When is it stealing

and when is it varying on a theme? This question comes up a lot in the cooking world, and much more so as we become a more litigious society, and cooking has become a competitive sport. Oh, for the good old days when you could safely predict that if you asked Aunt Sadie for her recipe for chocolate chip cookies she'd smile and say "but of course, dear, " and sit down and write it out. Of course, she'd "forget" something like the vanilla, or OOPS, say a tablespoon of baking powder instead of a teaspoon, but this was part of the game, and everyone knew it. And we all knew the generous cooks, who would not only give you the recipe, they would talk you through it, and perhaps even show you how to make it. Sometimes, that gives you more information than you want. I remember how my grandmother once showed her sister how her chicken was always so juicy. "Oh, I test it to see if it's the right temperature. If I can spit on my finger, and put it on the bird and it evaporates." And then she demonstrated. "The bird is just right."

She did do that you know. Do I do it? I'll never tell.....

But seriously, there is always a time, usually many times, when we go to a place to eat, be it a friend's , a relative's, or a restaurant, and there is "something" that we just MUST have. Now, the truth is, that if you are a regular at a restaurant, if you ask for the recipe, they will almost always give it to you. You're not the competition, let's face it. And they are more than happy for you to come back and say "It didn't work right," and order it from them again. Restaurants use way more salt, way more fat, and way more heat than any of us do in our kitchens. But that doesn't mean you can't get a good idea and play with it. What I suggest, is that if there is a dish that you like, ask what's in it. Don't ask how to make it, because you're going to have to vary it. Play with the combination of ingredients.

This happened to us on Saturday night at one of our favorite restaurants, Alfama. We've been going here for years. The food has been good, very good, okay, good, and now it's freaking FABULOUS. It is so fabulous that on Saturday, we did something we love to do. We handed back the menu and told the staff to pick for us. Interestingly, they basically picked precisely what we would have ordered had we done it on our own. Are we too predictable?

One of the dishes was an unbelievable serving of lamb shoulder, served with rice and a fruit compote that made me want to go back to the kitchen, distract the cook, steal the pot of it, and sit in a corner and spoon it out into my mouth. Spoon, hell. Scoop it out in handfuls. It was that good. What was in it? Golden raisins, kumquats, and apples.

And here is where you have to learn to be flexible, because for me, we have a problem with the kumquats.

We buy our citrus from one farm, and you've heard about the citrus bomb and the gang. Their kumquats won't be ready for a little while. They are late, and they're worth the wait. And I was not going to compromise and buy some from a big Florida farm. No sir, no ma'am.

BUT.... I had chinottos. Those sour little fellas I wrote about in the red snapper recipe. And if I hadn't had them I would have combined some blood oranges, and a lime , or something like that.

Does the dish taste the same as at Alfama? Absolutely not. Is it good? Uh YEAH. We're having some pork chops this week and I'm using it on them.

The lamb? Oh yes. UNBELIEVABLE. And that's one I will not try to copy. It was lamb shoulder, cooked to the point where it shreds (no mean feat), then reformed, into a pave' or block, probably with some added fat to it to hold it together, and then seared to crispness. Different textures in a wonderfully succulent piece of lamb. I did NOT ask for the recipe. I want to go back for more.

But here's my version of the fruit compote.

When making dishes like this, you can't give exact proportions. If I say "2 cups of apples," you may have way too much. What you will need is half as much golden raisins, and half as much citrus, as you have apples. This is hard, especially when I tell you that you do the apple last. Well, ESTIMATE you silly nit. You really don't want yours to come out the same way mine did, did you?

Ok, excuse me. A bit testy tonight. Soak the golden raisins in some water for about fifteen minutes, and chop the citrus into small pieces. Keep as much of the peel as possible. Then, peel the apple, core it, and chop it into pieces that are a bit bigger than the citrus.

Now, get a small pot, and put in equal amounts of water and grand marnier. Say two tablespoons of each. You COULD use orange juice, but I don't recommend it. Orange juice can scorch at low amounts like this, and the alcohol will go off in the cooking.

Add all of the fruit at once, and turn the heat to medium. When you heat the liquid begin to sizzle, stir gently, and keep stirring (I use a spatula, because a spoon seems to break things up too much), until the apples begin to get tender. Taste it. If you want more citric notes, add some juice now. If it's not sweet enough, try some white sugar, but be frugal with that. And then let it cool down.

THERE . Now go and grill yourself a chop of something meaty and delicious, and put it on that meat and you'll see what it does.

And here's food for thought : when you get right down to it, what distinguishes one dish of grilled lamb chops, or pork chops, or anything else, for that matter, from another? It's things like this. Be creative. Start mixing and matching. You may wind up with a sauce, or compote, or chutney, on everything. That's not necessarily a bad thing ,but moderation, my pigeons, moderation