Kim Shook

Was out hunting down the last ingredients for our Valentine's Day dinner and went buy a place that sells these locally produced ice cream sandwiches. I'd never had this particular one before: It was excellent - real banana ice cream and a peanut butter cooky. And this surprise made it perfect:

Thank you! That is really interesting. I'm almost positive that no one in the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) area has ever heard of those ACTUAL lake trout.

You and me both, girl. I'm sitting here at my computer with ALL of my Valentines piled up next to me. They should have been in the mail to family member last week. I figured we'd have Super Bowl leftovers, but Mr. Kim feels that is not in keeping with the spirit of the day. So, while he was at a vestry meeting at church tonight, I hied myself to Wegman's for filet mignon, shrimp, baking potatoes, and a dessert. No luck with either the shrimp or the steak. The only shrimp they had was SE Asian, which I don't buy, and the "tenderloins" looked like scrag ends. So, I'll have to go out again tomorrow and search at another store. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

They are fairly high in potassium. Actually a slice or two of tomato is not too bad, but a tomato sauce would be much higher.

I have a question about the "lake trout". I grew up in the Baltimore/Washington DC area going often to the MD/VA shore and Baltimore in particular. A fish they call "lake trout" is hugely popular and traditional in Baltimore. But the name is a misnomer - they are not trout and don't come from a lake. They are actually whiting and always fried. From what you are saying the fish that you had was actually a trout and was caught in a lake?

@Tropicalsenior – your cheese biscuits with ham look wonderful. @Duvel – your leberkase and potatoes look wonderful. I have found a local source for the leberkase and am going there tomorrow! @blue_dolphin – that sweet potato recipe sounds like something all three of us would like. I’ve put a hold on the book at my library! Post church brunch a few Sundays back. We used to go to a close-by “meat and threes” place a lot, but they’ve closed and a new place moved in. The menu is definitely different less meat and threes and more BBQ, burgers, and deli. The restaurant is committed to being a part of the community. They are environmentally responsible, distribute children’s books on the environment to local schools, sponsor monthly river clean ups and are involved in training and job placement with clients of Beyond Boundaries, a local group the helps to provide outdoor adventure trips for folks with disabilities, in recovery and at-risk youth. Worthy goals and a restaurant I’m happy to support – especially since it was very good and so close to us. I had the pastrami Rueben and onion rings and even though they were battered (not my favorite version of rings), the flavor and texture were still very good: The pastrami (which they do in-house, along with their corned beef) was very good. Mr. Kim had the steak and cheese and tots: And we shared an order of spoonbread: Because if there’s spoonbread on a menu, we’re gonna order it. It was excellent. A more recent weekday lunch: The chicken is from the freezer (Tyson’s) – the head cold, upper respiratory thing was still kicking my butt, though I am definitely improved. The sauce is the orange sauce from a recent frozen orange chicken experiment. I thought I’d give it one more try. It is still tasteless and bitter. Tossing. Mr. Kim’s lunch a couple of days ago: I’m not having too hard a time resisting tomatoes right now – even with the decent Camparis. But I dread summer when we usually eat the farm stand ones every day. Well, at least I can have (boiled) corn. Today: Crab Rangoon dip and egg roll wrapper chips leftover from yesterday’s Super Bowl feast and some pork bao with hoisin for dipping.

I have a similar problem with packages of sliced prosciutto. I agree that finding the temperature "sweet spot" is the partial solution. I have better luck using my fingers rather than a knife - YMMV. I also agree that the packaging (sucked and smushed) makes it almost impossible to get nice looking slices. 🤪

@Ann_T - those muffins look and sound amazing. I'll be bookmarking that recipe to try! Yesterday: A cousin sent us an assortment of Nueske's bacon for Xmas. This was the thick cut applewood. Very good.

@weinoo – not ugly at all. I love craggy scones – they hold more butter. @blue_dolphin – just found a source for leberkase here. The place is new to me and I’m looking forward to going on Saturday! Yesterday: We found these bagels at Food Lion, oddly enough. They are very small - just perfect size for Jessica and I for breakfast. And they are loaded with ET seasoning and have good texture to boot!

@Ann_T – yes, that Boston Cream “Cruffin” was every bit as good as it looked. The custard was REAL custard and the layers were perfect. @Anna N – that salmon cream cheese and the kielbasa are favorites around here! Especially if we have pumpernickel in the house! Yesterday: Sausage, egg, and cheese muffin.

Ed Vasaio (the owner of Edo's Squid) is quite a Richmond character. Many people have reported bad service at some of his restaurants over the years, though I've never witnessed it. I somehow never ate at his restaurant Mamma 'Zu (the name is an homage to his mom) and it is closed now, so I lost out on that reportedly incredible experience. He grew up in the restaurant business in DC (I grew up going to his family's A.V. Ristorante - so many great memories). But he's opened a place called Dinamo and it is excellent. I would probably give Edo's a slight edge over Dinamo.

This morning: First time in days that I've felt like eating eggs for breakfast.

