Lazy Saturdays, Sundays and long weekends are perfect for fuss-free brunches with the family. Our Editor whips together some of his favourites for you to dig into this Easter.  

Mushroom, tomato and Brie baked eggs 

Serves 4 

A twist on the classic shakshuka breakfast. Cut the cost by swapping out Brie for Cheddar or crumbled feta. 

Ingredients

Glug olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 punnets button mushrooms, quartered
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup cream
Few sprigs thyme
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 punnet vine tomatoes
1 wedge Brie, sliced
4 eggs
Crusty bread, for serving  

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Heat oil in an ovenproof pan and sauté onions and garlic for about 8-10 minutes until golden.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for another 8-10 minutes.
4. Stir through butter, cream and thyme, then simmer gently for 3-4 minutes. Stir through mustard and season.  
5. Nestle in the tomatoes and Brie.
6. Create 4 holes in the mixture and crack each egg into it.
7. Bake for about 4-6 minutes or until the egg is cooked and the cheese has melted.
8. Serve with crusty bread to soak up all that decadence.  

Asian-style croque madame  

Serves 3 

Swap out the flapjacks for waffles or crusty bread if you prefer. 

Ingredients

Butter or oil
9 store-bought flapjacks   

For the bechamel 

¼ cup butter
3 Tbsp flour
1L milk
Pinch nutmeg
½ cup grated Cheddar 
3 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander 
Salt and milled pepper   

1⁄2 cup mozzarella
9 rashers streaky bacon, cooked
2 spring onions, sliced
4 fried eggs, for serving
2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted chilli oil, for drizzling  

 Method

1. Pop flapjacks into the toaster until slightly crispy. 
2. For the béchamel, heat the butter in a pot and whisk in the flour until smooth.
3. Pour in milk while stirring and cook over a low heat for 8-10 minutes until mixture has thickened.
4. Add nutmeg, Cheddar, coriander and season, then stir until melted.
5. Preheat oven to 200°C.
6. Arrange 3 flapjacks onto a greased, lined baking tray.  
7. Top each one with a dollop of béchamel, then sprinkle with mozzarella.
8. Add another flapjack, half the bacon, spring onion and more béchamel.
9. Top with remaining flapjacks to create a 3-layered stack and spread with the remaining béchamel.  
10. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake until golden and cheese melts. 
11. Serve sprinkled with remaining spring onions, fried egg, sesame seeds and chilli oil. 

Stone fruit muesli crumble  

Serves 4 

Make a big batch of this muesli and store in an airtight container for breakfast on the go. 

Ingredients

For the muesli crumble

3 cups rolled or regular oats
½ cup desiccated coconut
¼ cup chopped mixed nuts 
¼ cup chopped mixed dried fruit 
2 oranges, zested and juiced 
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup dark brown sugar
6 plums or nectarines, halved 
½ cup orange juice  

1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 tub (230g) crème fraiche 
3 Tbsp honey  

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. In a large greased baking tray, combine all the muesli crumble ingredients and toss through to combine.
3. Bake for about 10-15 min, stirring regularly until golden and toasted. Remove and set aside to cool.
4. Place plums or nectarines into a baking tray or skillet.  
5. Whisk together orange juice, vanilla and brown sugar. Pour mixture over the stone fruit and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until softened and sticky.
6. Whisk together the crème fraiche and honey, then set aside.
7. Serve the stone fruit with muesli crumble and honey crème fraiche.  

Jaffles 3 ways  

Serves 3 

If you don’t have a jaffle iron, try these combinations using a sandwich press or a snackwich machine.  

