Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps

I found this recipe via Canadian Living, modified it a bit.  It was very tasty and something different to do with ground beef.

1 medium cucumber
1 red pepper
1 carrot
3 green onions
1 head of Boston lettuce (or leaf lettuce)
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 lb lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced gingerroot
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (or barbeque sauce)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Asian chili sauce (Siracha, aka Red Rooster sauce)

Prepare the veggies: Slice the cucumber green onions, and red pepper thinly and grate the carrot.  Arrange on a platter with the lettuce (washed and separated into leaves) and lime.

In large pan, fry beef until no longer pink.  Drain off fat, then add garlic, ginger and five-spice powder.  Cook about 2 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients and cook until hot, about 4-5 minutes.  Transfer to bowl.

To eat, each person takes a lettuce leaf, and adds a spoonful of meat and tops it with the rest of the veggies and squeeze some lime juice over it all. Then you try to wrap the lettuce around the filling and eat it with out spilling.  If you wanted to be neater, you could just make a salad and eat it with a fork, but that's not as much fun!

Risotto

I've discovered that I love risotto.  If it's on a menu, I will probably be ordering it (unless it has seafood).  It's not too difficult to make, just a bit time consuming.  Prepare everything before hand, so that you can stay at the stove stirring.  (And you can stop stirring for a minute every now and then, it won't hurt the dish.)  I've tried a few recipes, but the basics remain the same.  Feel free to substitute the veggies; mushrooms are good as well as asparagus or broccoli.  You want to think about the timing, and add them part way through the adding-the-broth part or they could get mushy.  Or cook separately and add at the end.

4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp olive oil
half an onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups risotto rice (arborio)
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper
1/4 red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Heat the stock to simmering.  In a separate pan, melt 1/2 the butter.  Fry the onion, celery and garlic until the onion is soft but not browned. Add oil, then rice and stir until it is slightly translucent.  Add wine and keep stirring.  Add a ladleful of hot stock and stir at a simmer. you want to "massage" the broth into the rice, so push the back of the spoon (wooden is best) through.  Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring constantly until it is absorbed in to the rice before adding the next.  It will take at least 20 minutes, probably more like 30 to add all the stock.  The rice should be soft but still have a slight bite.  Remove form heat and stir in cheese, red pepper and seasonings.  Serve right away for the best taste, but it can be kept warm in a warm oven (covered) for a while and still be tasty.

We get our arborio rice from an Italian deli/store, but it is available in some of the bigger grocery stores.  I've never tried it with ordinary rice, but Italian cookbooks can give you more guidance on types of rice and their results.  You can get whole grain arborio, it will take longer to cook (and a bit more broth, maybe 5 cups)