Me!!!! Me, me, me! I'd happily eat both the Kalbi and the Filet o' Fish. My palate goes from White Trash to Piss Elegant. 😁

@Dejah – your ham always looks so moist! Mine tastes good, but can be a bit dry. How do you manage it? Wednesday night our dinner was suggested by Jessica and made up of leftovers and pantry items. She suggested some kind of chicken, broccoli, and rice casserole. We had some chicken that needed cooking, frozen broccoli, a long grain and wild rice mix, and some of the frozen cheese sauce that I used in the macaroni and cheese I made a few days ago. I used a recipe off the internet to get the basic ratios, but I changed a lot: a rice mix rather than regular rice, the cheese sauce thinned with a little chicken Bisto rather than canned gravy. It tasted much better than I expected it to and was augmented by Jessica’s Truckle Cheesemongers cheese share for this month. It was one of her Christmas gifts and she was generous enough to share with us. Cheeses and glazed pecans: From 12 o’clock: Ciresa Taleggio, Wensleydale with mango & ginger, Fromager d'Affinois, Carles Roquefort, and OG Kristal. The Wensleydale and d’Affinois we already had. It was all fantastic. The casserole: For Christmas of 2021 we received a gift certificate for lobster tails from my cousin and his wife. The certificate disappeared and was presumed lost. Mr. Kim was cleaning the kitchen floor and unearthed it from underneath a freestanding cupboard. So, on Thursday we finally enjoyed our 2021 Christmas gift. I forgot to weigh them, but they were in the 12-14 oz. range. I steamed them for 20 minutes on 210F in the CSO: That was slightly underdone (because they were so large) so a couple of additional minutes did the trick. The meat was delicious – very sweet and delicate, but a bit tough (again, due to the size, I think): Served with a salad, corn, long grain and wild rice: and little brioche rolls: so that everyone could make their own little lobster rolls if they liked: Lovely meal. As I said on a recent lunch post, I miss the egg rolls of my youth and so, yesterday I embarked on a quest to find that childhood egg roll – or as close as I can come in Richmond. I posted this at the Richmond Dine & Drink FB group: “We have a favorite local Chinese restaurant that we've been going to for many years. We love the food and the people. But I'm missing something from my childhood. I grew up in Northern VA and we ate in Chinese restaurants in Arlington and the District's Chinatown very often. What I loved was the classic eggrolls that almost all of these places served: super crisp with a bubbly skin, tightly filled with tiny shrimp, pork, and still-crisp cabbage, bean sprouts, and shredded carrots. Does anyone know if there is any place in the Richmond area still doing eggrolls like that? “ I got lots of recommendations and we started on the research mission last night. Jessica and I ate at a place we’d only ever been to once, many years ago when we lived close by. We had hot & sour and roast pork wonton soups, crab Rangoon, coconut chicken, and EGG ROLLS. My report back on the egg roll: “It was good - super crisp skin, tiny shrimp but the cabbage was not as green and as crisp as I wanted. No carrot or celery that I could discern. The quest continues!” The egg roll in question: Also, the soups, Rangoon and the chicken: Jessica made dinner tonight. What she called Sloppy Giuseppes: That would be Italian influenced Sloppy Joes 😁! Ground beef and Italian sausage in a thick, seasoned tomato sauce served on top of a slice of Texas Toast garlic bread and topped with mozzarella. It was very good! Served with roasted Brussels sprouts sauced with a mixture of saba, honey, and whole grain mustard.

@Duvel – your Erbseneintopf mit Würstchen looks so good. Perfect for the weather we had today. Wednesday’s lunch was my favorite “all alone in the house” meal: Smoked oysters. Mr. Kim and Jessica hate even the smell, so I do them a kindness and mostly eat them when I’m alone. So incredibly good! Thursday was the tuna salad sandwich I’d been craving for a while: Today was the making and delivering of shelter lunches and then the usual lunch out. We went to an old favorite sandwich place in the city. I had the Croque Monsieur and salad: Mr. Kim had the chili and the Manny (ham, pepperoni, Swiss):

So happy that you enjoyed Stella's. I love so how much of a neighborhood place it is. When you are there, you can tell that the servers and bar staff know a lot of the folks. I can honestly say we'd definitely be regulars if we lived nearby. Glad to know that the smelts are good. I invariably get the octopus or the saganaki, but I'll try them the next time. So funny what you say about the football game. We were feeling the exact same sentiments that day. Being a lifelong Washington fan, I could hardly root for the Cowboys, but it was fun seeing Brady the Brat lose!

This morning:

Santa is MOST generous! 😁 I haven't tasted it yet. @Shelby can tell you - I got the recommendation from her. My stepdad was English and his mom would come over and bring an entire bag of British food - including Crunchies, Flakes, Jelly Babies, Smarties, etc. (she also brought British bacon and Lancashire cheese, she was never challenged being a sweet little old lady). Crunchies remain, to this day, my favorite candy bar. And you are right - Mallocups are fantastic. Have you ever tried a Valomilk? They are similar, but the marshmallow flows. It is incredible.

