Poultry

Begin marinating the chicken breasts at least three hours ahead.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 45 min

Potato salad, grapes or fresh figs, and brownies round out this lunch. To make things even easier, use raw onions.

What to drink: Abarbanel 2001 Syrah, Vin de Pays de l'Aude, France (kosher) or Clos du Bois 1999 Reserve Shiraz, Alexander Valley.

In this distinctive dish from Yè Shanghai, the chicken is cooked in simmering water, then brined in salt water and marinated briefly in sweetened rice wine.

Offer grilled zucchini slices and a deli pasta salad alongside. Dessert? Berry tartlets from the bakery.

What to drink: The menu's sweet-tart flavors call for a floral Riesling or spicy Syrah.

Juniper is a traditional seasoning for meats and game. Look for the dried berries in the spice section of the supermarket. What to drink: A Rhône red or varietal Syrah.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 4 hr

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This is not a traditional chili and has no connection with any Mexican or Texas recipe. It was devised simply as an experiment and turned out to be delicious.

Despite its name, this dish is not rice at all but noodles—and not even rice noodles but shimmering, transparent bean threads with lots of chicken flavor. Got that straight?

You can easily recreate this recipe with a wonderful free-range chicken. As for the candied chestnuts, I recommend using freshly cooked, shelled chestnuts which are still quite sweet!

This was a specialty of Marie's mother, Sylvia. Because the potatoes were always crowded around the edges of the pan and became crusty during baking, everyone in her family fought for those potatoes "by the wall."

Bottled vinaigrette adds a tangy twist to the chicken. This stylish dish goes well with couscous. Molasses cookies and vanilla ice cream sprinkled with chopped crystallized ginger would be a lovely finish.