Thanks, I'll give the recipe a try. What I've done was a bit different but I suppose it had a thai influence to it. I had diced mango, red bell pepper, red sweet onions, corriander, lime, fish sauce and used a chinese sweet chili sauce to it. I just couldn't get the taste right. But I think I have to do some substitution and will try green onions instead. I was just planning to simply salt the fish, wrap them in the leaves and grill it that way. The fish will steam cook this way and the leaves will impart it's taste to the fish. I don't know yet if I want to flavour it with ginger and onions. It may just be too much when combined with the salsa. It is a yummy lunch packet if you can imagine it with the mango salsa and steamed rice. You can grill a lot of seafood this way. In anycase, I'm doing a 'fushion' thing for this weekend's barbecue party, so have been experimenting with this salsa. Fresh banana leaves can be used as plates to serve fresh seafood on. Imagine grilled shrimps or fish, garlic fried rice, sides of sweet pickled vegetables such as carrots, green papaya and daikon, and for dipping - flavoured coconut vinegar (flavoured with hot thai peppers, ginger and garlic). Ianna

I made this recipe a couple of days ago, and I've made it several times since first reading this thread. This is my own version of refrigerator pickles: For the brine: 2 cups water 10-12 cloves garlic, peeled 2 cups white vinegar 3 Tbsp kosher salt Several sprigs of fresh dill (can substitute 1 Tbsp dill seed, if necessary) 1 teaspoon celery seed 1 Tbsp coriander seed 1 teaspoon mustard seed 6-9 Bay leaves For the vegetables: 6 cucumbers, halved lengthwise and ends removed (about 1-1/2 pounds) 1 carrot, cut into eighths, lengthwise (trim to length for jars) 1/2 onion sliced horizontally into strips 1-3 Habanero chilies (to taste – can use Cayenne instead for less heat) In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil, reduce the heat so the water simmers and add the garlic. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and salt, raise the heat and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt dissolves. Remove from the heat. In 2 clear 1-quart jars, place a few sprigs of dill. Divide the seeds and peppercorns between the jars. Using tongs, remove the garlic from the brine and place 4-5 cloves in each jar. Then pack the jars full of cucumbers, carrots, onions, and chiles. You want them to be tightly stuffed. Add the Bay leaves last, as they will easily slip into the jars when full of vegetables. Use 3 Bay leaves per jar. Bring the brine back to a boil, pour it over the vegetables to cover completely, let cool, then cover and refrigerate. I vacuum seal them with the jar attachment of a FoodSaver. The pickles will taste good in just a few hours, better after a couple of days. And they'll keep for about 2 months if vacuum sealed, although I generally use them in one month. This time I had to use part coconut vinegar because I did not have enough white vinegar, and I was also out of rice vinegar, except for red and black, neither of which I would use for this. I did buy another gallon of white vinegar the other day, so that I will have it on hand for more pickles. I got the cucumbers at the farmers' market and will go again soon for more. I'm posting this because cucumbers should be in season now. I did use some "pickling seasoning mix" from the grocery store instead of coriander and mustard seeds, as that was what it mostly contained. I haven't tasted them yet, but I'll let you know how the coconut vinegar worked out.

You'll find conflicting data on coconut oil in the diet. Lots of claims for it and against it. It's pretty well established that heavily hydrogenated tropical oils, including coconut (such as what you'd find in commercial baked snacks--they hydrogenate the fat to increase shelf life) are bad actors, but that's likely due to the hydrogenation process and not the oil itself. Coconut oil is a mid-chain mostly saturated fat. It may well be metabolized differently than other saturated fats. There was a study some years ago about a bunch of Sri Lankans who were convinced by Western doctors to switch from their traditional coconut oil in the diet to vegetable oil. The rate of heart disease went UP, ha ha. Now I don't know if they did other Western habits like smoking Marlboros while sitting on their hineys watching 'Baywatch', but I thought that was interesting. I have used coconut oil for 'buttering' potatoes. I've also used coconut oil as the poaching fat in making duck confit (wowza, was that good!). There is a difference in the quality of coconut oil. I can get some fragrant organic coconut oil from the Dekalb Farmers Market in the Atlanta area--it's wonderful. The local supermarket has Lou-Ana coconut oil--okay, but not spectacular. You'll also find that there are some claims made by people trying to sell you the stuff--"if you don't buy this particular brand of coconut oil harvested by sincere vegetarians who are kind to kittens, you're gonna miss out on all the benefits"--you just need to try to separate the hype from the fact. Hard to do sometimes.

Ymmmmm ya'll! Coconut, I thought it would go in the place of lemon, too. Interesting that Bobby F. likes it as salad dressing. Thanks, too, islay! I may just have found a new favorite, because I use sherry in cooking too! Need to stock up at the farmer's market this Sat. and try the sherry vinegar. I just love sliced cucumber and onion. I also add a tomato. This may just have been what I was wanting for that kind of salad--I think regular white vinegar has too much of a bite so I usually use rice vinegar. Isn't it fun when trying something new??!!