Lipskys’ Tuna Poke for 4

Poke (Poh-kay)… is a traditional Hawaiian dish made from raw fish (Sashimi-grade ahi tuna or octopus) sliced/ diced into bite-sized pieces and marinated in a sauce. Depending on the portions, it can be served as an appetizer or entree.

Due to proximity, Hawaiian food is influenced at times by Japanese cuisine. Over the years, we have been known to frequent a local Japanese sushi steak house, and we have enjoyed a great poke or two over the years. Tashi, our sushi chef friend, will vouch for it!

So, being devotees of a great poke, we’ve researched recipes and experimented with a few on our own. The result is that we’ve created our own homemade tuna poke and decided we are ready to share.

As with any recipe, the key is to read through the recipe first, organize all of the ingredients and you’re ready to go! You will be amazed how quickly this meal comes together from start to finish. It takes about 20-25 minutes. 

Ingredients

Sriracha Sauce
6 Tablespoons mayonnaise 
3 Tablespoons Sriracha 
3 Tablespoons soy sauce 

Poke Marinade
1/2 cup Japanese soy sauce
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp mirin sweet rice wine
1 Tablespoon + 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 Teaspoons granulated sugar

Poke
1 Pound Sashimi-grade* tuna cut into approximately 1/2″ cubes – we prepare it frozen
2 Avocados (Haas), peeled, pitted, & cut into 1/2″ pieces

Rice
2-3 cups long-grain, white rice, (we use Jasmine), cooked – we serve it warm, or… if you prefer, the traditional Sushi Rice (see pics below**)

Toppings
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
6 Scallions, thinly sliced diagonally 
1/2 Cucumber, seedless, diced small 

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, Sriracha & soy sauce; set aside until ready to drizzle on top to serve. Tip: A squirt bottle is a plus for drizzling it!
2. Combine soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. I use a metal/ stainless steel bowl to keep the marinade as chilled as possible.
3. Add prepared tuna and avocado to the marinade, toss well & let marinate for approximately five to seven minutes. A longer time is not necessary.
4. Divide the warm cooked rice between wide bowls & add some drained tuna and avocado mixture to each bowl. Discard the remaining marinade. 
5. Drizzle with some Sriracha sauce
6. Top with scallions, cucumbers & sesame seeds.

*Note: Tuna must be sashimi-grade tuna to be eaten raw.  Ask your fishmonger about the grade of your tuna.  We always buy it frozen & cut it while it’s frozen for this recipe. 

**Traditional Sushi Rice – This is the brand that we use for our poke and sushi rolls. For each cup of rice (prior to cooking), we add 2 1/2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1/2 Tablespoon of Sugar, and 1/2 Tablespoon of Salt at the end to season it. We also only use a wooden spoon so we don’t damage the cooked rice. This prevents the rice from having any adverse “reaction” to the vinegar.

“And the Emmy goes to…Ted Lasso!” Now, try his Famous and Delicious Biscuits!

Are you familiar with Ted Lasso? He is the charming & witty football coach from Kansas on Apple TV+. This show has received over 20 Emmy nominations for a freshman series & won 11! It’s a great show and we’re loving it!

Jason Sudeikis, Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, plays Ted, an American football coach from Kansas, who is hired to coach an English Premier League soccer team — AFC Richmond. The problem…Ted knows nothing about soccer. The good thing is…he does know how to coach a team and a real plus is that he makes some delicious biscuits!

In England, biscuits are similar to cookies in the United States. They’re like a shortbread cookie. Ted, who is trying to get in good graces with the professional soccer team’s new owner, Rebecca, cheerfully delivers biscuits to her every morning. He delivers them directly to her, at her office, in a lovely pink box. Surprised at the gesture, Rebecca tries them and to her delight, she finds the biscuits to be extremely addictive. She starts craving them, wants more, and would like to know where he gets them because she would like to purchase them for herself. Ted insists that he will continue to bring them to her. As time passes, Rebecca discovers the real secret…Ted’s biscuits are homemade, everyday, in his very own kitchen!

Recently, “Ted,” & his fellow stars from the show appeared on the TODAY show & AppleTV gave out his recipe!!! I was so excited to find the official recipe online. So, the next day, I baked some. The original recipe follows, & I’ve added my minor adjustments in parentheses.

The recipe is easy! It’s a great treat & what a fun story to share!
In my best English accent… “Do try them!”

