Let Us Eat Lettuce Wraps...and Bacon Biscuits!

My friend Janie gave me a really neat cookbook for my birthday called Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.  It's written by Jaden Hair, an Asian author, who creates simple Asian dishes.  Right away I decided to try one of them- Lettuce Wraps!  I love Lettuce Wraps because they're healthy and delicious.  For the filling, I used ground turkey, water chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, dried tofu, carrots, rice, and mandarin oranges.  The beauty of the filling is you can use anything you want- she recommended even apples or pears which can provide that extra crunch. For the lettuce, I choose Butter Lettuce which to me is worth the extra cost because it lasts so much longer in the fridge.  Below is a picture of an assembled lettuce wrap with some hoisin sauce drizzled on top. 

Knowing that Edwin is always appreciative of my cooking but also knowing that he enjoys hot foods for dinner, I knew that I better supplement with something warm.   I actually discovered his preference for hot foods at dinner one day while we were engaged.  I had been happily making Tuna Salad only to find him in the kitchen later that night cooking something else for himself.  There was some confusion, a lot of tears, and a lot of growth since that night.  I think I've gotten tougher!  :)  But nonetheless I decided to also make some biscuits stuffed with green onion and turkey bacon (see, bacon can be healthy!).  This is one of my mom's signature dishes, and I remember her always making this when we had guests over or we needed something quick to bring to a potluck dinner.   The Chinese name for them is "Xie Ke Huang."  I never learned pinyin, so I'm probably totally off.  Anyway, I just used Pillsbury biscuits (don't be too impressed), brushed on some eggwash, and sprinkled it with sesame seeds.  Edwin liked both the lettuce wraps and the biscuits, but I could tell he favored the biscuits after his third, or was it fourth one?    

 *Just a note: I know I haven't posted anything in awhile, but that doesn't mean I've been slacking in the kitchen!  I've actually been experimenting quite a bit and am excited to share some of my new things.  Hopefully I'll post a little bit all week so stay-tuned!