Moo's Chicken Mousse

1 env. unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. celery seed
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cup chicken, cooked and finely ground
1 cup whipping cream

Soften gelatin in 3/4 cup broth. In sauce pan, combine egg yolks, remaining broth, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir constantly over low heat until mixture thickens slightly. Do not let it boil. Add softened gelatin and cool slightly. Add celery seed and mayonnaise. Chill slightly. Fold in chicken and whipping cream. Pour into a jello mold.

Moo's Stuffed Lettuce

This is a little recipe Moo created. It's simple and not very precise...on purpose. It's all about the combining of flavors. Experiment, enjoy. This is delicious palate pleaser.

Chicken thighs, boneless
Chicken broth
Curry powder
Sour cream (or yogurt)
mayonnaise
Flake coconut
Boston lettuce leaves, select the largest without tears
Chutney
Macadamia nuts

Cook boneless chicken thighs in chicken broth and curry powder. When done, allow to cool. Then chop up chicken and mix with sour cream (or yogurt) and mayonnaise and flake coconut. Roll this mixture in Boston lettuce leaves. I hold the rolls closed using toothpicks. In a small bowl, combine sour cream (or yogurt) and chopped chutney and coconut cream. In another bowl, combine chopped Macadamia nuts and toasted flake coconut. Pipe top of lettuce bundles with sour cream mix then dip into the chopped nuts/coconut mix.

Moo's Winter Melon and Chicken Soup

This is a very light, savory Chinese soup. Moo made this often during the winter (after all it's made with winter melon). If you don't know, a winter melon looks a little like a watermelon from the outside. The flesh is a light green and cannot be eaten raw. I like to call this Chinese penicillin. It's light like chicken noodle with the winter melon providing an interesting texture. This is a palate pleaser.

6 cups chicken stock
1 lb. winter melon, cut into bite-size chunks
6 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 medium size knob of fresh ginger, minced
1 chicken breast, raw
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp. sherry
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. soy sauce, low sodium is best
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. olive oil

Cut flesh away from rind of winter melon. Cut flesh into chunks. Remove stems from mushrooms and slice caps. Bone raw chicken breast and cut into bite-size pieces. Mix chicken, garlic, sherry, sugar and 1/2 tsp. of the soy sauce. Let stand for 15 minutes. Mix salt, 1 1/2 tsp. of soy sauce, olive oil. Set aside. Heat stock to boiling, add melon, mushrooms and ginger and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chicken marinade mixture. Stir well. Add salt/soy/oil mixture. Cook until the chicken is tender.

Moo's Exotic Chicken Salad

This is a very good salad that's easy to make and hard to resist. Moo wrote up this recipe to enable you to make as large a salad as you need to feed your family and guests.

Cooked chicken, diced
Celery, sliced
Water chestnuts, sliced
Seedless grapes, sliced in half
Slivered almonds
Mayonnaise
Curry powder
Soy sauce

Combine 2 parts diced, cooked chicken with 1 part sliced celery, 1 part sliced water chestnuts, 1 part seedless grapes (sliced in half) and 1 part slivered almonds. Mix in mayonnaise to create the consistency you prefer. Season with curry powder and soy sauce to taste. Mix well, mound on lettuce and surround with lichee fruit.

Moo's Beer Puffs w/Coconut Chicken Filling

Here's a versatile appetizer. You can come up with all kinds of fillings. I've included Moo's coconut chicken filling. The filling alone is a real palate pleaser.

Puffs Batter
1 cup beer
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), cut into small pieces
1 cup flour, sifted
4 eggs
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Glaze
1 egg yolk
1 T milk

Filling
Chopped chicken
Angel Flake coconut
Coconut cream
Mushrooms or nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a large cookie sheet. Put beer in saucepan with salt and add butter pieces. Bring to boil (you want to watch heat carefully so that butter melts at same time beer starts to boil). Add flour all at once. Add nutmeg. Remove from heat and add eggs (one at a time and stirring in between). Stir until dough forms into a ball (about 2 minutes). Drop dough from a teaspoon onto the prepared cookie sheet. Combine glaze ingredients and brush on each puff before popping into the oven. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Let puffs cool on racks. Fill with desired filling or freeze in plastic bags until ready to fill and serve.

Moo's Thai Green Chicken Curry

Here's a simple Thai curry you'll love.

1 stock butter
8 T flour
1/4 cup green curry paste
3 1/2 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
2 T soy sauce (low sodium)
2 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped
8 kefir lime leaves
Chopped chicken
Fresh mint, chopped
Fresh basil, chopped

Boil chicken. While chicken is cooling, you can create the curry: In large sauce pan, melt butter add flour to create roux. Slowly add green curry paste, milk, broth and bring to boil. Add soy sauce, coconut extract, lime leave and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Stir regularly. Pick chicken off cooled carcass. Shred chicken to bite-size pieces and add to curry. Bring to boil and cook for about 3 minutes more. Garnish with fresh mint and basil. You can serve with additional condiments such as shredded coconut, chopped nuts, chutney, and lime pickle.

