Lettuce..ideas wanted

[Jeannine]

Hi, I have a glut of Tom Thumb(butterhead) and Little Gem  (Romaine) lettuce and wondered if anyone had recipes for cooked lettuce.

I have one that is for wilted lettuce that has bacon and onion but that is all

Any help appreciated, any type of  cooked recipe.

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

[Crystalmoon]

I dont have any ideas for you sorry Jeannine but I will be very interested in the replies & also the recipe you mentioned.....Ive never thought of cooking lettuces before

[Jeannine]

This one can be done with letuce or spinach.

Wilted Lettuce


6 cups of torn lettuce
4 bacon slices
4 chopped spring onions
salt 1/2 teaspoon
pinch pepper
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 hard boiled egg

Put lettuce in bowl
Fry bacon till crisp.add onions,salt,pepper.vinegar.water and sugar. Stir, bring to boil.Pour over lettuce.Toss till well coated and wilted, Scatter chopped egg on the top and serve immediately.

It is an American recipe so the following bits may help

teaspoon holds 5ml
tablespoon is 3 teaspoons 15ml
Cup is a US or UK measuring cup, of you don't have one use anything that if filled with water would hold 250ml or 8 fluid ounces
Regular bacon as in this case is sliced smoked streaky,rindless,  cooked with no fat in the pan,it cooks away till very crisp(you can crumble it) and it leaves bacon fat behind. If you substitute UK bacon use smoked streaky if you can find it,if using  regular back bacon  you would need to add some fat and it may not crumble so easilyso I would cut it in small pieces before I fried it.Vinegar in US recipes is clear vinegar unless stated differently but I think any could be used in this case. Without the smoked bacon it will taste different.

XX Jeannine

[Bugloss2009]

how about braised lettuce with peas? works best with cos or romaine lettuce

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1659/braised-lettuce-with-peas

or if you're posh the same thing in French from Nigella

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1659/braised-lettuce-with-peas

or lettuce soup - if the lettuce has bolted - really peppery taste

http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/recipebook/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewrecipe&recipe_id=633

[Crystalmoon]

thank you so much Jeannine that sounds truly srumptious  ;D I will be trying it very soon

[Jeannine]

Have you tried any of the recipes on the link you posted  XX Jeannine

[Bugloss2009]

if you mean me Jeannine, yes

second link should have been http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/petits-pois-a-la-francaise-recipe/index.html

only thing to say is to try to remove the stalky bits if it's an old lettuce. Works well with frozen peas

[PurpleHeather]

I remember seeing River Cottage where he had a glut and he gently simmered the lettuce to extract the water from it and kept it to use as a stock.

He also added the washed leaves from raddishes. Had quite a pan full.

[betula]

I quite like pate and last night I put some onto baby lettuce leaves and rolled them,really nice :)

[jennym]

They don't really eat lettuce here except when I force them to, in sarnies! so I put it in chinese style stirfries, works quite well and you can get a lot down them  ;D

[Jeannine]

O thank you, stir fries is a good idea for the Romaine. I have found a recipe for lettuce soup which sounds quite interesting too.

Pate, thank you betula, I fancy making some of that, haven't for ages, thank you for the nudge

Thanks also for the new link Bugloss

XX Jeannine

[PurpleHeather]

I can not quite remember the recipe details but it is lettuce leaves in a dish, freshly podded peas, lettuce leaves on top then the lid of the dish and the lot is gently cooked in the oven.

Time and oven temperature is the missing bit in my memory. (the important bit I agree) but it was not very hot or very cool, I reckon it must have been the same as I would use to roast a chicken or I would not have bothered to try it.

But I did try it and the peas were beautifully cooked. The lettuce leaves got crisp and thrown away. Just the peas were eaten.  I am sure it was 30 mins. 

So suggest 30 mins at 180/190c

I do not bother growing lettuce any more. Too many other veggies around I would rather eat, that is why I have not repeated the recipe, but it did work well.

The moisture used to cook the peas.

The idea was to use up surplus lettuce leaves.

[Jeannine]

Yesterday, I played, I started with  Romaine Lettuce leaves, dropped them in boiling water for a minute to wilt them, made a mixture of  sushi rice , chopped chinese pork, minced garlic and onions and a few peas and some chopped  Japanese omlette. I mixed all , moistened with a little stock and wrapped the leaves round the mixture in little parcels.

Put the parcels in a casserole dish in one flat row.

I made a sauce rather like a spaghettti one, added a pinch of 5 spice powder  and a bit of vinegar, I fiddled around with seasonings till I was happy with it,poured over the bundles,and baked it for 45 minutes quite low.

It was excellent.

Trouble is, I probably could not do it again the same, and have no idea what to call it.

Bit like cabbage rolls, but filling was more fried rice, but Sushi texture ,and sauce was a sweet and sour Bolognase :-\ :-\

Oriental Bundles ..perhaps.

XX Jeannine

[1066]

This post has remined me that I used to do a stir fry dish with lettuce and oyster sauce, it was a Ken Hom recipe -  http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lettucewithoystersau_70977

I've also done it in stir frys with other Oriental type seasonings, like this one -
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/r/fried_lettuce.htm

I tend to play around with the quantities  :)