Kim Shook

Our 2nd day - Thursday 5/26/2011 Breakfast was our first at our hotel. Just the typical “continental breakfast” – croissant, baguette, juice and coffee (or, in my case, hot chocolate): 26-1m by ozisforme, on Flickr Good, but nothing outstanding (except for the chocolate – that stuff was fantastic). Thursday morning was devoted to Notre Dame and the Crypt Archeologieque. Gorgeous and fascinating. We are mad about ruins (the only castle we toured was Corfe – a lovely ruin in England) and archeology (the only real museum exhibit we went to was the ancient Egypt one at the British Museum) so the Crypt was something of a ‘must see’ for us. Being able to see walls and rooms from ancient Paris back to the 4th century was incredibly interesting to us. After all that dusty, dark and gloomy history, it was lovely to come up into the sun and find a street-side crêperie next to Notre Dame. She wouldn’t let us take a picture of the process (not sure why since her method didn’t differ from any of the other dozens we saw during our trip), but I took one of our Nutella and banana crêpe: 26-75k by ozisforme, on Flickr I knew that the pastries in Paris would be calling to me the entire time that I was there and that I wouldn’t be able to eat every one that I wanted to, but I knew that I had to have a crêpe. It was every bit as good as I hoped. Perfect combination and made so fast that the crêpe was still warm enough to make the Nutella all melty. Lord. Our next destination was Pierre Hermé 72 Rue Bonaparte. On the way we passed some food stands on the street: 26-91k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-92k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-131k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-132k by ozisforme, on Flickr Pierre Hermé is lovely – more like a jewelry shop than a pastry shop: 26-96k by ozisforme, on Flickr Thanks to recommendations from daisy17, drago and Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris, I knew that we would be going and that it would be remarkable. And it was. The selections are astonishing and irresistible: 26-98k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-99k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-100k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-101k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-102k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-103k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-104k by ozisforme, on Flickr There you go, KA!! I thought about you as soon as I saw it! Although one of everything didn’t seem excessive (to me, anyway – probably it did to Mr. Kim), we were really here for the macarons to take back to our daughter (and have as our lunch dessert) and for one other thing (more about that anon): 26-97k by ozisforme, on Flickr I don’t even remember now what kinds we bought, but I know that they were all astoundingly beautiful and delicious and made me despair of every achieving my own macarons at home! We did take quite a few home and I hand carried them the entire way, holding the Pierre Hermé bag in front of me like it contained dynamite. Minibus, two planes and three airports and not one official ever inquired what was in the bag. Had I known that it would be so easy, I’d have stocked up on some good cheeses while I had the chance. For lunch we wandered over to Bread and Roses 7 Rue de Fleurus for freshly made sandwiches and stopped at a little shop for fruit and chips. We walked to the lovely Jardin du Luxembourg and found benches, the most adorable little French toddler to watch and opened our picnic. My sandwich was jambon, cheese and cornichon on a baguette and Mr. Kim had a chorizo and chèvre roll: 26-107k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-134m by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-136m by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-108k by ozisforme, on Flickr And, of course, a couple of macarons. Picnicking in a Parisian jardin is something that one must do on one’s first visit. This didn’t feel forced or obligatory at all. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere gorgeous. We got to watch some folks play boules. We saw gorgeous gardens and fountains and sculpture. It was a magical time. Our daughter was insistent that we see the catacombs, but when we got there the lines were horrifying. Our feet beginning to give out, we flagged a cab and went back to the Latin Quarter in comfort. Weinoo had recommended French grocery stores for goodies and gifts to take home. There was a Carrefour near our hotel, so we stopped in for some food sightseeing and goodies to take home. It was a small store, but we were still delighted with the food and packaged goods on offer. We found some lovely treats to take home as gifts (what exactly they were are lost to the mists of time). We were also delighted, as in England, with the fascinating assortment of crisps: 26-133k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-134k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-135k by ozisforme, on Flickr Now is time to mention the ‘other thing’ that we purchased at Pierre Hermé and I have drago to thank for the recommendation. Drago said, “If you go to Pierre Hermé, his croissant ishpahan…is unmatched by any croissant I have ever eaten.” Bless you, drago. We were lucky enough to get one of the few left: 26-138k by ozisforme, on Flickr This astonishingly lovely and delicious croissant is glazed with a sprinkling of candied rose petals and filled with a light rose scented marzipan and a mixture of raspberries and litchees (which I never thought I liked): 26-139k by ozisforme, on Flickr It was so wonderful and appropriately enjoyed on our room balcony overlooking the Paris street: 26-141k by ozisforme, on Flickr After our snack, a rest, a shower and a change of clothes, it was time to find the restaurant that Forest had recommended (and also made reservation for – merci, Forest!!!), Cave a’ los a Moelle on rue de Lourmel in the 15th. We found the restaurant with no problem by taking the Metro – we were even serenaded by violin during our ride. The restaurant: 26-158k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-147k by ozisforme, on Flickr Very casual place – seating is at communal tables. You can order wine, but the food is just what they are having that night. Some things are brought to the table and others are on a bar at the back of the restaurant. We shared our table with two young Canadian girls – one a doctor and the other a dental hygienist. As far as we could tell, we four were the only foreigners in the place. 26-150k by ozisforme, on Flickr This is leek and potato soup – fairly clear, not a creamy soup. 26-151k by ozisforme, on Flickr Soft boiled eggs in warm olive oil. Oddly enough, this was the thing that I remember best from our entire trip. These warm, gooey, oily, perfectly cooked eggs smeared on good crusty bread made me wish that I could have them every day. I still think about those damn eggs. 26-152k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-146k by ozisforme, on Flickr Assorted crudité and a warm, oily, fragrant aioli. Wonderful, especially those lovely long radishes. 26-148k by ozisforme, on Flickr 26-149k by ozisforme, on Flickr Our plates – they include duck rillettes, pork terrine, celery root, beet root, carrots, green beans, blood pudding, artichokes and good, good bread. 26-154k by ozisforme, on Flickr This was a lamb and turnip soup and so good that we even ate the freakin’ TURNIPS!! Our rule in traveling is TRY EVERYTHING and this place certainly rewarded us for that leap of faith. Our after dinner plates included floating meringues, flan, cakes, fruit: 26-155k by ozisforme, on Flickr And this gorgeous assortment of cheeses: 26-156k by ozisforme, on Flickr We couldn’t have had a meal more suited to how we wanted to eat in Paris. Everything was delicious and fresh and seemed like food that we would be served by people who really cared about eating. We waddled back to the Metro station and made our way to our hotel replete and happy.