Moo's Zesty Stir-Fry Chicken

Moo sent this recipe to me while I was in college. Said this would be a palate pleaser at my next dinner party. It was...and it still is.

4 whole medium chicken breasts
1/4 cup soy sauce (I prefer low sodium)
2 T. sherry
4 T. orange marmalade
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
3/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 small orange
2 cups fresh peapods
1/2 cup olive oil
salt to taste
1/2 - 3/4 cup almonds, sliced
1 bunch scallions, sliced into 1" pieces

Remove skin and bone from chicken breasts. Cut each into medium-size chunks. Create marinade of: soy sauce, sherry, marmalade, cornstarch, ginger, and red pepper; 30 minutes before cooking, marinate chicken bits. Peel orange and separate wedges. Cut each wedge in half and set aside. Clean peapods (remove tips and string). Blanch in boiling water for about 1 minute (until bright green). Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Wrap in foil and set aside in refrigerator.

Heat olive oil in wok. Cook almonds until lightly browned. Remove almonds from oil and drain on paper towel. In same oil, cook scallions, stirring until dark brown (to infuse flavor into oil). Remove onions from oil and discard. Now add marinated chicken until chicken has turned white. Add peapods, almonds and orange slices. Salt to taste. Turn a few times and serve.

Moo's Japanese Chicken Wings

If you don't like wings...move along! Okay, I'm assuming about 98.9 percent of you are still with me. These are great. I think they are my all time favorite wings. An appetizer palate pleaser. Warning: Make plenty.

2 Plastic bags (you need clean bags--like garbage bags--with no scent or deoderizer imbued and no holes)
Start with about a dozen wings (about 2 1/3 lbs)
1 medium clove garlic
1 piece of fresh ginger (about 1”x1”), peeled
½ c. Japanese rice wine (sake)
½ c. soy sauce
¼ c. firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ t. dried hot red pepper flakes

Remove the tips from the wings and discard. Separate the remaining two joints. Place two plastic bags inside one another and place the wings inside. Place the bags (and their contents) in a large bowl.

To make the marinade, run garlic and ginger through a food processor. Chop about 10 seconds--until very fine. Scrape down the work bowl then add the remaining ingredients and process 5 seconds.

Pour the marinade over the bagged wings and toss to coat thoroughly. Seal each bag tightly with a twist tie. Let wings marinate in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight, turning the chicken occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a shallow broiler pan or baking dish with heavy foil. Remove the wings from the bags and arrange them in a single layer in the pan. Reserve the marinade. Bake the wings uncovered until golden brown and crusty, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn and baste them every 15 minutes.

Glenda's Greek Chicken Wings

You can't have too many chicken wing recipes...Really. You can't. Wings ARE palate pleasers. This one comes from the mother of a friend of mine. I've been making this one for 20 years. They are soooo simple. Glenda doesn't use quantities. She just does this by starting with the number of wings she wants and then does everything else by eye and taste. You really can't go too wrong with this.

Chicken wings
Salt and pepper to taste
Flour
Whole and ground oregano
Olive oil
Fresh lemon juice

Lightly salt chicken, then dredge with flour that is seasoned with oregano. Put chicken into a baking dish that has about 1/4 inch of olive oil in bottom. Bake, covered with foil, for about 25-35 minutes at 450°. Remove foil and brown wings on both sides. Squeeze lemon juice on each wing (each side) and bake 5 minutes longer.

Moo's Avocado-Chicken Salad

It's a simple salad but always good for a quick, light lunch.

2 ripe avocados
2 cups chicken, cooked, diced
2 eggs, hard boiled, sliced
2 T sweet red pepper, diced
2 T coriander, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
pinch of tarragon
salt to taste
pepper to taste
3 T lemon juice
Romaine lettuce leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices

Combine the first 10 ingredients and toss with lemon juice. Serve on a bed of lettuce and garnish with tomatoes and cucumbers.

Moo's Fluffy Chicken Pancake

Moo used to make this as an entree, but as a smaller helping it would be an excellent side dish. She often put a little of her fabulous all-purpose lemon sauce on top. What a palate pleaser. Experiment with different sauces and toppings for new tastes.

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 chicken breast, finely chopped
4 egg whites
2 T coriander, chopped
2 t. sherry
salt and pepper to taste
Few drops of sesame oil

Bone and chop chicken. Beat egg whites until foamy. Mix in chicken, sherry salt and pepper. Put olive oil in flat frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken mixture. When firm, turn mixture. Cook until both sides are firm but NOT brown. Add sesame oil and serve.

You can give a little more flavor to the chicken by marinating it in: 1 tsp. sherry, 2 tsp. soy sauce and 1 star anise

Moo's Litchi Sauce
2 T sugar
2 T vinegar
2 T catsup
3/4 cup litchi juice (drained from a can of litchi fruit)
2 tsp cornstarch
Boil and stir all ingredients until think enough.

