Kim Shook

Just my 2 cents - a cold Italian sub is the food of the gods and NJ is the place to get one.

Thank you! I'm so glad that you liked the cake! It is a favorite here. Nice to be missed, too!

Hello, everyone! I know I've been gone for a long time, but not by choice. I've been dealing with my mother's health issues and hospitalization. I'm now living with her temporarily and not doing any interesting cooking. I've had some free time in the last couple of days and have been trying to catch up. Really loving all the posts in the dinner, breakfast and sweets threads! Please know that I miss everyone here and I miss being involved! Thanks to those who have missed me and I'm hoping that I'll be able to contribute starting in September.

rotuts – re: the celery – that’s why it’s on the side like that. I actually like celery a lot – just to crunch a stick of it with salt or PB, but I don’t care for it in salads, but Mr. Kim does, so I serve it on the side. Suzi – I LOVE your white trash dinner! I would enjoy that tonight in place of my leftovers (I really don’t care for leftovers for dinner – though I can eat the same sandwich for lunch every day for a week!) kayb – that corn looks great! What’s your secret? Norm – I like the look of your gravy. How do you make it? Shelby – oh, my DEAR! Chicken liver – FRIED! I adore them, but no one else does, so I never make them. Yours look so perfect! Last night I tried a new recipe from Cooking Light magazine for Honey-Lime Drumsticks w/ snow peas and brown rice: The sauce for the drumsticks included soy sauce, honey, oil, ginger, lime juice and garlic and was incredibly flavorful. I will certainly be making this one again. We decided that it would be good with pork tenderloin, too. The rice mixture had some of the lime rind in it, but was still a little bland. I added some ponzu sauce and that helped a lot. The snow peas were the fresh steam-in-the-bag type and the steaming worked just fine, but every single snow pea had a hard string and had to be ‘de-strung’ on the plate. Extremely irritating.

Shelby – thanks for the bean information. I’ll be trying that! Dinner last night started with a salad, of course: Very bland looking plate: But it tasted great. Oven fried pork chop, whipped potatoes, Dana’s broccoli and cauliflower (mostly cauliflower) au gratin and rolls. That gratin is wonderful – one of our favorite side dishes:

rotuts - Never, ever green peppers! No celery, either, if Momma makes it. I don't mind a little celery, chopped fine and sauteed. I detest big crunchy hunks of it in soup. This soup is just potatoes, carrots, peas, corn, green beans and cabbage. Simmered long with canned tomatoes and some pasta added towards the end. I sometimes grate some Parm over the top before serving. Or I'll toss in a rind if I have it.

Anna – gorgeous sandwich! Makes me wish I had a chicken! Lunch a couple of days ago was my mother’s vegetable soup: And a fried egg sandwich:

I make tahini cookies, too. The recipe I use is slightly different. Darienne gave me the recipe originally. They are unusual and delicious. I made them for our church Holiday Market last November and they sold VERY quickly. One change that I made was to use smokehouse almonds. Nice!

Thanks for the Crepes – it was nerve wracking! And, yes, I think that your pan should be much easier. I’m not sure I’ll ever want to cook anything but a chocolate cake in this pan. I don’t think I’d care for the same thickness of flour as a coating. Shain – love the idea of using tahini paste in baklava! Thanks to everyone for the nice comments about that cake. Brownies for the youth group at church: I'm embarassed to say that they are just Ghirardelli mix, but I’ve yet to make a from scratch recipe that is as good as this mix.

Lunch yesterday: This sandwich is my old standby. It has been my go-to comfort food since I can remember. I’m really into tomatoes lately, it seems.

I am among the few that actually like CK. Not wildly, but I enjoy watching him. I also respect what he created. But, I LOVE Bridget and Julia and am disappointed when they aren't on a show. So I will be fine with the change.

Here you go, rotuts: I neglected to mention that it is topped with generic 'marshmellows' that I got at a bulk store, has two packets of Equal and a mere dribble of milk (I don't care for milk much and hate soggy cereal).