Soba – love, love, LOVE the egg and oyster dish! Huiray – lovely noodles and wontons. That looks like the perfect, comforting late night meal. Prawn – beautiful ribs. We just put a couple of racks in the freezer – I’ve finally convinced Mr. Kim to smoke ribs and can’t wait to have them. Shane – your ravioli looks delicious and that tomato sauce looks so fresh! Did you make it from fresh tomatoes? This weekend Mr. Kim made hot salt with kosher salt and sriracha: My mom joined us for dinner night before last. I was trying an experiment. I made stuffing waffles: Cornbread, white bread, celery, onions, poultry seasoning, etc. – all baked in a waffle. Topped with roast chicken and turkey gravy: Served with asparagus, cranberry sauce, Cook’s Country whipped potatoes and broccoli with hollandaise: The gravy and cranberry sauce were in the freezer from Christmas. The stuffing waffles were fantastic. The potatoes were ok – a little light for my taste. Nice and fluffy and creamy and they tasted good, but I like a heftier whipped potato.

Shane – great looking dessert. judiu – thanks for the information about the potatoes. I’ve just put a hold on that cookbook at the library and will look for the recipe when it comes. I know those onions that you are talking about and we love them. For some reason lots of rib restaurants have them. They are not quite as brittle as these are, but I’m wondering if you could just cut them a bit thicker and prepare the same way and get an ‘onion cloud’? You’ve given me an idea! Patrick – I hope you enjoy the beans! Last night I made another new dish requested by Mr. Kim . He saw Roger Mooking on TV make a spicy shrimp and banana dish that looked interesting. It included shrimp, bananas, shallots, soy sauce, sambal, honey and lime juice. Sauce made with shrimp on top: Plated with peas, stir-fried noodles and asparagus: I suspected that this dish would not be something that I would like, so I made my own shrimp stir-fry with soy sauce, garlic, shallots and sugar: I was right – much too spicy for me and I really didn’t care for the flavor of shrimp and bananas. Mr. Kim, however, loved it.

