Lettuce Wraps

Well we were finally able to get together all the right ingredients together to make this recipe properly. Last time I tried to make it I couldn't find ground turkey or water chestnuts (Super Target is somewhat lacking as far as groceries go, but it's so close and so convenient!) Tyler made this for us, I tend to shy away from all asian-inspired recipes. He makes all the stir frys for us, and come to think of it, all the fajitas too...couldn't really tell you why, that's just how we do it! I enjoyed this recipe, but it wasn't really rave worthy. Despite lots of cornstarch we just couldn't really get the liquid to thicken, so they were very messy and juicy lettuce wraps! We served them with rice to try to soak up some of the liquid. I think this is a good base recipe that could be tweaked to be made even better, I just don't really know how since I'm not very experienced with these kinds of dishes!



Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps (from sparkpeople.com)

Ingredients

Ground Turkey, 4 patty (4 oz, raw) (yield after cook (remove)
Cabbage, fresh, 1 cup, chopped (remove)
Onions, raw, .5 cup, chopped (remove)
Carrots, raw, .5 cup, chopped (remove)
Waterchestnuts (water chestnuts), 0.5 cup slices (remove)
*Canola Oil, 1 1tsp (remove)
*Kikkoman Lite Soy Sauce, 4 tbsp (remove)
Teriyaki Sauce, 100 grams (remove)
Green Peppers (bell peppers), .5 cup, strips (remove)
Chicken Broth, .5 cup (8 fl oz) (remove)


Directions
Brown the ground turkey in 1tsp oil. Add onion, carrot, and pepper. Add sauces and chicken broth. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Add cabbage and water chestnuts, reseason if needed with more soy. The longer it simmers, the more flavor it will have.
Add 1T cornstarch slurry (with 1T water) if you'd like to thicken the sauce.
Serve with lettuce or rice.

Tyler's turn in the kitchen

Tyler discovered this stir-fry recipe about 6 months ago and it is now one of our favorite meals. We've tried other stir-frys but keep coming back to this one. Our recipe is adapted from a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal recipe. You can make this with chicken or beef. We eat so much chicken that we usually make this with london broil just to shake things up. Tyler is not comfortable enough with this whole "food blogging thing" to write an intro himself but here's what he said when I asked if he had tips for this recipe: "Taste the sauce as you go along, be careful not to let it get too salty." There you go folks, tips from the chef himself ;) Satay Stir-Fry with Orange Scented Jasmine Rice (made by Tyler) 3 3/4 cups water 2 oranges, zested 2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed 2 tablespoons canola oil Flank steak or london broil cut into thin strips 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 bag of your favorite variety of stir fry veggies. Satay sauce: 4 rounded tablespoonfuls chunky peanut butter 3 tablespoons soy sauce 3 tablespoons honey 1-inch ginger root, peeled and minced 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 orange, juiced Heat water with orange zest to boiling. Add rice, return to boil, stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice until tender, 18 minutes. Fluff with fork. For stir-fry, heat a large nonstick skillet or wok over high heat. Add beef, garlic and onion, stir-fry 3 minutes. Add remaining veggies and stir-fry 5 minutes more. Heat all ingredients for sauce together in a small pot over low heat, stirring the sauce until all ingredients are combined. Add sauce to meat & veggie mix, stir until coated. Serve over orange-scented jasmine rice.

Potstickers aka the tastiest thing I have eaten in months

Tyler and I love our sister-in-law Xue's potstickers. Since we only see her once a year that's about as often as we have them. We got a craving and decided we were up for the challenge. I had to drive all over town to find the potsticker wrappers (Giant and Safeway do not carry them, but Wegman's does) and it was so worth it!

Pork potstickers (made by Tyler)

Recipe is a cross between Xue's and one I got from one of my favorite food bloggers.


1/2 lb ground pork
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2/3 cup green onions
1/4 head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Potsticker wrappers (they are small and round, you need about 30-40)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Mix raw pork, sesame oil, soy sauce, green onions, cabbage, and garlic in a bowl. We did not find in neccessary to run it through a food processor, we just mixed it by hand.

Lay a potsticker wrapper on a flat, dry surface and put a Tbsp of mixture in the middle. Using your fingers, dampen the wrapper surrounding the filling and fold the dumpling, pressing the seams together.

Add oil to a skillet over medium heat and add dumplings (we cooked about 12 at a time in our large skillet) Add 1/2 cup water to the pan and cover tightly until all the liquid cooks off. Flip when the dumplings are golden brown on one side. They will be done with they are slightly browned on both sides and a potsticker cut in half reveals no pink.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Tyler's dipping sauce: a mixture of soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and green onions.

Tyler hard at work, I just took the pictures!