Moo's Chicken Wing Appetizer

When Moo first gave me this recipe, she wrote: This is as good as the old standby. The use of chicken broth makes this one very moist.

18 (or about 3 pounds) chicken wings
Olive oil
3 scallions, cut into 3" pieces
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sherry
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup catsup
3 whole star anise
2 T sugar
1/4 t. ground ginger
1 large head iceberg lettuce, shredded

Cut wing tips off at the joint and discard. Cut the remaining two joints apart. Heat oil in skillet and saute wings until golden brown. Remove wings and pour off the excess oil. Combine soy sauce, sherry, chicken broth, catsup, scallions, star anise, sugar and ginger in skillet. Add wings and simmer 25 minutes or until tender, basting occasionally. Then cover and cook 10 minutes longer. Serve wings on bed of shredded lettuce.

Imperial Moo Chicken Salad

This is a palate pleasing salad with an Asian flavor.

2 large chicken breasts, boned
1/3 cup sherry
1/4 cup soy sauce
6 thin slices ginger

Olive oil for frying

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
6 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted

2-3 ounces of Chinese rice sticks or bean thread

Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
2 T lemon juice
1 T plus 1 t. soy sauce
3 t. sesame oil
2 t. dry mustard
2 t. sugar
1 t. fresh ginger, minced
1/2 t. hot chili oil

Combine sherry, soy sauce and ginger slices to create marinade. Marinate chicken breasts for several hours (overnight, if possible). Turn chicken breasts over a couple times. When ready to cook, drain chicken breasts, pat dry and lightly salt. Then coat with cornstarch. Refrigerate for an hour to allow cornstarch to set.

Heat olive oil in skillet and deep fry chicken breasts for about 5 minutes per side or until golden and crisp and cooked through. Drain chicken on paper towel then slice into bite-sized pieces. Place in a large bowl. Add lettuce, scallions, almonds, sesame seeds.

Heat olive oil in skillet or wok. Deep fry rice sticks or bean threads. They will puff up very quickly. Drain, salt lightly and add to salad. Mix dressing ingredients, add to salad, toss and serve.

Moo's Best Barbecue Sauce

I love this barbecue sauce. Everyone in my family loves this sauce. I guess you could call it a family-wide palate pleaser. I hope you love it too. And when I want to do something a little more on the edge, I add some Maker's Mark whisky.

½ cup vinegar
2 T prepared mustard
¼ cup water
1 t. freshly ground pepper
4 T sugar
1 T salt
2 slices lemon
½ cup butter
1 cup catsup
4 T Worcestershire sauce

Mix and simmer for 5 minutes. If you want to kick it up a notch, add ½ t. cayenne pepper.

Madam Moo's Aromatic Chicken Wings

These are palate pleasing wings and the first version of many Moo made for us.

Start with about 2 dozen chicken wings. Mix marinade: 2 cloves garlic, 1 T chopped tangerine peel, ½ T chopped fresh ginger, 1/6 t. 5 spice powder, 1 t. salt, 3 T soy sauce, 1 t. sherry, 2 t. sugar, ¼ t. pepper, 2 T sesame oil, ½ t. red pepper flakes. Mix and turn and baste wings for 4-5 hours.Dip each wing in cornstarch and sauté in oil until golden. Put into roasting pan with leftover marinade, shred peel of 1 large orange over wings. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 to 45 minutes (or until nice and tender).

Moo's Scalloped Chicken

This is comfort food at its best. Scalloped chicken is an old recipe. I don't even know where Moo first found it. I do know she made it for us back in the late 50s and that she adapted the original over the years until she had the recipe that she shared with her daughters. I highly recommend this one.

5 pound roasting chicken
5 cups water
Trinity (celery, carrot & onion)
2 tsp. salt
12 slices firm bread, remove crusts and cube
1 cup celery, finely chopped
½ cup yellow onion, finely chopped
Salt & pepper
¼ pound melted butter

Cover chicken with water and add trinity (celery, carrot & onion) and salt. Cook gently until done. Remove chicken from broth and let cool enough so you can handle. Reserve broth, strain out celery, carrot and onion. Remove the chicken skin and lay out on a piece of foil on cookie sheet. Crisp this skin in the broiler, crumble into bite-size pieces, and set aside. Remove all the meat from the bones. Discard carcass. Remove crust from bread slices and cube. Combine bread cubes, chopped celery and chopped onion. Season with salt and pepper. In a casserole, layer 1/3 of bread cube mixture. Cover this with 1/3 of the chicken. Followed by more bread cubes, more chicken, more bread cubes and the last of the chicken. Top with the crisp, crumbled chicken skin.

An hour before serving, heat 2 cups of the chicken broth you saved from cooking the chicken and 1 cup of milk. Pour this over casserole and dot top with butter. Bake in 350° oven until hot through. Then turn oven up to 450° for a few minutes and brown the top. Watch carefully at this stage to make sure you don’t burn casserole. Serve.