Lamb Chop with Hummus and Feta
Spring is here and lamb is now at it's best. It lends itself well to many different cooking methods and flavours, the most well known being mint, garlic and rosemary. Here we've taken a mediterranean influence to our dish, with flavours the really compliment one another.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 lamb chops
2 aubergines
2 red onions
2 tins chickpeas
1 lemon
100 g piece feta
1 bunch mint
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons sunflower oil
salt
pepper
Method
1
Slice the aubergines and finely slice the red onions. Place the red onion in a bowl with lemon juice to taste, 2 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper.
2
Drain the liquid from the chickpeas and place them in a jug or tall container. Crumble in half the feta, add 2-4 tablespoons water and blend with a stick blender. Heat a frying pan with 3 tablespoons sunflower oil and fry the aubergine slices until golden. Season with salt and pepper.
3
Heat a grill pan with 3 tablespoons sunflower oil. Season the lamb chops with salt and pepper and grill for about 3 minutes on each side.
4
Pick the mint leaves and finely shred. Mix through the red onion relish. Divide the hummus between 4 plates and lay a lamb chop on top. Serve with the red onion relish and aubergines.
Grilled White Asparagus with Smoked Salmon and Tarragon Sauce
It's a week until Easter and you're still probably wondering what to make? We always think of asparagus, but because of the extended cold snap this year, we'll have to be patient a little longer. Hopefully you'll be able to get your hands on some white gold, the first of the season's Dutch white asparagus just in time.
Serves 4
Ingredients
24 white asparagus
400g sliced smoked salmon
1 bunch tarragon
250 ml tub cream
2 shallots
200 g butter
200 ml white wine
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1
Peel the white asparagus and cut off a 1 cm piece from the tough stalk end. Finely chop the shallots. Place the asparagus in a pan with cold water and salt, place the asparagus peelings on top and bring to the boil. Boil for 1 minute, turn off the heat and allow the asparagus to stand in the hot water for about 2 minutes.
2
Heat a pan with 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and sweat the shallots for 5 minutes. Add 200 ml white wine and simmer until reduced by three-quarters. Add the tub of cream and simmer until reduced by half.
3
Remove the asparagus from the water and discard the peelings. Dry the asparagus on a clean tea towel. Drizzle over 3 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan over medium heat and grill the asparagus until golden brown.
4
Strain the sauce to remove the shallot and return to the pan over a low heat. Cut the butter into pieces and whisk into the sauce. Pick the tarragon leaves off the stalks and chop finely.
5
Divide the grilled asparagus between 4 plates and lay the smoked salmon on top. Stir the tarragon through the sauce and spoon over the asparagus.
Mushroom Carbonara
A vegetarian version of one of our favourite pasta dishes.
Serves 2
Ingredients
500 g mixed mushrooms
200 g tagliatelle
3 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic
4 eggs
250 ml cream
75 g grated Parmesan
Olive oil (3 tablespoons)
Salt
Pepper
Method
1
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Finely chop the garlic. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a piece of kitchen paper and remove the hard stalks. Cut the mushrooms in half, if necessary.
2
Heat a frying pan with 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Strip the thyme leaves off the stalks. Fry the mushrooms for about 4 minutes until golden brown. Add the garlic and thyme leaves to the pan for the final minute of cooking.
3
Place the tagliatelle in the pot of boiling water and cook for about 4-6 minutes or until al dente. Drain the pasta off and return to the pot. Separate the eggs; place the yolks in a small bowl and whisk together with 200 ml of the cream, salt and pepper.
4
Mix the tagliatelle with the egg and cream mixture, the fried mushrooms and half the Parmesan, until the egg yolks warm through and begin to thicken and coat the pasta (you might need to do this over a very low heat). Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the pasta into a bowl and scatter with the remaining Parmesan.