On Saturday Mr. Kim and I went to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to see the Rodin exhibit and then an early dinner at Metzger’s (http://www.metzgerbarandbutchery.com/). It has been open awhile and we’d heard very good things, but it just hadn’t come up in the rotation. Mike’s brother had given him a gift certificate, so we decided to try it. So glad we did. It was a remarkably good meal! After our first three things we were already planning our next visit! We started with the rye brioche and caraway butter: This was beautiful bread. Perfect brioche texture and crust, but with the tang of rye flour. The butter was very salty (in a good way) and the combination of bread and butter was almost pretzel-like. Then the bierkase soup: With pretzel croutons and thyme cream. Bierkase is a beer cheese (named so because it is traditionally eaten with beer, not made with beer). I’m sure there was beer in this soup, as well. This was the smoothest, creamiest and most delicious cheese soup I’ve ever eaten. The chicken liver mousse: (Didn’t realize the picture was so crappy). The mousse came on an everything bialy, with bacon, pickled figs and frisee. As good as every single thing was, this was the standout dish. Incredibly smooth and light mousse and the combination of the mousse, the fig and the bacon was genius. For our mains, we chose the chop: Beer brined pork chop, herb spaetzle, jus and dressed salad greens. Probably the best pork chop I’ve had in 40 years. And the spaetzle was perfect. Sometimes it can be a little bland. This was very flavorful and had a nice crust on the edges. Just fabulous. Mike ate the leftovers for lunch the next day and said that it was still delicious and juicy COLD! The choucroute garni: Sausages, smoked pork, duck fat fingerlings, dressed salad greens. The sausages and pork was perfectly prepared. I don’t know if they make their own sausage, but it is so wonderfully spiced and smooth. And those crisp, tasty potatoes! Fantastic.

We didn't make it to the butcher shop in C'ville, but have made a note of the one in Richmond and will be going by as soon as we can!

Lunch a couple of days ago: Sandwich made with leftovers from a club I ordered the night before. Club sandwiches are the most economical thing for me to get at a restaurant (not to mention, I love them). I eat a 1/4, Mr. Kim eats a 1/4 and the other half comes home to make at least one more meal for me!

Shelby – your ham and beans look like perfection. Mine always get so mushy that they are almost a paste. Care to share the recipe? Academy Award snacks – Jessica made coconut shrimp dip from a mix she got at the wine expo: I did crab Rangoon pizza on naan: Slice: Totally ersatz dish, but we happen to adore crab Rangoon. This was good, but no better than actual crab Rangoon. The crust was naan, which will be my go-to pizza crust for quick pizza from now on. The roast beef is still not gone. Dinner night before last: Stew-ish dish. Sigh. The cauliflower was really nice, though:

Ann - LOVE open faced with gravy sandwiches! They are the top reason that I bother to roast chicken or beef! Oops! Posted lunch here instead of breakfast - editing to correct! Mr. Kim’s breakfast last Saturday: Cheese and jalapeno omelet. I went straight bacon. Breakfast on Sunday started with fruit: And then what I woke up thinking about: Sausage biscuits with sausage gravy and scrambled eggs. Except the biscuits were those Sister Schubert yeast rolls because they were already thawed in the fridge.

Jeanne – loved your mention of Quisp. Especially since this was my dessert the other day: Proof that, at age 56, I am still not as grown up as a Millennial! This thread reminds me of one of my favorite quotations by Michael Ruhlman: “Many argue that breakfast is their favorite meal and of course it's "the most important meal of the day" (who came up with this slogan?—I do fine on coffee and Crest)…”

I have yet to find a granola bar that tastes as good as a bowl of Frosted Flakes at midnight! (I am 56.)

Jessica works nearby now and came over for lunch today – Jessica’s: Egg salad. Mine: Cheese and tomato. Another childhood favorite of mine.