Ted Lasso’s Biscuits

Recipe from the Today show & Apple TV – with my additions in parentheses

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 300 F. (I baked mine at 350 F)
2. Sift flour and salt, mix into a bowl, and set aside.
3. Mix butter on high speed until fluffy (3 to 5 minutes).
Gradually add sugar slowly, continuing to mix until pale and fluffy.
Add flour all at once and mix until combined.
(I added 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.)

4. Butter a square pan. (I used a favorite spray, Professional Bak-klene ZT & a 8” x 10” x 2” Wilton pan)

5. Pat and roll shortbread into pan, no more than 1/2-inch thick.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
(I flattened the dough & chilled it in plastic wrap for approximately 1 hour, as I do normally for shortbread cookies & then added it to the buttered pan to 1/2” thickness. I wanted
to chill the dough but not the pan… just a thought.)

6. Cut into squares.
(After patting the chilled dough into the pan, I cut it into rectangles & sprinkled some coarse Kosher salt on top of the dough.)

7. Bake until golden and make sure the middle is firm, approximate bake time 45 to 60 minutes. (I used a toothpick to check for doneness & my biscuits took approximately 25-30 minutes.)

8. Cool completely.

We couldn’t wait & enjoyed a few hot out of the oven but chilled the rest to share! Had a request from Bob… “Make these again!” Enjoy!

Sharing a Passion: Cooking and a Family Favorite – Marinated Steak Salad

Being “Foodies,” we love to celebrate with food.  We are a family of home cooks who have delighted in watching and learning from mom, gram, great gram, aunts and uncles. We watched and assisted as they created many delicious dishes over the years.  Many of the original dishes we learned were from our Slovenian heritage, but over the years we’ve explored many cultural cuisines and now enjoy an amazing variety of wonderful ethnic foods. 

Celebrating Life is what it is all about!  Being together is special!  Be it…a birthday (which we tend to celebrate for days), a movie night, various calendar holidays, international soccer watching, Super Bowl, sport tailgating, a picnic, baptism, bridal / baby shower or just family &/or friends stopping by.  Any or all of those occasions call for a celebration of just being together and enjoying some great food! 

Then, the real conversation begins…what are we hungry for?  A Salad? Soup & sandwich?  Perhaps an ethnic favorite?  Slovenian? An Italian Antipasto? Chinese? Filipino? Mexican?  North African…Tunisian?

Having some extra time at home during 2020, I used some of it to go through recipes and update our Family Cookbook!

When the girls got married (both over 10 years ago now), they received the first Family Cookbook edition. I decided, that now, in 2021, that Family Cookbook is in need of an update. It now needs to include the various “exploration” of food we have experienced during in the past decade.  Restaurant favorites, cookbook favorites, cooking classes, party favorites, entertaining specialties explored and enjoyed with friends….. Wonderful, Celebrations of Our Life! Celebrating with family & friends… having fun! You will come to understand us a tad better through this Adult Adventure – Food section! We Love to Celebrate! Have Fun and Enjoy some of our favorites!

I will be sharing some recipes with you to try! Be assured, they have been tested by us on many occasions and we give them high marks! They are “favorites” in our book!

MARINATED STEAK SALAD
Our family has enjoyed this salad since April, 1993. Mary Ann adapted it from The Silver Palate Cookbook

Ingredients:
Marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce

2 pounds London Broil, 2″ thick

Garlic Dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup olive oil, extra virgin

2/3 cup sweet peppers, half red and half green (important for color) – diced
1/3 cup purple / red onions, chopped
1 scallion, thinly sliced, diagonally
2/3 cup garlic dressing*
1/3 cup Italian parsley, chopped
Romaine lettuce, washed – dried – chopped
Lemon / Orange rind, grated for garnish

Instructions:
Marinade:
Combine the first three ingredients into a rectangular dish.
Mix well.

Place the London Broil into this mixture and marinate overnight/for at least 3 hours.

Garlic Dressing:
Combine the red wine vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor.
Process briefly. With the motor running, slowly dribble in the olive oil.
Taste – – adjust as needed.
Transfer to a bowl for use later.

Pat the beef dry and pan fry it over the highest possible heat for about 5 – 7 minutes per side (to your preference). Let the meat to rest for a few minutes. 

Julienne the beef into thick, bite-sized pieces and combine with the peppers, red onions and scallion in a large bowl.

Pour on the prepared garlic dressing and toss thoroughly.
Add the parsley and toss again.

Arrange romaine lettuce leaves on a serving platter.
Top with the prepared steak.
Garnish with the lemon / orange rind.

Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap.
If refrigerated, let salad return to room temperature before serving.

This is truly a family favorite.

