Asian Lettuce Wraps

Lettuce wraps maybe one of the best food ideas ever. You get to eat with you hands, the filling is bursting with flavor and there is always that satisfying crunch of the fresh lettuce. These wraps are so simple to make. We always have lettuce wraps at every Chinese banquet I go to; those are filled with dried oysters, meat, and other vegetable. Honestly, I am not a huge oyster fan but I always am one of the first to scarf them down. Here is a more home-friendly recipe that captures the essences and flavors of this refreshing dish.

The Ingredients
1 head of iceberg lettuce
1.5 lb ground turkey
1.5 lb ground pork
1 onion, minced
1 can water chestnuts, finely diced
10 dried mushrooms, soaked and minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
half a bunch of cilantro
4 stalks of green onion
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1.5 tablespoons sugar
dash of chili flakes
salt
pepper
oil
hoisin sauce

The Method
Separate the leaves of the lettuce and lay them on a platter. Cover them with a wet cloth to keep them crisp.
Heat up a large pan on medium high heat. Pour a tablespoon of oil and saute the ground meat until cooked. Place in a large bowl.
Heat the pan again with some oil and sweat the onions for a few minutes. Throw in the garlic, ginger and mushrooms and continue cook for another few minutes. Add the water chestnuts, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili flakes and sugar. Crack some fresh black pepper.Pour the meat back in and add the green onions, and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Take it off the heat and put it into a large bowl.
Take a leaf of lettuce, put a teaspoon of hoisin sauce on the bottom, lay on a couple spoonfuls of the filling and enjoy. This recipe will serve about 5-6 as a full meal or 8-10 as an appetizer.

Festive Brie en Croute

Brie en Croute.The name itself sounds foreign and complicated, when in reality, this party pleasing hors d'oeuvre is simple to make. I made one for a Christmas party and everyone seemed to enjoy it. There are many variations on this encapsulated entree. Since I was making this during the holidays, I decided to make a more festive version.


The Ingredients
Brie (15oz wheel, I have made this with an 8oz and it works fine, just adjust cooking time and use less filling)
2 frozen puff pastry sheets
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup brown sugar + 4 more Tablespoons
1 Tablespoons butter
1 egg

The Method
I know, I know...this is not exactly your healthy, lose-the-freshmen-fifteen kind of dish. Trust me though, it's worth it. A note about puff pastry: I am usually a sucker for homemade everything and I am not a huge fan of processed foods but making homemade puff pastry takes longer than I have time for and the frozen stuff works pretty well. Puff pastry is made with hundreds of layers of dough and butter. When heated up, the steam from the butter makes the layers puff up.

Time to get cookin'. First thing to do is take out the puff pastry and let it thaw for about 20 minutes. This allows the dough to be roll-able and stretchy like all good dough should be. In the meantime, take a small pan and roast the nuts over medium heat, just until they start to turn brown and have a nutty aroma. Anytime I use nuts in a dish, I roast them. The roasting process multiplies the flavor by a thousand...ok maybe not that much but it does increase flavor. When the nuts are lightly brown, toss in the brown sugar and stir. The oil from the nuts with the heat will cause the sugar to carmelize. When the sugar is melted and has coated most of the nuts. Take the pan off the heat. DO NOT do any sampling here because the sugar is hot, really hot.

Lay the brie on the puff pastry to get a good idea for size. Take the brie off and with a knife, Scrape off the white coating off the brie; it's edible but it doesn't melt too well in the oven. Lay the nuts, dried cranberries, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar on the bottom. Place the brie on top, then do the same treatment on the top, only this time dot the top with butter. Wrap the brie with the puff pastry and seal well by pinch or taking pieces of the other sheet. This step is important because it prevents geysers of liquid brie from escaping.

Now comes the fun part: decorating the top. Take small pieces of dough from the other sheet and place them on top. You can use small cookie cutters, cut long strips, cut out ribbons,...be creative. remember that the dough with puff vertically so don't ball the dough up and roll it out again,it won't rise. Once the decorated brie is complete, brush with eggwash (egg plus 1 tablespoon milk or water) to help the final product brown.

Place in an 425 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or until brown (about 17-20 minutes for the 8 oz). I use a high oven because I do not like my brie in liquid form. I like it slightly melty, perfect for spreading.

Serve the brie on a plate with apples and sliced sweet baguettes.