Asian Lettuce Wraps
- Bess Hawthorne
- 3 hours ago
- 8 min read
Join Lizze Miller as she discusses how to dive into hospitality when you’re new to town (She's moved 7 times in 4 years!) and how to make others feel comfortable. Lizze shares her theory on building a well-balanced dish and menu and how to use a timeline approach. She's known best for cakes. You won't want to miss her famous recipe or her fun ideas for a cookbook club! We're so glad you're here!
Recipes:
Asian Lettuce Wraps
Perfect for a fun and interactive summer dinner. Everyone enjoys trying different combinations of ingredients in their wraps. Prepare and plate everything ahead of time on a serving tray, then pull it out of the fridge when guests arrive. Submitted by Lizze Miller
Ingredients:
Bibb Lettuce (about 1 head per 3 adults)
Sliced thin veggies (cucumber, snap peas, carrots, sprouts)
Handful of fresh herbs (mint, basil, cilantro)
Rice or rice noodles (Vermicelli)
1 pound ground pork, beef, chicken, turkey and/or shrimp (Flavoring here is to taste, but I like to cook it with grated ginger, garlic, minced shallot, about a 1 tablespoon soy sauce.)
Serve with:
Dipping sauces:
Thai peanut sauce https://jessicainthekitchen.com/thai-peanut-sauce-recipe/
Thai sweet chili sauce
Yum yum sauce: 1 cup of mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon sugar or honey, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Nước chấm - a Vietnamese tangy, spicy and sweet sauce : red chili flakes, 3 tablespoons sugar divided, 1 garlic clove, ⅔ cup hot water, 5 tablespoons fish sauce, ¼ cup lime
Mash the chili flakes, garlic and 1 tablespoon sugar together until it is a fine paste. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved.
Directions:
1. Cook your rice or rice noodles. If using rice noodles, drain and rinse under cool water. Drain and spread to dry at room temperature on a large plate.
2. Fry your ground meat or shrimp by heating a shallow pan. Warm your grated ginger, garlic, and shallot in the oil. Add your meat and soy sauce. Stir until cooked through.
3. Transfer meat to a serving plate. Serve alongside the vegetables, rice, and sauces. Feel free to assemble like a lettuce wrap or build your own salad bowl.
Desserts:
Salted caramel ice cream
2 Ingredient chocolate shell: ½ cup chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons coconut oil. Microwave and stir until it is melted. Pour on ice cream.
Ice cream cones or pretzels
Lemon Caramel Layered Sheet Cake
Servings: 30 – submitted by Lizze Miller
Ingredients:
2 vanilla cake mixes
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Caramel Sauce (recipe follows)
Milk Crumb (recipe follows)
Lemon Cream (recipe follows)
Sweet Cream Frosting (recipe follows)
Caramel Sauce:
1 ⅓ cup (320ml) heavy cream
½ vanilla bean
2 ½ cups (500g) sugar
½ cup (60ml) water
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
Milk Crumb:
½ cup (40g) milk powder plus another ¼ cup (20g)
¼ cup (40g) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
1 tablespoon (12g) cornstarch
½ teaspoon (2g) kosher salt
4 tablespoons (55g) unsalted butter, melted
3 ounces (90g) white chocolate, melted
Lemon Cream:
1 cup (300ml) lemon juice
6 large eggs
1 ¾ cup (350g) sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups unsalted butter, cold
Sweet Cream Frosting:
8 tablespoons butter
2 scant cups (200g) powdered sugar
1 cup cream cheese
1 teaspoon (4g) salt
4 (60g) tablespoons sour cream
1 (4g) teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1 (4g) teaspoon dark vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Use 1.5 vanilla cake mixes. Follow box instructions and adjust accordingly to increase the amount. (Or just double it and use a ¼ of the double batch to make some cupcakes for the kids.) Bake in a ½ sheet pan until the house smells like cake, the cake bounces back when lightly touched, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
2. Let cool and brush with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Freeze in the sheet pan.
3. Once frozen, spread the caramel on half of the cake (the short way), sprinkle milk crumbs and gently press into the caramel. Spread lemon cream on top of the crumbs. Spread the frosting on the other side and decorate with remaining crumbs. Cover with plastic. Freeze again.
4. Four hours before serving, get the cake out of the freezer. While still frozen, cut the cake in half, the short way, and place the frosting side on top of the layered caramel-lemon side. Cut and serve when thawed. Voila! You have a layered sheet cake. Ready to serve a crowd.
Note: I like to stagger making the fillings throughout the week so it’s not overwhelming. After assembling, my dessert for a large crowd is done the day before it needs to be served. The variations are endless! Try an apple spice cake, cream cheese frosting, cinnamon crumb, and caramel layered cake for the Fall.
Sweet Cream Frosting (Adapted from MilkBar.com)
8 T butter
2 scant cups (200g) powdered sugar
1 cup cream cheese
1 tsp (4g) salt
4 (60g) Tablespoons Sour Cream
1 (4g) teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1 (4g) teaspoon dark vanilla extract
Beat butter until fluffy. Combine the rest of the ingredients and beat until fluffy and shiny, about 2-3 minutes.