Traditionally, much of the “garlic dressed” steak is consumed before reaching the table!
We have served this salad at a variety of family/social occasions – at dinners, covered dishes, picnic/outdoor affairs. Whenever we serve it… Everyone loves it!

Enjoy this fabulous Lipsky family favorite! We always do!
As Julia would say… Bon Appetite!

Aunt Theresa’s Crepes

Holidays and Special Foods are a tradition in our family. Pick a holiday or a celebration and I can name a food, recipe or menu we’ve shared as a family. What can I say, we have many home cooks and bakers in our family and we enjoy celebrating and sharing!

I posted about Palacinkas (Slovenian Crepes) before and how our girls and now our grandsons enjoy when they are “scrambled” to make something we’ve always called “bucca.” They top the scrambled palacinka / “bucca” with syrup, usually Log Cabin, and enjoy themselves!

In this recipe, we use the palacinkas / crepes to create a dessert by adding a delightful, sweet filling. My Aunt Theresa introduced her creation at a July 4th picnic at her son Steve’s (my cousin) one year and we loved them. I remember so vividly that she topped them with a homemade strawberry syrup and whipped cream and proudly added them to the dessert table! They were chilled perfectly for a warm July 4th afternoon.

I made them recently, for our July 4th family picnic and topped them with a blueberry syrup. Our syrup was made from blueberries that Bob and our youngest grandson picked from newly planted bushes in our backyard! The recipes for Palacinkas and Blueberry Syrup follow… Enjoy!

Palacinkas / Crepes:

1 cup flour

2 cups milk

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

Palacinka Filling:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream, whipped

Blueberry Syrup Topping:

1 cup blueberries

1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar (depending on personal preference of sweetness)

Directions for the Crepes:

Combine all the the ingredients for the crepes in a medium size bowl and mix until smooth. Let this batter rest for about 10 – 15 minutes.

Using a small nonstick pan sprayed lightly with some vegetable oil / Pam, add enough batter to coat the entire pan (approximately 1/3 cup) by swirling the batter to make a thin pancake. It is important to make them as thinly as possible. It will take a little practice, but, I assure you it will be worth it!

When you see the edges starting to brown slightly, carefully flip the pancake to lightly brown the other side. Place this crepe onto a dish and continue using the rest of the batter to make additional crepes.

When all of your crepes are finished and cooled they are ready to fill.

Directions for the Filling:

In a medium bowl, mix the softened cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Then, gently fold in the whipped cream until it is all combined.

Directions for the blueberry syrup:

Put the blueberries, sugar and vanilla into a saucepan. Heat this mixture over a low – medium heat until it is all combined and the consistency pleases you. You may want larger berries remaining in your syrup or you may want a smoother, thinner consistency. You may even want to use a handheld blender to blend it at the end.

Assembling Dessert Crepes:

Place a crepe onto a marble / cutting board and add some of the cream cheese filling on one side, end to end and then, roll the crepe and place on a dish. Continue with the rest of the crepes.

When all of the crepes are filled, place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

When you are ready to serve them, top the chilled, rolled crepe with the blueberry syrup and some homemade whipped cream!

Enjoy!

Mary Ann’s Creamy, Low Carb, Keto Friendly Shrimp

Hi all! We made a delicious dish the other night for dinner and wanted to share it with you! We were looking for something light and healthy and this was perfect.

Adapted from Gimme Delicious
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Butter
• Shrimp, deveined, and tails removed
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Grape tomatoes, halved
• 3-4 cups baby spinach
• 3/4 – 1 cup light cream
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Romano &/
• Parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Start by heating large skillet – when heated to medium high/ hot, add equal amounts olive oil & butter to coat the bottom.
• Once heated & shimmering, add the shrimp & some salt & pepper.
• Toss the shrimp & sauté them in the oil & butter for approximately 3-4 minutes.
• With a slotted spoon, remove the sautéed shrimp & set aside.
• Add the tomatoes & sauté for about 2 minutes.
• Then, add the garlic & the spinach. Toss and sauté for approximately 2-3 minutes.
  You want your spinach to be a lovely, bright green… & not overcooked.
• Add the light cream & cheese(s).
• Mix together till they make a nice & creamy sauce.
• Reduce to a low heat, add the shrimp you set aside & toss everything together until the shrimp are well coated with the sauce.

Taste the sauce & adjust the seasonings to your personal preference.

Serve immediately & Enjoy!
We even serve it right in the pan we make it in! 😉

Take a look… We loved it! You could even make this and toss with pasta. Let us know if you do!