Patrick – by long cooked beans, I mean Southern beans. Just green beans with some kind of side meat (jowl, salt pork, ham hocks), a touch of brown sugar, something oniony (I’ve used onions, scallions and even shallots, in a pinch), black pepper and a few red pepper flakes. What I do is slowly fry the side meat to render a little fat and get it tasty. I then sauté the onions in the fat until they are browned. Toss in the rest and cover with water. I basically boil the hell out of them (adding water as needed) until they are as soft as I want them (I like them very soft – traditional), then lower the heat and let the liquid almost cook out. Taste them when they are tender to see if they need any salt. You might depending on what kind of pork you use. Those broad “Italian” green beans work very well with this method. nickrey – love the anchovy toasts! And those Scotch eggs are gorgeous! Antwaan – love the "croustifondant"! I’m sure it is completely beyond my skills, but I fell in love with fondant potatoes on our trip to England and have been thinking about them ever since! Soba – that fried oyster plate looks so delicious. I’m not a beet fan, but I bet I’d love a vinaigrette made with beet vinegar! I tried two new recipes the other night. One was from John Besh – a Sloppy Joe slider recipe. Mr. Kim saw that one on FoodTV and wanted me to make it. The other was a Cook’s Country recipe for macaroni and cheese w/ tomatoes. The sliders called for making a sambal mayonnaise, onion rings and the meat sauce. The sauce included onions, pepper jelly, rice wine vinegar, honey, Creole mustard, Worcestershire sauce, catsup and chopped meat of some sort. I used leftover pot roast: Loaded up with lettuce, tomato and the onion rings: Plated with the mac and cheese and sauerkraut: The mac and cheese, as written, was a bit dull. Jessica suggested that I add some hot sauce, Worcestershire, Dijon and more cheese and that did the trick. While we loved the sliders, the real knock out was those onion rings: They weren’t really substantial enough to make the regular onion ring side dish, but they were so easy and so incredibly crisp and good that I know I’ll make them again and again to go with hot sandwiches and steaks. All you do is slice them thinly, separate the rings, salt them, wait a bit then toss with flour and fry in 350 degree oil.

Meryl - thank you, ma'am! Beth - thanks for the advice - I think I'll try your first suggestion. The OJ and the water are both VERY cold. Will it be ok to put the yeast into them at that temperature?

Liuzhou – gorgeous meatballs. Soba – beautifully turned omelet. And Salade Lyonnaise is a favorite of ours. Wapi & Shane – I’m ashamed of myself. I bought a pasta machine right after Christmas with some giftcards and I haven’t even read the directions yet. Gotta do it!!! Steve – all that pork is making me swoon. Amazing. Norm – glad to have you back and sorry about the ankle! I don’t know if you saw it or not, but in case you didn’t, I made your Korean chicken wings for Super Bowl and they were a huge hit. Fantastic and thank you for posting the link to the recipe. dcarch – love the look of those mussels. What is in the sauce? Patrick – the skin on that duck is astounding. And AGAIN with the tahdig??? (dcarch and Patrick's names should be in BOLD. one of the MANY problems I've had since the 'upgrade' ) Some recent dinners include this: Brats, corn and sauerkraut. And herbed port pot roast: on noodles with long-cooked green beans: Dinner tonight: Pot roast soup and sauerkraut.

Breakfast the other day: Scrambled eggs, peameal bacon and toast. This was the last of the peameal and I’m really sorry it’s gone! We order our regular bacon so I guess we could order the peameal. But the peameal prices I’m seeing are crazy – almost $30 per lb. and Benton’s bacon (just about the best we’ve ever tasted) is $6 per lb.!!! Breakfast this morning: scrambled eggs, Benton’s bacon and morning buns.