Sorry, Anna! Try this one: http://www.amazon.com/cuisinart-cvr-1000-vertical-countertop-rotisserie/dp/b001rng422

Anna – it was one of these: http://uniqsource.com/household/cuisinart-vertical-rotisserie/ That was a 4 1/2 lb. roast and was as big as I’d go. It works beautifully for roast beef. Marlene, who used to post here, told me to up the temp to 425 and baste with butter, and since she’s the queen of roasts, that’s what I do. I especially love using it for this meal because it frees up the oven. Between the roast, the potatoes, the sprouts and the Yorkies, I used the rotisserie, the oven and a large toaster oven! sartoric – thank you! I love that you use pineapple with your pork stir fry. They go perfectly together and you don’t see folks doing it very often. I served a similar thing to some friends and they were very suspicious and ended up asking for the recipe! Last night’s dinner doesn’t look much different than the one before it: Yorkies (heated up perfectly in the toaster oven), broccoli and gravy smothered beef and potatoes. The beef was a little tough last night and I remembered that I had bought two of these and the last one was also tough. The flavor was great, though. So simmered in gravy was the perfect way to go. Tender and delicious. I’m turning it into beef stew tomorrow. I am sick of beef!

Ann - if I had bread like that, I think I'd just eat toast and butter for every meal. Breakfast this morning: Had some nice Camparis and couldn’t resist. This was about the only breakfast that my mother could talk me into eating when I was a little girl and it is still a favorite when I have good tomatoes!

I am another canned corned beef appreciator. I don’t ever confuse it, or even compare it, with real corned beef. But I like it for what it is. The other night was one of those busy day dinners – mostly prepared foods: Canned Brunswick stew, canned corned beef hash with eggs. Tuesday night was a special program for the women of the church. I contributed Orange-Ginger muffins: These are so good – really tender and full of ginger flavor. I also did some sandwiches: These are called “Ham Triangles w/ Poppy and Sesame Seed”. It’s an old Gourmet magazine recipe. The filling is a ham salad with whole grain mustard and chutney. You butter the edges of the sandwiches and dip them in the seeds. I came home with no leftovers, so everything was good! Last night was my typical English dinner: Roast done in the rotisserie. That little fat cap was incredibly crisp – cooks treat! Sliced with roasted potatoes: Brussels sprouts which look good, but were bitter: I haven’t had a decent sprout all winter. This is especially disappointing considering they are one of the few cooked green vegetables that I like. My Yorkies turned out especially well: Plate without gravy: And with: We had this meal weekly when I was growing up with my English step family. Sometimes it would be a chicken instead of beef, but the roast potatoes, veg, Yorkies and gravy never changed. One thing that I’ve changed is that I make my gravy from scratch. Ted’s family always used Bisto. Not to dis Bisto. I have a canister in my cabinet at all times. Sometimes it is exactly what a gravy or a soup needs to get it perfect. But pure Bisto over my beautiful roasted potatoes and Yorkies? I think NOT!

A recent breakfast for dinner (using up those gorgeous eggs) started with salad: Ham and cheese omelets, tots and some lovely tangelos: Valentine’s Day! Dinner was supposed to start with appetizers, but after our huge potluck lunch at church, we knew we’d never eat appetizers AND our meal, so those got punted for the next day. Dinner included a really simple mixed green salad and a sourdough baguette: The main course was a Cook’s Illustrated recipe that I found in a new special publication of theirs called “All-Time Best French Recipes”. It was scallops and mushrooms: This was fantastic. We adore scallops and I was a little apprehensive about not doing the classic ‘sear’. These are actually poached in wine and chicken stock. Then the mushrooms are sautéed and a cream sauce made. All of that is poured over the scallops and the whole thing is broiled. I served this with rice: Dessert was purchased from our favorite cake café. I had the fresh fruit cake with white cake and frosting: Mr. Kim had the salted caramel chocolate cake: Those cakes are on dinner plates. Rather large ones, too! Next night’s dinner was our intended appetizers from Valentine’s Day. Pickly stuff: Smoked salmon spread and pate: Cheddar and vegs: And more cake from the night before (I am still eating this cake)!