresh berries, bananas, seeds or whatever else you like or have in the store cupboard.
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