Tina Shaire’s Zolene Chronicles: 3 Ways to Add Spice to Your Holiday Menu

What could be better than opening presents this festive period? A table filled with good food off course! This is a time to bond with family and friends, and there is no better way to bond than over food. Food is synonymous with comfort, nourishment and happiness. But who wants to spend hours slaving over a hot stove? NO ONE. Here are a few delicious but easy to prepare Zolene recipes to definitely spice up your holidays while giving you some extra time to relax.

Bruchetta and Zolene Salsa
The holidays are all about making things special- and if you can do that without a lot of effort even better! Here is a quick easy recipe that is also sure to impress your family and friends.

Ingredients {Makes 2 portions for 2 people}
3 fresh pieces of large tomatoes
Quarter of a small bulb of onions
3 African basil leaves
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Baquette bread 6 slices
Butter
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic

Procedure
Deseed tomatoes and chop into small bite size pieces, chop onions and African basil into bites as well. Mix tomatoes, basil onions, salt and pepper in the olive oil and set aside for 20mins for all the flavours to infuse nicely. Store in the fridge until bread is ready.

Slice your baguette into 1½ inch slices, spread butter and toss in the oven for 10 minutes. Slice garlic clove into 2 and rub across the top of each bread.

Spoon the tomato mixture onto the bread and top with a little more African basil and serve!

Chicken Broth in Yam and plantain medley-(Ukodo)
This can be called a back to my roots Christmas. Growing up, Christmas mornings was always exciting with Goat meat broth, freshly killed goat from the eve of Christmas was always fun. By the way, immediately the goat is killed we select some fleshy parts and make goat meat suya, very similar to asun. This was also very exciting, savoury with an outburst of deliciousness. Then we use bits of the offal and flesh for the goat meat broth on Christmas morning. Our preferred choice for Christmas breakfast was chicken and fish broth in yam and plantain medley. Popularly called Ukodo.

Ingredients {Feeds 5 people}
3 TBS of Pepper soup spice mix, I make mine ( Erhe 6 seeds( shell removed and seed burnt over open fire to release its scent and flavours), 2 seeds of Urheri seeds removed Gbafilo shell removed , 2 TBs of otaiko and regege seeds
4 litres of waters
1kg chicken
1kg freshly killed catfish
2 tbs pepper 1 cameroon pepper the other red pepper Zolene mix
1tbs blended fresh ginger, 1tbs freshly blended yellow pepper Zolene twist
Yam cut into big cubes 8-12 pieces depending
Half ripe plantain 2-3 fingers
African Basil – 8 leaves finely chopped
Seasoning cubes to taste
Salt to taste

Procedure
In a pot, add water pepper soup spice, pepper and allow to boil, then add chicken, the hard chicken preferably ,put seasoning cubes and salt allow to boil for 30 minutes
Add some more water, make sure chicken is almost fully cooked before this then add diced yam and plantain cook for 15mins or until yam is cooked then add the catfish allow to cook for another 5-10 minutes then sprinkle the African basil and simmer for 2 minutes.
Voila! Ukodo is ready!

You can serve with a side of palm oil.

No bake CheeseCake
There is always room for sweet treats! Here is our simple yet tasty no bake cheesecake recipe.

Ingredients {Feeds 2-3 people depending on the size of your whiskey glass}
For crumbs
60g of Mcvities digestive biscuits
5g sugar in digestive crumb
20g butter melted
For cream cheese and cream
100g of cream cheese
10g sugar in cream cheese
50g whip cream

Berry Colie
1 cup of strawberries or mixed berries
1 tsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of sugar in berry reduction

Procedure
Blend digestive biscuit; add melted butter and 5g sugar put at the bottom of a whiskey glass.
Beat cream cheese and sugar till creamy
Whip the cream till it gets to stiff peak
Fold in the whipped cream cheese
Put in the piping bag pour it on top of the biscuit crumbs in the whiskey glass allow it to set. You can make this overnight so it can set.

Berry colie
In a sauce pan add the berries and mash with a masher add sugar allow to melt for 2 minutes.
Allow to cool then add lemon juice.

Beri coli should be added just before you want to serve.

We hope these recipes will add some cheer to your holidays! If you recreate any of these recipes, please share and tag us on Instagram on @Zolenedining.