"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote in message
...
> I have to say that I'm getting a lot out of the responses to this thread:
>
> 1. A couple people listed chicken piccata. I may have given it short
shrift;
> I'll have to get around to making it soon.
>
> 2. Gloria's description of how to make Portuguese Cocida sounds like a
> keeper.
>
> 3. Kate B reminded me how much I like mussels in a coconut-curry broth.
She
> also brought my attention to a recipe I haven't tried in the China Moon
> cookbook. That cookbook is less than two feet from my computer at home and
I
> haven't cooked anything from it recently, so I'll have to look up the
recipe
> and make that plum wine chicken sometime.

Do try it as, once you have the components, there are endless possibilities
with them! The dish has evolved for me over the years but I remember the
first time I made it, precisely as specified, and my mouth was very happy.
The China Moon Chile Orange Oil (an important component in the plum wine
marinade) is absolutely essential to have on hand, especially during the
summer. I love to marinate anything in it before grilling. I have taken to
gifting some of my serious foodie friends with it over the years. It's
gotten to the point where they've sometimes warned me, sternly, when they're
running low ....... The true essentials are the chile orange oil and the
pickled ginger juice as anything else can be substituted. As to the coconut
curry mussels - my sister recently requested my recipe for a dinner party.
I sent her my (then) thoughts of how I make it. She said it was very good
(at her party) but that "stuff" was missing and it lacked the "ooomph" of
mine. While a part of me was pleased that she preferred the version I make
I realized that she was making the version that *I* make. Clearly what I
told her was inadequate or <fantasy mode on> I was a cooking goddess that
could turn dross into gold. Realization hit that possibly I hadn't thought
out the recipe I sent sufficiently and my major in college wasn't alchemy.
So I recreated it for a dinner and, for the first time, wrote down what I
did immediately after I did it. Compared my "sent" recipe to my "as I did
it" recipe and was shocked! I forgot to mention kaffir limes (truly
optional), lemon grass (moderately optional) and fresh minced ginger
(totally not optional). E-mail me if you want my version as recently
recreated.

<snip>

Kate