I thought I'd start a new one with the more recent year in the title. We are still dismantling Christmas at our house, so I gathered up my goodies from under the tree and took some pictures. My overflowing stocking contained: @Shelby – notice the Dorothy Lynch dressing! I can’t wait to try it. And I need a reminder. Somewhere in my pile of printed out recipes, there is one from you that uses the lobster Better Than Boullion. Can you tell me what recipe it’s for? Maybe seafood enchiladas? ...and: A friend who works with Mr. Kim gave us this lovely bamboo salad bowl with a lid (for travel?) and servers: the servers fit neatly and flush into the lid: Jessica got me a set of the cat bowls that we all loved: And Mr. Kim thrilled me with a set of PINK (❤️) Mason Cash bowls: I was so surprised and pleased!

@Shelby – Happy Birthday to Ronnie! I would be very happy with his meal as my birthday supper! @Kerala – Lamb is probably my favorite meat. What was in your sticky sauce? @Ann_T – thank you! I’m feeling much better. Just some residual tiredness. Those scallops are amazing. When I see your scallops and halibut, I’m convinced I could be a pescatarian. But then I see your roast chicken and beef 😄! I had a little one-bone rib roast in the freezer. I figured it would be more than enough for the three of us. After six hours at 133F SV: Seared and sliced: It was pretty fatty and not the easiest thing to carve but tasted good and there was plenty. I heated up some of the beef gravy that I made to go with the Shepherd’s Pie that I made the other night: There was a salad mix: It was pretty good – called a “Steakhouse Salad” with some kind of crunchy things (not croutons – maybe sesame sticks?) and bleu cheese dressing. The main ingredients were pretty solid – mostly cabbage-type and hard greens. A few months ago Jessica and I tried a new recipe for macaroni and cheese. It was rich and gooey and SO good, but it made ridiculously excessive amounts of cheese sauce. We froze the excess in little batches and I thawed a couple to add to some macaroni: It was delicious, but I shouldn’t have baked it. It would have been better right out of the pan. Kind of like an upscale Kraft Deluxe. With the beef and gravy, I know I should have had potatoes, but I wanted to use up some freezer stuff and selfishly, I can eat the mac & cheese, but not the potatoes! I also tried out a new (to me) frozen vegetable product (vegetables that have been frozen are better for me than cooked from fresh) – roasted cauliflower. I’m guessing that it is blanched and seasoned before freezing. You roast it at 450F for 20 minutes. It was pretty good and not overcooked the way I sometimes do it. Plate: Dessert was just chocolate pudding in a tart shell: Dinner tonight was chicken fettucine alfredo with purchased sauce (Rana brand) – I also tossed in the broccoli from my lunch yesterday: The sauce was not bad at all. I also made a salad:

@Duvel – I had to look up Leberkase. It further confirms my thought that culinarily I have to have some German DNA. It sounds wonderful. Pardon me if I sound crazy to you, but this Southern US lady wants to know if this is ever fried 😊. After church lunch at our local Chinese restaurant. Soups (Hot & Sour and Wonton): Eggroll: I love this place and their egg rolls are ok, but I wish I could find the egg rolls of my youth. Tightly filled with crisp cabbage, shredded carrots, bean sprouts with tiny shrimp and roast pork. I had the crispy honey shrimp: And Mr. Kim had the double hot pork:

On Saturday, Jessica and I went down to Petersburg (about an hour south of us) to a bakery she’d heard about. It was called Buttery Baking House and it was definitely worth the drive. Capicola and Brie croissant: Boston Cream Cruffin: Everything Croissant stuffed with cream cheese: A giant ginger cooky (spicy with ginger and super chewy): Mushroom Danish with Parmesan cream: This morning: Grilled ham, cheese, and egg sandwich. My favorite preparation of a breakfast sandwich. Much better than just putting the ingredients on toast.

So, you're saying it's @Shelby's fault? 🤣🤣🤣 Seriously, though, thank you - I'll make a note and keep a closer eye on it next time.

@shain - thank you for posting the recipe. It looks and sounds like something we'd really like. Just a cake mix fix up for Mr. Kim to take to work for a staff birthday. It was a last-minute request, so I went with easy: I felt like the glaze was too thick, and it dried very matte – I’m thinking that the addition of a little Karo might keep it shiny. What do you all think about that? Slice:

Last week I made @Shelby’s White Bread Loaves. They turned out very good, but there was an issue with how the dough shaped up. I thought that the dough was a little floppy at the end of the first rise: It crowned nicely, but the minute that I removed the plastic wrap it sunk down like that. And this is what the baked loaves looked like: The dough obviously slumped over the sides of the pans and the edges that were inside the pans are very pale. I was hoping to get the nice crowns on the loaves like Shelby gets and like I got when I made it last year. I did everything the same way- 1st proof in the oven, 2nd proof and bake in the CSO. I wonder why my dough was so seemingly floppy? But at least the texture and taste were good: