Small eggplants are traditional to southern india. I usually prepare them quartered to the base of the stem but not all the way through, stuffed with a spice mixture of coconut, chana dal, coriander, redchillies, and pan roasted with raw sesame oil. Served with short grain rice or basmati and a mild yogurt tomato side dish. Whgille- udumalpet is a small town in the southern Indian state of tamilnadu and it is renowned for it veggie farms. Let us know how this does!

They are totally different types of preparation. Chicken Marbella, as you know, is made from a long list of varied ingredients, it involves marinating, and uses a whole chicken. Chicken Marsala is generally just the breast, butterflied, and then quickly sauteed with the Marsala wine. It's a lovely, simple, flavorful dish- but there is really no comparison to be made between the two. Marsala wine is made from white grapes, it can be sweet OR dry, and is used in a wide variety of ways in cooking in Italy, especially in Central ad Southern areas. Zabaglione, a sweet, cooked custard sauce, is one of the more famous examples. It's also wonderful in soup, especially chicken soup or mushroom soup, whether its creamy or clear. If you're going to buy Marsala to cook with, DO NOT buy the cheap American "Marsala" made by Masson or Taylor- those are foul and will add nothing but cheap saltiness to your food. Cantino Florio is a good producer of REAL Marsala (which comes from Sicily, and ONLY from Sicily). You can buy it in dry OR sweet versions, and a 750 ml bottle will generally not cost more than $15, and after you open it, it will last in the fridge for quite a long time. RE: Marbella- I agree with you-It's one of my all time favorite dinner party dishes. You can make it long in advance, and it gets better after it sits longer. However, I've gotten tired of the original recipe in the Silver Palate cookbook- it has too much sugar! I've also decided that its MUCH better when made with thighs ONLY! Breast meat doesn't need to be marinated like that, and if it sits too long in the marinade, it just gets mushy. I experimented and made a version of Marbella using tomato paste and Madeira, instead of sugar. Also, depending on your taste, you might try using GOOD dried apricots instead of prunes sometime. It was SOOOO GOOD!!! That combo of capers, olives and dried fruit is also delicious with pork, whether you use a grilled chop, or a roasted tenderloin. I almost always serve Marbella with saffron rice. I tihnk it's time for a Marbella dinner party!!! Zachary

OJ, that's when I get up to see DH off to work, and it isn't long after that I'm back in bed! LOL! Laurel

sorry chase, here is the recipe. Chicken in Caramel Sauce - Sol This recipe is from the Washington Post, which adapted it from a recipe from the Slanted Door restaurant that appeared in a cookbook called The Secrets of Success: Signature Recipes and Insider Tips from San FranÂs Best Restaurants by Michael Bauer 1/2 C packed dark brown sugar 1/4 C water 1/4 C Asian fish sauce 3 T rice vinegar 1 tsp minced garlic 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp thinly sliced fresh ginger 1/2 to 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (1/2 usually enough for me) 2 small chili peppers, fresh or dried, halved (I always use fresh) 1 T canola oil 1 shallot thinly sliced 1 1/2 - 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh meat, cut into bite-size pieces (can use a combo of light and dark meat, if you prefer) In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, water, fish sauce, vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, pepper, and chilis, and mix well. Set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat (can also use a wok, but IÂve had better luck w/a skillet). Add shallot and cook, stirring, until brown, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned on each side but not cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir the reserved sauce mixture and add to skillet. Bring mixture to boil, reduce heat to med-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced by about half and the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove and discard the chili peppers. Remove pan from heat, set aside until sauce has thickened and cooled slightly, about 3 minutes. Serve with rice. Note: This is traditionally a Vietnamese dish. If you havenÂt cooked w/fish sauce before, youÂll notice that itÂs pretty stinky before itÂs cooked (!), but when the sauce is all together it gives it a really distinctive flavor that would be difficult to duplicate without it. IÂm able to get it in my local grocery store, but if you canÂt, then Asian markets will be sure to have it. The dish can be more spicy or less, depending what you do w/the pepper and chilis. If I want it less spicy, I remove all the seeds from the chilis before adding them to the sauce. This time, I left most of the seeds in, and it was very spicy. Probably thereÂs a happy medium and it would be spicy enough w/about half the seeds. If you prefer it to be more sweet than spicy, remove all the seeds and use a bit less black pepper (even tho I like it spicy, I never need more than 1/2 tsp of pepper). Thank you for the ideas. I don't know why I have a hard time being creative with veggies, I always do. Stacy