Ingredients

For the spinach and feta filling

½ cup finely chopped spinach
2 discs feta, crumbled 
1 tsp chilli flakes
Pinch nutmeg   

For the pork filling

oil, for frying
1 pork rasher, cubed
¼ punnet button mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp chopped chives or sage   

For the chicken filling

¼ cup shredded rotisserie chicken
¼ cup grated mozzarella 
4-5 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 
6 slices white bread, buttered on one side, for serving  

 Method

1. Wilt the spinach in a dry pan over medium heat, then remove from heat.
2. Stir through the feta, chilli flakes, nutmeg and season well. Set aside. 
3. For the pork filling, heat the oil in a pan and fry pork until crispy, remove from the heat.
4. In the same pan, add mushrooms and garlic, then fry for 4-6 minutes or until fully cooked.
5. Combine the pork, mushrooms and garlic and stir through fresh herbs. Set aside.
6. Mix together the chicken filling ingredients. Season well and set aside.
7. Fill each sandwich with respective filling and cook in a jaffle pan over a gas flame or medium coals for about 3-4 minutes per side.  

Potato latke tray bake  

Serves 6 

Sneak in some more veggies by adding grated broccoli or cauliflower to the latke mixture. 

Ingredients

4-6 baby marrows, grated 4 potatoes, peeled and grated
½ onion, grated 
2 eggs, whisked
¼ cup flour
3 Tbsp chopped coriander 
salt and milled pepper
oil, for frying
3-4 red peppers, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped 
½ cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
½ cup plain yoghurt
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp ground cumin
4 boiled eggs, for serving  

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Place baby marrows and potatoes in a clean tea towel and squeeze to remove excess moisture.
3. In a large bowl, combine baby marrows, potatoes, onion, eggs, flour, herbs and season well.
4. Press mixture into a large greased and lined baking tray. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden and cooked through.
5. Heat the oil in a pan and fry peppers, onion and garlic for about 5-6 minutes.
6. Add red wine vinegar and sugar and cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes or until sticky.
7. Once cool, blitz the mixture for a few seconds and set aside.
8. Combine the yoghurt, garlic powder and cumin. Season well and set aside.
9. Serve latke, topped with boiled eggs, yoghurt and red pepper relish.  

Recipes: Chad January

Photography: Zhann Solomons

The post Enjoy these Easter brunch favourites this weekend appeared first on MyKitchen.

Our super tasty, indulgent ham, fig and Brie pizza is a sweet and savoury flavour explosion that will have you leaping for more!

SERVES 4 // COOK TIME 90 min

INGREDIENTS
For the basic pizza dough
3 cups warm water
10g instant yeast
2 tsp sugar
¼ cup olive oil
Pinch of salt
1 kg flour
For the home-made tomato sauce
10 tomatoes, halved
Olive oil, to grease and fry
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Salt and black pepper
To assemble
1 batch basic pizza dough
1 cup home-made tomato sauce
150g ham, sliced
150g Brie, thinly sliced
8 figs, sliced
300g mozzarella, grated
Handful thyme, leaves stripped
Salt and black pepper
Handful basil

METHOD
For the basic pizza dough
1. Mix water with yeast, sugar, olive oil and salt. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, until frothy.
2. Add flour and carry on mixing until it becomes a sticky dough.
3. Transfer to an oiled bowl and cover loosely with cling film. Let it rise for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
4. Knock back and knead for a few minutes before shaping into bases or freezing to use later.
For the home-made tomato sauce
1. Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a baking tray.
2. Place the halved tomatoes on the tray and bake for 35–40 minutes, until cooked down and slightly charred.
3. Fry the onion in a little olive oil until softened. Add the garlic and fry for a few minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Season.
5. Blitz with a stick blender or in a food processor.
6. Store the tomato sauce in the fridge or the freezer until you’re ready to use it.
To assemble
1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Line baking trays with baking paper.
2. Roll out the pizza dough to make 4 medium (or 2 large) bases. Place on baking trays.
3. Spread the bases with tomato sauce and top with ham, Brie, figs and mozzarella, then sprinkle with thyme and season with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for 15–20 minutes.
5. Garnish the pizzas with basil to serve.

We put a little twist on the classic boerewors roll, and came up with sherry boerewors sliders. You must try it for lunch on Sunday!

