Kim Shook

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)!

Thank you so much for the nice comments! I seem to be on a chocolate theme lately! Shelby – I always add at least half again as many blueberries are a recipe calls for. I also top muffins with a few berries – I think it looks extra pretty. Made a cake mix fix-up chocolate pound cake for our church annual meeting potluck on Sunday: This was the first time I used my pan that Mike got me for Christmas and I was nervous. But I sprayed it with Pam and dust it HEAVILY with cocoa and it came right out! With chocolate glaze:

Recent guilty pleasure breakfast: Orange Danish rolls – made with ‘whomp dough’ left over from Christmas when I forgot to serve them! Snow day breakfast. Mr. Kim suggested French toast to use up the sourdough from the night before and some eggs:

kayb – a favorite snack for my mother and I when we cut up cabbage is to stand over the sink with a salt shaker and the core and munch! Tere – no need to apologize with a picture like that. What a gorgeous piece of pork. Nevermind that you live in my favorite place in the world – Britain. We didn’t get as far up as Shropshire, but hope to some day! Jessica came over for lunch the other day: Gooey grilled cheese – American, Provolone and mozzarella with Dijon. Yesterday’s lunch: Purchased chicken salad on some nice whole wheat flatbread pockets that I found.

Franci – your cakes are gorgeous! I hope your business is very successful. I wish that I was close enough to buy some! Elizabeth – I’m just stunned at the cakes that you are turning out. Amazing! Jessica’s birthday dessert was Coca-Cola chocolate cake with chocolate icing: That is some DARK icing! I used some cocoa that I bought when we were in Indiana last year. It was called black cocoa. I think it must be similar to what they use to make Oreos! I topped it with dulce de leche and toasted hazelnuts. Slice: One of our favorite cakes. I made Tin Roof Brownie bars (minus the nuts) for one of Mr. Kim’s co-workers:

kayb – Taco Bell is one of my guilty pleasures! I like crunchy tacos, but am addicted to their Crunchwrap Supreme! Shelby – I really, really need to give bierocks a try. They look SO good. For Jessica’s BD celebration, I did three different flatbread pizzas by request. The first (and most popular) was this: Honey, bacon, Brie and Walnut (except it was pecans, since I didn’t have walnuts). Really fantastic. We felt that it could have used a good grind of black pepper or perhaps some pepper infused honey. Next was the grape, Brie and arugula: Plus a handful of bleu cheese. This also would have benefitted from some black pepper, but otherwise really good. The last one I wasn’t entirely happy with – Thai Chicken: It was very popular, including with a friend who used to live in Thailand. She said that the flavors of the chicken were quite authentic. I liked the flavor pretty well (it had too much PB in the sauce for me) and the toppings were good – especially the drizzle of coconut crema. But I tried to shortcut the chicken and use a rotisserie and this was a BIG mistake. The chicken layer, which should have been bite-sized pieces of sauced chicken, was mushy shreds. A recent dinner started with a salad made up of leftovers from Jessica’s party: Arugula, grapes, bleu cheese and bean sprouts. Plus other fridge things that needed using. Mr. Kim’s chicken lady at work is being incredibly generous, so I have 3 dozen raw eggs and a half dozen hard boiled! So dinner was scrambled eggs and creamed chipped beef on Texas toast: We will be eating a LOT of eggs in the next week! Super Bowl food – chips and dips: 7-Layer dip and pita chips: Jessica’s deviled eggs: My wings and some frozen Buffalo bites: Jessica’s ‘calzone’: Slices: Served with pizza sauce for dipping.

Welcome, Willow! Looking forward to your posts!