Beth – your cakes are lovely and the coconut chiffon sounds especially delicious. pquinene – your macarons are gorgeous! merstar – they look wonderful and I LOVE that you made them at 2am! I tried the Morning Buns from “Cook’s Country” on TV. The pastry is a version of a quick, “easy”, kinda/sorta croissant dough. All rolled and ready for a rest in the fridge: At this point I was very excited and thought that they looked beautiful. Out of the oven and inside: They were fairly flakey and tasted wonderful, but didn’t rise nearly as much as they were supposed to. The method of incorporating the butter into the flour/salt/yeast mixture involved placing it all into a large ziplock bag and alternately rolling and shaking it to make flour-coated long butter flakes. My yeast was fresh, so I’m thinking that here was where I must have messed up. Lightly scented with cinnamon and orange and sticky with the warm sugar, they tasted great. Just could have risen a bit and been a little lighter and flakier. Here is the recipe. If anyone has the time to go and look at it and offer any advice, I’d very much appreciate it.

Scotty – the salmon looks delicious. But, my Lord, that photo! That could grace the pages of the most artsy food mag in the world. Bravo! Like Patrick, I thought that Robirdstx’s chicken pot pie looked wonderful and decided to try it today. Filling before baking: After baking: Slice with roasted cauliflower: This was really, really good. Mr. Kim (who is not the biggest fan of ‘mixed up’ food, loved this). I think it is in permanent rotation in the Shook household. Thanks so much for posting the recipe, Robirdstx!

This is probably the most delayed dining report ever to appear on eGullet. We went to Paris in May of 2011 and I am just now getting to the point of this report. What can I say – life intervened. But some folks are still PM’ing me with hints about this report, so I thought I’d go ahead for anyone who is interested. We got lots of help and advice on the trip before going from eG folks, especially Forest who we were fortunate enough to meet and have dinner with. If you want to see the England part of our trip you can start here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/139686-england-trip-report/ Wednesday 5/25/2011 That morning we took the train from St. Pancras station in London to Gard de Nord in Paris. We left so early that we didn’t have time to stop for a last English breakfast and had to make do on the train with a Crunchy, an apple and a pain au chocolat. Train food being train food, the Crunchy was the best part! Arriving in Paris was otherworldly. Everywhere we went in England felt like my natural home, but Paris was ‘foreign’ in a very special and wonderful way. You must remember that this was the first time I’d ever been anywhere that English wasn’t spoken. It was exciting and scary all at once. My Mary Tyler Moore moment as the fact of actually being in Paris really washed over me: 25-20m by ozisforme, on Flickr Our hotel was the Familia in the Latin Quarter on rue des Ecoles. Family owned, small and charming with a wonderful, welcoming and helpful staff. When the young lady who served us coffee and croissants in the mornings realized that I didn’t like coffee, she brought me (unasked) fabulous hot chocolate every morning. After checking in and hurriedly dumping our luggage we hit the street. We were still ravenous after our train snack, hour long taxi wait at the station and open mouthed drive through Paris so we stopped at the first place that smelled good and bought two quiches to eat as we walked: 25-20k1 by ozisforme, on Flickr A mushroom for Mr. Kim and a Lorraine for me: 25-20k2 by ozisforme, on Flickr Not fabulous, but perfectly good and much better than any street food that we are used to. We took a bus to the Eiffel Tour area. And, as an aside, we found the Paris bus and Metro system incredibly easy to use. Mr. Kim has a little French and I can say “hello”, “goodbye” and “thank you” and recognize lots of menu French, but even so I think that I could have gotten around on my own fairly well, I think. I was raised in Washington DC and that Metro is supposedly based on the Paris one. I think it must be true because I found the maps very familiar. We walked and gawped and grinned for some time. I loved finding the food stores and wished I had a kitchen: 25-33kby ozisforme, on Flickr 25-34kby ozisforme, on Flickr 25-35kby ozisforme, on Flickr And, of course, the bakeries: 25-36kby ozisforme, on Flickr 25-37kby ozisforme, on Flickr Some of the canned goods gave us a bit of a giggle: 25-56k2by ozisforme, on Flickr 25-56k3by ozisforme, on Flickr The food that French people don’t want us to know about! And, dear Lord, the cheese shops: 25-56k4by ozisforme, on Flickr Since we were taking an evening Seine cruise, we had an early dinner at Café Constant: 25-61k9iby ozisforme, on Flickr I’m sorry that I can’t remember who recommended this to us, but thank you! Every single dish was excellent. And the restaurant itself was charming with a nice mix of old and modern: 25-61k9bby ozisforme, on Flickr 25-61k9aby ozisforme, on Flickr We had a nice chat with the waitress and bartender while we were waiting for our table and it turned out that the waitress had worked in NYC for some time. Again, as I noted in my England report, folks on my side of the ocean don’t do near as much traveling as the British and French folks that we met. I started out with Bisque de crustaces aux queues d’ecrevisses a la crème legere: 25-61k9dby ozisforme, on Flickr Creamy shellfish bisque with crayfish tails. Perfect. So light and intensely flavored with the shellfish. Mr. Kim’s starter was Terrine of ‘Kako’, pressed foie gras and pork shin, lentil salad: 25-61k9eby ozisforme, on Flickr No idea what ‘Kako’ is, but this was stellar. Albeit a tad scary looking to a fellow raised on middle class American food, but he bravely tucked in and cleaned his plate! Mr. Kim’s main was duck and potato pie with crispy apples: 25-61k9fby ozisforme, on Flickr Perfect pairing and really good. My main was veal cutlets from the Basque country with white Tarbais beans: 25-61k9gby ozisforme, on Flickr Just gorgeous. Tender and flavorful and the beans were so perfectly cooked firm, tender and each one separate. And that little wedge of lightly grilled romaine on top: 25-61k9hby ozisforme, on Flickr was just astonishing in its simplicity. I’d love to know how that was done. Of course, I couldn’t possibly find such perfect little lettuces in Richmond VA, so I’ll just have to make do with the memory. More than a year later, I can still feel the texture and taste it. The cruise was wonderful. One of those things that seem slightly too touristy before you go, but something that I’d recommend to anyone visiting Paris for the first time. Especially if you only have 2 and a half days there. Since it was an evening cruise, we got to see Paris light up for the night. Breathtaking! After the cruise, we walked along the Seine and took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and wandered down the Champ-Elysees. I ended up having a head cold for most of the trip (irritating, but not bad) and was hoping to find something like Sudafed. Just down from the Arc is the Pharmacie du Drugstore des Champs-Elysées. The sign indicated that this was an ‘American Drugstore’. Translation is everything. This was NOTHING like an American drugstore. Gorgeous place with little specialty shop-type areas, amazing confections, Joël Robuchon’s L’Atelier in the freaking basement. Tres posh. But alas, no Sudafed. At least not that we could find. One of the travel guides that we read said that when in Europe resistance to McDonald’s was futile. That, no matter what we thought ahead of time, no matter how lofty our culinary standards, we’d end up in a McDonald’s. Primarily because of the bathrooms. Once inside, it posited, we’d succumb to the familiar fragrance and the cheap food. Well, we didn’t eat there, but strolling along the Champs-Elysées, we DID need a bathroom and lo and behold there was McD’s. So, we’ve been into a McD’s in Paris. But not even a cup of coffee passed our lips. We felt like we’d passed some arcane test. Cab ride back to the hotel – around the Place de la Concorde, past the Louvre, across the Pont Marie and into the Latin Quarter. To our first view of Paris at night from the balcony of our room: 25-150kby ozisforme, on Flickr Coming up - first full day in Paris and my favorite meal.

