RECIPE: Kitchen Queen makes a festive spread to remember

Renowned actress and singer Lucia Mthiyane kicks off the season of festive inspiration with not one, but three meals from her new cookbook, Kitchen Queen.

The self-taught “culinary Goddess” shares an easy-to-make vegetable dish and the South Africa favourite, hard body chicken. And no festive table would be complete without that national treasure, trifle.

Microwave Greens

INGREDIENTS

280 g tender-stem broccoli

100 g mini asparagus

150 g fine green beans, tops trimmed

6 baby marrows, halved lengthways

Micro-greens or herbs, to garnish

Melted butter, to drizzle over

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

METHOD

Place all the vegetables into a shallow microwavable dish.
Add only a little bit of water to cover the vegetables.
Cover the dish with cling film. Use a sharp knife to pierce four small holes in the cling film.
Microwave on high for 3 to 4 minutes. The vegetables should still be bright green and slightly crunchy.
Garnish with fresh micro-greens or herbs, drizzle with the melted butter and add a dash of lemon juice as the final touch.

Chicken

INGREDIENTS

1 large whole chicken

500 ml cold water

10 ml sea salt

2 cubes of store-bought chicken stock

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

4 medium spring onions, finely chopped

METHOD

If using proper hard-body chicken, clean the bird carefully and properly before cooking.
Pour the cold water into a large pot, add the salt and stock, and stir until dissolved.
Put the whole chicken in the seasoned water while it is still heating up, put the lid on the pot, and cook over low heat for ± 1½ hours or until tender.
Add all the onions during the last 5 minutes of the cooking time so that the onion flavour is not overpowering.
Serve with pap or steamed spinach bread (ujeqe – there’s a recipe in Mthiyane’s book Kitchen Queen.).

Rainbow Trifle

INGREDIENTS

80 g red jelly powder

80 g green jelly powder

480 ml hot water

480 ml cold water

1 quantity home-made custard (there’s a great recipe in Mthiyane’s Kitchen Queen)

250 g strawberries, sliced if necessary (reserve some for garnishing)

100 g blackberries

100 g raspberries

250 ml fresh cream

10 ml castor sugar

a sprig of mint

METHOD

Place the red jelly powder in a large clear bowl and place the green jelly powder in another large bowl.
Add 240 ml hot water to each bowl and stir through.
Add 240 ml cold water to each bowl and stir through.
Refrigerate until the jelly is set.
Make the custard and leave it to cool.
Use 6 separate glasses and start layering the trifle with spoonfuls of jelly as the bottom layer. Alternatively, take the bowl of red jelly as your trifle bowl, and spoon the green jelly into a layer on top of the red jelly.
Then add a layer of strawberries, followed by a layer of custard.
Then add a layer of blackberries, followed by a layer of custard.
Then add a layer of raspberries, followed by a layer of custard.
If there are jelly, berries and custard left, continue layering. Remember to reserve some of the strawberries for garnishing.
Whip the fresh cream while adding the castor sugar to it. Keep on whisking until it forms stiff peaks.
Finish the trifle with a top layer of whipped cream.
Garnish with mint leaves and the remaining strawberries.

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