The post Ham, fig and Brie pizza appeared first on MyKitchen.

The post Pastry-wrapped camembert with grilled plums appeared first on MyKitchen.

Dreaming of buttery puff pastry, creamy brie and roasted asparagus? Then dig into our mouth-watering asparagus, Brie & caramelised onion rolls.  They’re great for a quick lunchtime snack or even a light dinner.

SERVES 8 // COOK TIME 55 min

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp butter
2 onions, sliced
2 thyme sprigs, picked, plus extra to serve
2 rolls puff pastry
125 g Brie, sliced into 8
600 g asparagus, trimmed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 egg, beaten

METHOD
1. Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat. Once bubbling, add the onions and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until caramelised, about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 190°C. Line 2 baking trays. 3. Cut each roll of pastry into quarters and lay out on the prepared trays.
4. Add a spoonful of caramelised onions to the centre of each square. Top with a piece of Brie and a small handful of asparagus. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with extra thyme.
5. Fold two opposite corners of each square over the asparagus and pinch them together.
6. Brush with egg wash and bake for 20–25 minutes. Sprinkle with extra thyme and serve immediately.

Recipes & styling: Elizabeth mackenzie
Photography: Sean Dollery

Just because all the bright summer produce you love is going out of season, doesn’t mean you can’t whip up a beautiful meal with fresh ingredients, like zucchini fritti (fried baby-marrow fingers).

The post Asparagus, Brie & caramelised onion rolls appeared first on MyKitchen.

The best thing about the festive season? Leftovers! Use up for your meat for these gammon toasties with cherries and Brie.

MAKES 4 // COOKING TIME 50 min

INGREDIENTS
2 cups cherries, pitted and halved
1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup water
2 tsp chopped sage
2 tbsp softened butter
8 slices sourdough bread
4 tsp wholegrain mustard
1½ cups grated white Cheddar
125 g Brie, sliced
8 slices leftover gammon, shredded

METHOD
1. Cook the cherries and vinegar in a pan over low-medium heat for 15–20 minutes, until softened and sticky.
2. Add the water bit by bit whenever the pan gets dry. Add the sage and fry for 2 minutes. Set aside.
3. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Top the unbuttered sides of 4 slices With mustard, white Cheddar, Brie and gammon. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Top with spoonfuls of cherries and some more Cheddar. Sandwich closed with the unbuttered sides of the remaining slices of bread.
5. Toast in a pan, in your sandwich press, on the braai or in the oven, until the bread is golden brown and the cheese has melted. Serve warm.

Recipe & styling: Kate Turner
Photography: Gareth van Nelson // HMimages.co.za

Speaking of fruit sandwiches, get a load of these cheesy gooseberry toasties.

The post Leftover gammon toasties with cherries and Brie appeared first on MyKitchen.

Play around with sweet and salty flavours in these traditional red pepper and Brie pinchos. They’re the perfect tapas for your next Spanish fiesta.

SERVES 8 // COOKING TIME 1 hour 35 min

INGREDIENTS
3 red peppers, halved
¼ cup olive oil + to drizzle
1 tbsp red-wine vinegar
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 baguette, sliced
125 g Brie

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Remove seeds and ribs from peppers. Arrange on a baking tray, drizzle with 2 tbsp oil and roast until charred, 15 minutes.
3. Place the peppers in a ziplock bag and leave to sweat for a few minutes. Remove the skins.
4. Place peppers in a bowl with 2 tbsp oil, vinegar and paprika. Leave to marinate for 1 hour.
5. Drizzle oil over the baguette slices. Top each with a wedge of Brie and half a pepper. Grill for 2 minutes to slightly melt Brie.

Recipe & styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Andreas Eiselen // HMimages.co.za

Make sure to include these cocoa-coated steaks with grilled Mexican peppers for your guests to much on.

The post Traditional red pepper and Brie pinchos appeared first on MyKitchen.