scrummy stuff - asian lettuce wraps

Fredrik and I have a really silly running joke that doctors are the ones to run to for IT questions, especially for engineers, if docs don't know, run to the hairdresser, she knows everything! So anyways, somehow, Fredrik, an engineer managed to sort out this RSS link, it's a million times better than the blog layout - it's actually possible to follow the recipe, click on http://popielzoo.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss.

Busy watching George interviewing K'naan, cool guy, inspiring story. Love the song 'Waving Flag'! The funniest song was on the radio last night, a Habs version of Lady Gaga, cracks me up!! You can download it from here: http://montreal.virginradio.ca/blogs/39/posts/464.

Anyways, I won't linger around the house too much today... the sun is shining and I'm hoping to meet up with Steph and Alain and their kids at the Biodome :o) For the 411, we went out of Salvadorian food last night, so tasty, yet so simple, looking forward to going again, definitely recommend it. Oh, and Fredrik and I went to the 24hr market last night, only in Montreal! - not too sure where they get their produce from, blueberries and strawberries and 2 mangos for 1$.... cool stuff! So I just had the bestest blueberry and strawberry cereals, with almond milk actually; it's cheaper than soy milk and tastes just as good as the cow-produced stuff, minus the antibiotics. Also in the shopping basket, we landed some of that white creamy clove honey so when we got home we had sticky salty butter and honey sandwiches :o) We also drove past my new 'home', the Montreal Jewish Hospital, best one in town... but still very daunting %-).

So, the next restipy has become a favourite here, it's an asiatic (is that PC?) version of fajitas from allrecipes.com, with lettuce leaves instead of cornflour wraps stuffed with juicy minced meat, chop suey, grated carrots, those see-through thin rice noodles, snow peas and peanut sauce.

Lettuce Wraps

•  Boston or romaine lettuce leaves
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 c hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp minced pickled ginger
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• some form of chili sauce/flakes if you want it really spicy
• 1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 tsp sesame oil

1. Rinse the lettuce leaves, spin and leave to dry.
2. You might want to grate some carrot, rince the chop suey, chop the snow peas and get a steamer ready, also boil some water for the rice noodles, others like to eat it with rice...
3. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce (optional) to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
4. Wrap the lettuce around the meat and stuff like a burrito, and enjoy!