Cook up a storm: heart-warming recipes to rekindle your culinary passion

IOL News

26-05-2025

Mushroom and cheese galette.
Image: Supplied
The heart of every home is often found in the kitchen, a space where creativity and flavour collide.
As we embrace the changing seasons, it's the perfect time to explore new recipe ideas that inspire culinary adventures.
Today, we delve into an array of dishes that bring flavours, spotlighting inventive ingredient combinations and techniques to rekindle your love for cooking.
Mashed potato crumpets.
Image: Supplied
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Mashed potato crumpets
Serves: 6
Ingredients
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 tbsp margarine
Salt and pepper
7 eggs
¾ cup cheddar, grated
Small handful of chives, finely chopped + extra
1½ cups cake flour
Sunflower oil, for cooking
Tomato chilli jam, to serve
Method
Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water for about 15 minutes or until soft. Mash with the margarine. Season with salt and pepper. Cool.
Combine 3 cups mashed potatoes with 1 of the eggs, cheddar, chives and ¾ cup of the flour. Roll the mixture into 6 balls and flatten into 1 cm-thick patties.
Place the remaining flour in a shallow dish and coat each crumpet in the flour.
Heat a thin layer of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry the crumpets, in batches, for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. Drain on paper towel-lined plates.
Wipe the pan clean and heat another splash of oil on medium heat. Fry the remaining eggs in the same pan for about 3 minutes or until whites are set and cooked to your liking. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve the crumpets topped with fried eggs, tomato chilli jam and extra chives
Cottage pie with baked eggs.
Image: Supplied
Cottage pie with baked eggs
Serves: 6
Ingredients
For the mash
6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
½ cup milk
⅓ cup margarine
Salt and pepper
For the mince
1 tbsp sunflower oil + extra
500g beef mince
1 onion, finely chopped
410g tin Italian-style tomatoes
1 cup frozen mixed veg
4-6 eggs
Method
For the mash, cook the potatoes in salted boiling water for about 20 minutes or until soft. Drain. Mash with the milk and margarine. Season with salt.
Meanwhile, for the mince, heat the oil on high and fry the mince for about 8 minutes or until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes or until golden.
Return mince with the tomatoes and frozen veg. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Spread the mince into a 24 cm ovenproof dish. Top with the mash and pull a fork through the top to flatten. Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and make 4-6 egg-sized wells in the mash with a spoon. Crack an egg into each well. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the whites are set and yolks are cooked to your liking.
Recipes by the South African Poultry Association.
Mushroom and cheese galette.
Image: Supplied
Mushroom and cheese galette
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
Pastry
175g flour
1 tsp sea salt flakes
120g cold butter, cut into small cubes
70g sour cream
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
60ml ice-cold water
Mushroom filling
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary
500g mixed cultivated mushrooms, sliced
150g grated Havarti or Gruyère cheese
A handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk for egg wash
Method
For the pastry
Pulse flour and salt together in a food processor to mix.
Add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Whisk together sour cream and lemon juice, add and pulse.
Slowly drizzle in just enough ice water until a soft dough is formed.
Knead dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk.
Wrap very well in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour.
For the mushroom filling
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan.
Fry the onion until golden brown and begin to caramelise.
Add the garlic, thyme and rosemary. Cook until fragrant.
Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown. Season well.
Remove mushrooms from the heat and turn out onto a chopping board to cool.
Discard herb stems.
Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out cold, rested pastry into a large 30cm circle.
Transfer onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Sprinkle a little cheese over the base of the pastry.
Toss the remaining cheese with the cooled mushrooms.
Arrange the mushrooms in the centre of the pastry, leaving a 4cm border.
Fold the border up and over the filling, pleating along the way to seal the border.
Place cherry tomatoes around the mushroom filling and sprinkle with a little salt.
Egg wash the pastry and season. For extra points, sprinkle a little cheese on the pastry edges.
Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and deeply golden brown.
Allow to cool slightly before cutting into slices and serving.
Mushroom taco cups.
Image: Supplied