Mttttttttltt earn a gold star mt weekend I made I dinner tor a group ul adies that have been friends since high school and get together unrv a year. During the appetizers we started talking about the up mining holiday seam“ and what they could make fur a simplr yr! damn: Ntttrter when euuertaitting. While they all had some very good recipes. one of the ladies. asked me if I had any star recipes. That got me thinking, To me, a star recipe has to have three elements: quick. sim- ple and delicious. The following meets that requirement and then some. I came across this recipe in Bon Appetit magazine's December 1995 issue and have made it numerous times with a couple of changes to rave reviews. 113 cup olive oil 1 /2 onion. thinly sliced 4 large garlic cloves. chopped 2 teaspoons fennel seeds I teaspoon dried crushed red pepper 112 teaspoon salt 1 cup dry white wine 2 1/4-inch-thick lemon slices 1/4 cup chopped fresh pars- 50 PLUS LIFESTYLE & TRAVEL SHOW C)irric,a,yptr' 1mm wm 5PM MN? A MAN _ C(r0l_REN'(i, lil/NIO'. SPICY MUSSELS IN WHITE WINE Heat oil in heavy large pot oyer mediunrltigh_heat, Add onion, garlic, fennel seeds, crushed red pepper and salt; sauté until onion is light brown, about four min- utes. Add wine, lemon slices and 114 cup parsley; bring to boil. Add mussels. Cover pot and cook until mussel shells open, stirring once to rearrange mussels, about six minutes; discard any mus- sels that do not open. Using slotted spoon, transfer mussels to large shallow bowl. Boil broth in pot until reduced to one Iey 2 1/2 pounds fresh mussels. scrubbed, debearded 1/2 cup chopped seeded tomatoes CHEF v' RICARDO cup. about three minutes; season to taste with pepper. Pour broth over mussels. Sprinkle 1011131005 and rerrtainirtg parsley over. Chef's notes: Sometimes I uw leek in place at fennel seeds as a lot of people don't like taking the seeds out. I solved that problem by wrapping the seeds in cheese cloth. I also add more lemon and white wine than the recipe calls for. I also learned a trick many years ago to get the sand out of shellfish. You place them in very cold water and put in a hand full ofcommeal. They ingest the corn meal and expel the sand and grit. Correction: I made a mistake in the chef's notes section in last week's col- umn. I called for two tea- spoons of cider vinegar, but in the chef's notes I called for two tablespoons. " should have read two tea- spoons of cider vinegar. With holiday season coming, feel free to e-mail me with any recipe or "How to" requests. For more infbrmation, or to contact Chef Ricardo, e- mail richmrerson- atchercardoacom ' or visit www.mrsonalchefricardox t‘MiNAPS TRIBUTE TO THE LEGENDS 10:00 12:00 11:00 1:30 3:00 3’) P111;- Ll F gay: J? "Si' é‘ vt.,,,,,,?; my; ï¬g , Connie Francis Bobby Darrin Everly Brothers Patsy Cline George Strait Brenda Lee Johnny Rivers Dr. Rainham Author of Getting Older, Growing Stronger' ELVIS - Shon Carroll Canada's Reigning Champion Elvis Impersonator KEY NOTE SPEAKER Linda Ronstadt "i t t, a' a“ 5:: a "a . 'i' C