P.F Chang's Lettuce Wraps

There are probably only a handful of people in this world who cherish food as much as I do. I must say…I don’t like everything on the menu, but when I love something, it is true love…my eyes light up as I start smelling the aroma of deliciousness and I can’t help but smile and vocalize my pleasure. Usually this obscene admiration for food is reserved for amazing cooks but somewhere in my genetic makeup that cooking gene was turned off while the love for food gene was turned on—like a neon light. I am not saying I can’t cook—but my cooking is strictly following a recipe—little or variation or experimentation.
Follow the rules and no one gets hurt.
Last night, however, I stumbled across a recipe that made me believe I was a professional chef at a five star restaurant. Chopping, dicing, sautéing, etc., were all involved…but even by following the recipe…when the food hit your anxiously awaiting tongue...it was no let down. BANG, POW, HOLY MOLY…did I really make that? Oh yeah…I sure did.
And to all of you my friends…here it is in all it’s glory

Chicken Stir-fry
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed to 1/2″
1 – 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, minced to the size of corn kernals
1 cup mushrooms, minced to the size of corn kernals
1/2 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced fine
¼ c chives
6 large leaves of iceberg lettuce

Stir-fry sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Combine oils and add to wok or large frying pan. Heat oil over high heat until it glistens, about one minute. Add chicken and saute until cooked through, then remove from the pan and cool. Keep oil in the pan, keeping it hot over a low flame. Prep the stir fry sauce by mixing soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar in a small bowl. Take pan that you cooked the chicken in (with the still warming oil, riiiight?) and turn it up to medium-high heat. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, wait one minute, and then add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and the stir-fry sauce you prepared earlier. Stir-fry everything until the mushrooms have cooked, about four minutes, and remove to a serving dish.