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.

Turnip Galette

Turnips…, Yes, Turnips! Are you a fan? We are…, we have enjoyed them for years mainly as part of our “lenten” meals. I remember my grandmother growing them in her gardens which she actively tended into her late 70’s. She would bring them home and that was when the magic began!

She and my mom or one of my aunts would wash & peel them, shred them and saute them in olive oil and butter until it was a lovely, golden brown. When cooled, this mixture went into a pie/pastry crust, baked, topped with a dollop of sour cream, and enjoyed!

We hope you will give turnips a try… here’s our family recipe.

Our Family’s Turnip Galette (thin “round” cakes or pastries)

Ingredients:
2-3 large turnips
1/2 Tablespoon salt (after shredding, to let sit for 30 minutes)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
Prepared or homemade pizza, pie, or phyllo dough
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream, to add to the deliciousness!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350-degree oven
Wash, peel, and shred turnips.

Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon salt over shredded turnips and let sit for approximately 30 minutes.

Drain and squeeze the shredded turnips. This seemed to be a favorite way of getting the excess water out of vegetables in Gram and Mom’s time.

I tend to skip this step. But, I always remember Ina Garten saying to always taste the food you prepare and if something is missing, add some salt — “the single most important ingredient in cooking,” And, via The Kitchn, Ina is quoted as stating, “Salt has gotten a bad rap, but it’s what ramps up the flavor of everything you cook — both savory and sweet. And then there’s google, “The purpose of adding salt isn’t to make food taste salty — it’s to enhance the flavors of the ingredients. As has been noted by a number of famous cooks, salt makes food taste more like itself. Salt is one of the basic building blocks of life — we need it like we need water, to live.” So, long story short, I need to take my time and remember to do this!

Next, saute turnips in 2 tablespoons of each olive oil and butter. Add some salt and pepper; continue sauteeing until golden brown. Taste the sauteed turnips and add additional salt and pepper to taste.

While the turnips cool, arrange the prepared dough in a dish or baking tray in a single layer. Of course, my gram and mother would make homemade dough, so that is always an option. Your decision of course!

Add the cooled, sauteed turnips to the center of the single-layer dough leaving approximately a 1″ space around the edges.

Next, fold the edges of the dough towards the center of the turnips.

Bake the galette for approximately 20-25 minutes or until it is golden brown.

Right out of the oven, top the galette with a dollop of sour cream and enjoy!
But, know that we have, on occasion, enjoyed it right out of the refrigerator cold as well. That is, if there is any leftover! It is a family favorite for sure! 😉

Be sure to let us know below if you tried our recipe or have your own that you would like to tell us about. We would love to hear what tips and tricks you have to enhance this recipe!

From our family to yours! Enjoy!

“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!

Reubeniwiches – Reubens with Chickpeas!

Years ago…in the late 1970’s, we started our whole foods, natural – nutrition journey. We presently continue on this journey – hit or miss at times, but it’s a life journey.

Something we discovered a few years ago that we support and recommend to everyone we know and meet is CSA – Community Support Agriculture! We have been members for quite a few years now at a local CSA organic farm and we love it! Check your local area and see what you discover — Do it! Its an investment in your Health!

But, I digress… back to Reubeniwiches and what are they???

In the 1980’s we enjoyed eating at a local natural foods restaurant called “So Eat Already!” We enjoyed EVERYTHING on their menu but my favorite sandwich… was the Reubeniwich! Short but the sweet details — it’s a delicious vegetarian “reuben” made with chickpeas! It is fantastic!

The restaurant has been closed for years now but fortunately a friend of ours, Jane, worked there and shared this fabulous recipe with us! We are forever grateful and have thanked her many, many times over the years as miles have come between us… she’s living in California now and we are still in Pennsylvania. Once again… Thank you Jane!!!

Ingredients

1. Marinated chickpeas (recipe below)
2. Pumpernickel bread
3. Thousand Island / Russian dressing (homemade preferred)
4. Coleslaw – purple cabbage preferred (ev olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt & pepper to taste)
5. Swiss cheese (we prefer Jarlsberg – always…)

Marinated Chickpeas Recipe

Ingredients
2-3 cans chickpeas/garbanzo beans drained, (we use canned Goya brand to speed up the process)
1 cup oil
½ cup tamari soy sauce, Kikoman Brand
½ cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
parsley, chopped
basil, chopped
oregano, chopped

Mix chickpeas with the other ingredients in a large bowl.  Let marinate overnight or for at least 2 – 3 hours.  This can also be made ahead of time, be frozen and defrosted by portions when needed. 

Note:  If using dry beans…soak overnight…cook in water on top of stove until done (approximately 1 hour).  Cool before adding to the rest of the ingredients.

Recipe can be doubled or tripled… we love to eat them right out of the jar at times!

Sandwich Details:

Lightly toast the Pumpernickel bread slices
Spread some dressing on the reverse side of the bread – Thousand Island / Russian
Add some coleslaw
Then, add some drained, lightly, mashed marinated chickpeas
Next, cover the chickpeas with thinly sliced Swiss cheese
Place the assembled sandwich – open faced – in the oven to melt the cheese!

And, ENJOY! It’s truly delicious!!!

Nikki loves her Reubeniwiches a slightly different way if you would like to try it. She doesn’t care for Thousand Island/Russian dressing or swiss cheese. (What is she thinking? I’ll never know!) So, she skips the dressing all together and tops hers with American cheese. It is her favorite way of eating Reubeniwiches besides the marinated chickpeas right out of the jar.

Let us know if you try these great sandwiches… we love sharing family favorites! ❤

Picture coming soon!!
We keep eating them too fast and forgetting 🤷‍♀️