Milk Crumbs (From All About Cake by Christina Tosi)
makes about 250g (2 cups)
½ c (40g) milk powder plus another ¼ c (20g)
¼ c (40g) all purpose flour
2T (25g) sugar
1T (12g) cornstarch
½ tsp (2g) kosher salt
4T (55g) unsalted butter, melted
3 ounces (90g) white chocolate, melted
1. Heat the oven to 250°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
2. Combine the 40g (½ cup) milk powder, the flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss to mix. Add the melted butter and toss, using a spatula, until the mixture starts to come together and form small clusters.
3. Spread the clusters on the lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. The crumbs should be sandy at that point, and your kitchen should smell like buttery heaven. Cool the crumbs completely.
4. Crumble any milk crumb clusters that are larger than ½ inch in diameter and put the crumbs in a medium bowl. Add the 20g (¼ cup) milk powder and toss together until it is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
5. Pour the white chocolate over the crumbs and toss until your clusters are enrobed.
Then continue tossing them every 5 minutes until the white chocolate hardens and the clusters are no longer sticky. The crumbs will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for up to 1 month
Lemon Cream (From Tartine, A Classic Revisited. Page 307)
1 c (300ml) Lemon juice
6 Large eggs
1 ¾ c (350g) Sugar
Pinch of Salt
2 c Unsalted butter, cold
This recipe creates a soft, luscious, delicate, and creamy filling with many uses. A particular French technique creates an even softer filling than typical curd, and it should come as no surprise therefore that pastry chef Pierre Hermé developed it. His technique is genius and yet common sense: after making the curd, you "mount" butter into the very warm (but not hot) mixture as you would for a buerre blanc sauce, whisking continuously as it melts. This technique keeps the butter in emulsion and creates the softer, lighter look of this lemon cream.
I've also frozen it in ice pop molds, creating a sort of lemon pudding pop. If you fold it with an equal volume of whipped cream, it makes a lovely cake filling.
KITCHEN NOTES: Never use an unlined aluminum pan when heating lemon juice or any mixture containing acidic ingredients. The acid in the juice reacts with the metal, giving the dessert a metallic flavor. The finished cream keeps well in a sealed container in the refrigerator, and may be quickly re softened in a bowl set over simmering water, whisking to keep the emulsion from breaking.
METHOD: Pour water to a depth of about a in [5 cm] into a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Combine the lemon juice, eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and salt in a stainless-steel bowl that will rest securely on the rim of the saucepan over, but not touching, the water. Whisk the ingredients together. (Never let the egg yolks and sugar sit together for more than a moment without stirring; the sugar will "cook" the yolks and turn them granular.)
Place the bowl over the saucepan and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes very thick and registers 180'F (82°C) on a thermometer. This will take 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the bowl from over the water and let cool to 140°F [6o°C], stirring from time to time to release the heat.
Meanwhile, cut the butter into 1 Tbsp pieces. When the cream is ready, leave it in the bowl if using an immersion blender, or pour it into a countertop blender. With the blender running, add the butter 1 Tbsp at a time, blending after each addition until incorporated before adding the next piece. The cream will be pale yellow and opaque and quite thick.
You can use the cream immediately, or pour it into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Caramel Sauce (from Tartine: A Classic Revisited page 309)
1 ⅓ c (320ml) Heavy cream
½ Vanilla bean
2 ½ c (500g) Sugar
½ c (60ml) Water
4 Tbs Light corn syrup
½ tsp Salt
1 ½ tsp Lemon juice
8 Tbs Unsalted butter
This is an incredibly versatile sauce and cake filling, with enough body to stay put when spread over cake layers, and just thin enough to sauce ice cream. This recipe also perfectly demonstrates how the addition of a couple of simple ingredients to a base heightens its flavor. A squeeze of lemon juice and a little salt bring out deeper flavors of the butter and caramelized sugar.
KITCHEN NOTES: Be sure to use a good-size pan for cooking the caramel. When you add the hot cream, the caramel will boil furiously at first, increasing dramatically in volume. As always when caramelizing sugar, have ice water close by in case of burns.
METHOD: Pour the cream into a small, heavy saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and use the tip of a sharp knife to scrape the seeds from the pod halves into the milk. Place over medium-high heat and bring to just under a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low to keep the cream warm.
In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then cook, without stirring, until the mixture is amber colored, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat.
The mixture will continue to cook off the heat and become darker, so make sure to have your cream close by. Carefully and slowly add the cream to the sugar syrup. The mixture will boil vigorously at first.
Let the mixture simmer down, and then whisk until smooth. Add the lemon juice. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
Cut the butter into 1 in [2.5 cm] chunks and add them to the caramel one at a time, whisking constantly after each addition. Then whisk the caramel periodically as it continues to cool. The caramel will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
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