Croissant Bread Pudding
Serves 4
Ingredients
100 g golden raisins
sweet sherry, vin santo or marsala, for soaking the raisins
6 croissants
4 eggs
500 ml cream
100g sugar, plus extra for sprinkling over the pudding
1 vanilla pod
20 g butter
250 ml milk
pinch of salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 180° C. Place the raisins in a pot and add enough of your chosen alcohol to just cover the raisins. Bring to just below boiling point and set aside to allow the raisins to swell up. Slice the croissants and grease a roasting dish with the butter.
Scatter half the raisins over the roasting dish with some of some of the alcohol.
Place the croissants in the roasting dish and scatter over the remaining raisins. Place the eggs, 400 ml cream, the milk, sugar, the seeds from the vanilla pod and a pinch of salt in a bowl and whisk the ingredients well together. Pour the mixture over the croissants, sprinkle generously with more sugar and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
Bake the bread pudding in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the egg mixture has set. Remove the dish from the oven and serve with the remaining cream.
Tip: Also delicious served with vanilla ice cream. If there is any pudding left over, it can still be enjoyed the following day either served cold or reheated for 30 seconds in the microwave.
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
Confit Duck with White Beans
A delicious, comforting and easy recipe for cold winter days.
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 confit duck leg
1 medium carrot
1 medium onion
3 sprigs thyme
150 g piece pancetta
2 tins white beans
1 vegetable stock cube
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1
Preheat an oven to 200˚ C. Peel the carrot and chop finely along with the onion. Cut the pancetta into small cubes. Dissolve the stock cube in 600 ml hot water. Drain the liquid from the beans.
2
Heat a frying pan over medium heat with 3 tablespoons olive oil and fry the confit duck legs, skin-side down, until golden. Remove from the pan and place in a roasting dish.
3
Add the onion, carrot, pancetta and thyme to the pan and fry gently for 12 minutes. Add the stock and boil until the liquid has reduced by half. Place the duck in the oven for 10 minutes.
4
Add the white beans to the pan and warm up. If necessary, season with salt and pepper. Pick the parsley leaves and finely chop.
5
Mix the parsley through the beans and spoon on to a plates. Lay the duck on top and serve.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken Tikka Masala
Serves 4
Ingredients
sunflower oil
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
1 red or green chili pepper
5 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 small can of tomato puree
2 tins of peeled tomatoes
1 kg chicken thighs, cut into cubes
10 curry leaves (optional)
4-6 tablespoons yogurt
Bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Steamed rice, Naan bread and poppadums, to serve
Method
Slice the onion. Heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a pan. Add the onions and fry on a medium heat for a good 15-20 minutes until they are soft and caramelized. In the meantime finely chop the chilli ginger and garlic. Add to the onion and fry for 2 more minutes.
Add the chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and sugar to the onions and fry 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Place the sauce in a bowl and blend with a stick blender until smooth.
Add 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil to the same pan and fry the pieces of chicken until they are lightly coloured, about 5 minutes. Pour the sauce and curry leaves, if you using them and some salt and cook gently, cover for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked and tender.
Stir the yogurt and half the chopped coriander through the tikka masala. Garnish with the remaining coriander and serve with steamed rice, Naan bread and / or poppadums.
Comforting Thai broccoli soup
Serves 2
Vegetarian
Ready in about 30 minutes
Equipment
- Chopping board
- Chefs knife
- Pan
- Stick blender
Pantry
- Sunflower oil (1 tablespoon)
- Salt
- Pepper
Ingredients
30g Thai green curry paste
250ml coconut milk
broccoli (600g)
150g bag young spinach leaves
30g coriander
2 spring onions
30g container crispy onions
Method
1 Cut the broccoli into florets and finely slice the spring onions. Pick the coriander leaves.
2 Add 1 tablespoon sunflower oil to a pan set over medium heat. Add 1 of the finely sliced spring onions and curry paste (to taste) and fry for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, broccoli, 750 ml water, salt and pepper to the pan and bring to the boil.
