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.
The Perfect Cheese Omelette
A prefect omelette is easy to achieve and makes for a perfect lunch or light meal. Here's our way to do it.
Serves 2
Ingredients
6 free range or organic eggs
salt and pepper
about 50 g goats or truffle cheese, grated
butter
bread, to serve
salad, to serve
Method
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a good non-stick frying pan over medium heat with a knob of butter.
Once the butter begins to foam, pour in the beaten eggs. As the egg begins to set on the base, pull it from the outer part to the center with a spatula. That way you ensure that the omelette will be light, blonde in colour and still be soft (or baveuse) in the centre. Now is the time to add the grated cheese, leaving some back to sprinkle over at the end. Reduce the heat at this point if you feel it's cooking too fast.
With the spatula, fold over a small section of the omelette, tilting the pan as you do, so that the omelette folds over itself, becoming neat and folded in the corner of the pan. Grab your serving plate in one hand and the frying pan in the other and carefully, but with confidence, turn the omelette on to the plate. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve with salad of your choice dressed with a little olive oil and some delicious bread.
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
Club Sandwich - Amsterdam Flavours Style
All too often, we are served sandwiches consisting of limp bread and flavourless, uninspiring fillings. So, we've taken it upon ourselves to change all that and show you with just a little care and attention, that a sandwich and be exciting and leave you wanting more.
Serves 3
Ingredients
9 slices white spelt bread
2 free range or organic chicken breasts
100 g smokey bacon rashers
2 avocados
1 small red onion
50 g rocket
mayonnaise, for spreading
salt and pepper
olive oil
Method
Heat a grill pan over high heat and grill the bread on both sides. Halve the avocados, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Mash roughly using a fork and season with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Finely slice the onion and halve the chicken breasts horizontally, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil and fry the bacon until crispy. Remove on to a plate. Fry the chicken in the same pan with the bacon fat for about 3 minutes on each side.
Lay out the slices of grilled bread. Spread the mashed avocado on the first layer and top with the crispy bacon. On the second slice of bread, spread generously with mayonnaise. Top with a handful of rocket leaves and some red onion. Slice the chicken breasts and lay them on top.
Place the chicken layer on top of the avocado layer, topping the sandwich off with the remaining grilled bread and securing it with a skewer.
Serve on wooden board or plates and dig in!
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
Weekend Lunch
Before you go to the market this weekend and restock your fridge with fresh produce, use up the vegetables you have left in the fridge for lunch. Here are 2 easy ways:
Roasted Vegetables
Heat the oven to 200 C. Roughly chop and aubergine, red pepper, courgette and a couple of red onions. Toss them in a roasting dish with some fresh thyme and a couple of whole, unpeeled garlic cloves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for about 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender and tinged with a golden hue. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Aubergine Spread
Take 2 aubergines, and chop them into 1 cm cubes. Heat a griddle pan over medium-high heat. Toss the aubergine cubes in olive oil and grill until tender and coloured. Season with salt and pepper. Place half in a food processor with a couple of tablespoons good mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Pulse to a chunky puree. Transfer to a bowl and fold the remaining aubergine pieces through. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Fromagerie Kef
Fromagerie Kef is one of our favourite cheese shops in Amsterdam. As you walk in, you are immediately hit with an intoxicating aroma of delicious cheeses.
The shop, which has been in existence for 62 years, stocks an array of local and international cheeses from small producers. The fridges and cheese cellar are always brimming with these edible gems. The cheese is often ripened in the shop, ensuring that when you purchase it, it will be at it's best for eating and enjoying.
We love that when you purchase your cheese, they are loving wrapped, including the name of the cheese. When you get home, it's like unwrapping little presents of joy. The shop also stocks bread from bakery Niemeijer, chutneys, wines and charcuterie to complete your cheese board.
The staff are always on hand to give you advice if you need it.
On Sunday's you can order small cheese platters to enjoy in the store with a glass of wine.
Fromagerie Kef is our preferred supplier for our caterings and dinners.
For more information please visit Fromagerie Kef.
Cape Seed Bread
This is a typical South African bread recipe. It's healthy and delicious.
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
1 cup bran
4 cups wholewheat flour
15ml sunflower oil
15 ml honey or brown sugar
15ml salt
100ml each sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and poppy seeds
3 cups lukewarm water
30g fresh yeast
Method
Mix the bran, flour, honey or sugar, salt and seeds together in a bowl.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in 250ml lukewarm water, add to the fresh yeast and leave in a warn place until frothy. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the yeast mixture.
Now, using a wooden spoon, add as much of the remaining water as the flour will absorb. (The consistency should be that of a fruit cake).
Spoon into a well-greased 750g loaf pan. Cover and set aside to prove for about one hour until the mixture has risen to fill the pan.
Bake at 200º C for approximately 60 minutes until the bread is cooked through.
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
Toms
'One for One'
In 2008, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in a village in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One.
The company has since expanded into eyeware and coffee. With every pair purchased, Toms will help give sight to a person in need. With every pack of coffee purchased, TOMS will give one week of clean water to a person in need.
The company recently opened a store in Amsterdam. We're all about giving back and helping those in need. Go in an show your support. Not only will you be treating yourself, but you'll be helping someone in the process, One for One.
For more information please visit TOMS.
Easy 'Fondue' (baked cheese)
Ingredients
2 Saint Felicien or other favourite cheese, in an oven-proof container
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
1 small Turkish bread
2 figs
2 Belgian endive
olive oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 200° C. Remove the plastic from the cheeses and place them back in their containers. Make a few incisions in to the cheeses. Slice one garlic clove into thin slivers and finely chop the other. Pick the rosemary leaves off the stalks. Insert the garlic slivers and some of the rosemary leaves into the incisions made in the cheeses.
Drizzle the bread with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the remaining rosemary and finely chopped garlic clove. Place the cheese in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.
Place the bread in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time. Slice the figs into wedges and loosen the leaves from the endive.
Slice the bread into ‘fingers’. Serve the melted cheese in their heatproof dishes on a wooden board with the figs, endive and bread.
* Saint Felicien is available at Bilder & de Clercq stores in Amsterdam.
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
Smashed avocado and baked egg
Ingredients
4 slices bread of your choice
2 haas avocados
2 eggs
olive oil
salt and pepper
sprinkling of ground cumin
Method
Halve the avocados, remove the stones and scoop out the flesh. Coarsely mash in a bowl with fork and season with salt and pepper. If you wish, you can add a few drops of lemon juice.
Toast the bread until golden and crispy. Heat a non-stick frying pan with a splash of olive oil. Fry the eggs until cooked to your liking (we prefer sunny side up with a soft yolk). Season with a little salt and pepper.
Spread the mashed avocado on the toast and top with the fried egg. Sprinkle with a touch of ground cumin, before serving.
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
Red onion soup
Ingredients
15 g butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 large red onions
1,2 litres vegetable stock
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 slices French baguette
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
50 g grated Gruyere cheese
4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
Method
Halve the onions and slice thinly. Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan and add the onions. Sweat them gently until soft, about 30 minutes.
Add the balsamic vinegar, thyme and bay leaf to the pan.
Add the stock to the pan and increase the heat. When the soup boils, turn down to a simmer and cook gently for a further 10 minutes.
Preheat the grill. Spread the mustard on the slices bread and top with the grated cheese. Transfer to an oven tray.
Place the tray under the grill for 2 minutes until the cheese is melted. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
Divide the soup between 2 bowls and place the grilled cheesy bread on top.
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