Celeriac Soup
Serves 6
Ingredients
100 g walnuts
3 tablespoons butter
3 leeks, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
6 medium eating apples peeled, cored and roughly chopped
120 g cashew nuts
4 stalks of celery, sliced, use the leaves as a garnish
2 litres chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 small celeriac - about 250g peeled and roughly chopped
1 small bunch freshly chopped parsley
Method
Toast the walnuts in a large saucepan and then set aside.
Heat the butter in the pan on a medium heat then add the leeks and celery and let sweat for 8 minutes until soft on a medium heat.
Add garlic, thyme and apples and sweat for a further 5 minutes. Add the chopped celeriac and the hot stock, bring to the boil and then simmer on medium heat for 12 – 15 minutes until the celeriac is tender. Take off the heat.
Add the cashew nuts, most of the parsley and the sea salt and pepper. Blend the soup, in batches, then return to the pan on a low simmer. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the toasted walnuts, chopped fresh parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
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
Easter Lamb
Ingredients
1 de-boned shoulder of lamb about 1 ½ - 2 kg
salt and pepper
fresh oregano or fresh rosemary
small bunch of flat leaf parsley
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
Sauce
200 ml white wine
1 bunch of tarragon
2 shallots, finely chopped
400 ml lamb or veal stock
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 160° C.
Make a paste from the herbs using the rosemary or oregano, parsley, garlic and the olive oil by mashing up in a pestle and mortar. Rub on the inside of the shoulder. Take a length of kitchen string and tie up the meat into a tidy roll. Season with salt, pepper.
Heat a heavy casserole with some olive oil over a high heat and brown the lamb on all sides. Place a lid on the casserole and roast for a about 60 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to stand for a further 20 minutes in a warm place.
Pour of the excess fat and add a little stock to the pan, bring to the boil and reserve for the sauce.
To make the sauce, ,blanch the tarragon in boiling water for 10 seconds, then plunge into cold water. Dry off, remove the leaves from the stalks and chop finely. Reserve to add to the sauce later.
Place the stalks in a pan with the white wine and shallot, bring to the boil and reduce by half. Add the lamb or veal stock and simmer gently until reduced by a quarter. Add the cooking juices from the lamb and the tarragon, just before serving. Season, if necessary with salt and pepper.
Braised Greens
2 heads of Swiss chard or Cavalo Nero
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 anchovy fillets, chopped
50g raisins soaked in a little brandy or hot water
2 tablespoons toasted nigella seeds (black onion) or pine nuts
Method
Wash the vegetables well in cold water and remove any though stalks.
Blanch the vegetables for a few minutes in boiling salted water and drain well.
Heat the olive oil in a pan add the chopped anchovies, toss in the vegetables and heat through; add the raisins, the seeds or nuts. Season to taste with salt and pepper 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
Lamb Racks with Chimichurri
Serves 6
Ingredients
50 ml soy sauce
50 ml sunflower oil
3 tablespoons sherry
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 racks lamb chops, french trimmed
4 tablespoons cumin seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns, toasted
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)
Coriander Chimichurri
1 cup coriander leaves
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons fresh jalapeño or green chilli, chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
80 ml olive oil
Method
Begin with the coriander chimichurri. Blend all ingredients without the oil. Then drizzle in oil with the machine running. Season to taste with salt.
Mix soy sauce, oil, sherry, and garlic together. Cut lamb into 6 equal pieces and marinate for 6 to 8 hours. Grind cumin seeds, peppercorns, and coriander seeds. Mix with salt and chili and sprinkle liberally over lamb. Heat a grill pan over medium heat and grill until rose inside. Let rest about 5 minutes, then slice each piece in half. Serve with the coriander chimichurri.
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
Asparagus
Asparagus season has officially started for this year! And we're so pleased, as asparagus are one of our favourite vegetables. They're incredibly versatile as they can be blanched, grilled, roasted and when thinly shaved, even served raw.
How do you best store and clean asparagus?
In the refrigerator asparagus have a shelf life of about 7 days, in a damp tea towel (to prevent drying out) it's 1 to 3 days. Asparagus can also be frozen. Before freezing, the asparagus should be washed and peeled (there is no need to blanche them). When you want to use the asparagus, place them straight from the freezer into a pan of boiling water.
To give you some inspiration, here are 2 of our recipes using asparagus. Go out and get some now!
Asparagus and Turnip Greens Pasta
