I mostly agree with Sheldon's recommendations; here are a few minor
differences of opinion:

>> 2) Minnesota native grown wild rice ok with this instead of white rice?
>
> Not with the Asian flavored beef... I'd go with white rice... and stir fry
> the broccoli with some small shrimp and top with a Contonese sauce.

I'd leave the shrimp off the broccoli. There are hundreds of broccoli
options, but most of them hinge on whether you want this to be a
Chinese-themed meal or a fusion meal. For fusion, I'd steam the broccoli and
top it with a soy-lemon-butter sauce. For strictly Chinese, I'd stir-fry it
with garlic and chiles -- unless you're going to be making the green beans
with chile-garlic sauce given below; in that case, I'd steam the broccoli
with soft tofu and sprinkle with soy and sesame oil.


> You can serve stir fried green beens too, with black bean paste and red
> pepper flakes... garnish with canned straw 'shrooms.

Um...yeah, that's one option, but I find dry-fried green beans with
chile-garlic sauce more interesting. Here's one such recipe from
www.recipes4us.co.uk/

Dry fried Green Beans

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb Green Beans
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2 Spring Onions, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoons Szechuan Chile Paste
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Dry Sherry
1 tablespoon Sugar

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok until very hot but not
smoking. Carefully add the beans and stir fry until lightly browned. This
will take 5-7 minutes. Remove the beans with a slotted spoon and place in a
colander to drain.

2. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the frying pan then
reheat the oil until hot, add the onion and garlic and stir fry for a few
seconds then add the chile paste and soy sauce and mix well.

3. Return the beans to the pan, add the sherry and sugar and stir for 2-3
minutes until well mixed and heated through. Serve immediately.


>> 3 ) Vinegar and oil dressing, or creamy dressing, for the cole slaw?
>
> Napa cabbage slaw... with a dressing of soy sauce, ginger, honey, white
> wine, white pepper, peanut oil, sesame oil.... garnish with peanuts.

That sounds fine. An alternative (which has always drawn raves when I make
it) is this (which I got from this newsgroup, but I don't know who the
originator was, so I apologize for the lack of attribution):

Napa Cabbage Salad

1 package chicken-flavored ramen noodles
1 head Napa Cabbage
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sesame seeds -- toasted
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Crush noodles, place them in a medium skillet and brown in butter over
medium heat. Add almonds and sesame seeds. Stir often to prevent burning.
Add seasoning mix from noodles (I use about half) and cool.

Make the dressing: In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, oils, sugar, and soy
sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, let boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan
from heat and let cool.

Combine dressing, crunchies, cabbage, and scallions immediately before
serving. Serve right away or the crunchies will get soggy.


> Dessert: premium vanilla ice cream with your own kumquat preserves...
> perhaps hot oolong with almond cookie.

Again, this depends on whether you're after a fusion menu or a Chinese one.
Western palates don't really like most authentic Chinese desserts, so this
is one area where I'd advise going the fusion route. Here are some ideas:

* Make brownies (I *think* you have a recipe!), and add candied ginger
and/or candied orange peel. Serve with Vietnamese coffee.

* Get the Thai Iced Tea leaves (I find them at Cost Plus World Market),
steep them in hot half-and-half with sugar, strain, and make ice cream.

* If you go the almond-cookie route, I'd recommend jasmine tea with it
rather than oolong. Or you could form the almond cookie dough into tart
shells, bake, fill with sliced peaches, and glaze with something chosen from
your awesome array of preserves.

Bob