3 Simmer for about 10 minutes until the broccoli is tender. Turn off the heat, add the spinach (keeping a few leaves back to garnish) and half the coriander leaves and blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth.
4 Gently reheat the soup and season with salt and pepper.
5 Divide the soup between 2 bowls and scatter over the reserved spinach leaves, coriander, spring onion and crispy onions.
Rhubarb Lemonade
For 8 glasses
For the Rhubarb Syrup
1,2 kg rhubarb, peeled and diced
480 g castor sugar
450 ml water
For the Rhubarb Lemonade
sparkling water
lemon slices
mint leaves
Method
To prepare the rhubarb lemonade first combine the rhubarb, sugar, and water in a large saucepan.
Cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently for 20-25 minutes until the rhubarb is soft and the syrup has slightly thickened.
Strain the syrup through a fine sieve lined with muslin or cheesecloth, sat over a bowl.
Press the rhubarb against the side of the sieve with the back of a spoon to extract as much syrup as possible.
Pour the rhubarb syrup into a jar, seal well, and chill until ready to serve.
To Serve
Pour 50 ml of rhubarb syrup into serving glasses.
Top up with chilled sparkling water, stir briefly, and garnish the rhubarb lemonade with lemon slices and mint leaves before serving.
Asparagus Vichyssoise
On a hot spring or summer day, there is nothing as refreshing as a chilled soup. The classic Vichyssoise is a chilled leek and potato soup. To this recipe, we have added one of our favourite ingredients of the season, namely green asparagus. Try this recipe out for your next lunch or dinner.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 bunches green asparagus
40 gr butter
1 large onion
1 large leek
2 floury potatoes
1 vegetable stock cube
250ml tub cream
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
Method
1
Cut the asparagus tips into 4 cm pieces. Finely chop the remaining asparagus. Finely slice the onion and cut the leek in lengthways in half. Wash under a tap of cold water and finely slice. Peel the potato and cut into cubes.
2
Heat a pan with the butter and olive oil. Add the onion, leek, potato and sliced asparagus (keep the asparagus tips aside). Mix well through the warm butter, cover the pan and sweat for 10 minutes over a low heat.
3
Dissolve the stock cube in 1 litre boiling water. Add the stock to the pan. Bring to boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
4
Add 200 ml cream and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Blend with a stick blender (or regular blender). Thin with a little water if necessary. Cool off, place in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator until cold.
5
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add asparagus tips. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Drain off the water and cool under cold water. Drain on kitchen paper.
6
Spoon the soup into 4 bowls. Sprinkle some of the remaining cream over it and top with the asparagus tips.
This soup is also served delicious hot.
Shakshuka
One of our favourite vegetarian dishes to come from the Middle East, Shakshuka is dish of eggs poached in a pepper and tomato stew. To spice things up a bit, we add a little harissa.
Serves 4
Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper
1-2 tablespoons harissa
1 tin tomato puree
2 red peppers
2 yellow peppers
2 onions
3 cloves garlic
2 tins peeled tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8 eggs
1 small tub Greek yoghurt
Method
1
Slice the peppers and onions into thin strips and finely chop the garlic.
2
Heat a frying pan over medium heat with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Fry the peppers for about 10 minutes, adding the garlic for the last minute. Add the harissa, the tin tomato puree and the cumin to the pan and fry for a further 10 minutes.
3
Add the tin of tomatoes, salt, pepper and 200 ml water to the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.
4
Make 8 ‘wells’ in the sauce. Gently crack the eggs into the wells. Place a lid over the pan and cook over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes until the egg whites have set and the yolks are still soft. Swirl the egg white through the sauce using a fork so that it sets quicker, if you wish. Season with salt and pepper.
5
Place the Greek yoghurt in small bowl and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
6
Divide the sauce and eggs between 4 plates. Serve with the Greek yoghurt.
Delicious served with fresh bread or pita.