Soba – you know, I don’t like mushrooms, but your mushroom salad reminded me of how lovely a poached egg is on top of a salad. I need to do that soon. Mr. Kim is back on the low carb thing and that with some pork addition (maybe the peameal from below) would make a great low carb meal. Thank you. And those veal ricotta meatballs sound fantastic. Kerry – that cauliflower is gorgeous. Must think about doing that. That color is exactly what I want (and never get – see below) when I roast cauliflower. On our last trip to Florida we found peameal bacon at a German store in Sarasota. Finally made it for dinner last night: With roasted cauliflower, sweet potatoes and biscuits. We loved the bacon – very intense flavor, like a cross between country ham and regular ham.

Shane – I just called Mr. Kim up to the computer so that he could see that bacon wrapped sandwich. He hung over my shoulder for 5 solid minutes. Thanks to you, I now have a damp shoulder. We had my mother over for dinner last night and had a nice gift from the freezer: Bolognese with Italian sausage. I also served the romaine with Gorgonzola, spiced pecans and roasted garlic dressing salad and garlic bread:

Soba – everything looks lovely, but that potato and leek dish sounds especially good. And the mushroom salad looks beautiful. What incredible greens you are able to get. Sigh. FeChef – I’m not a sweet potato fan, but that chicken pie looks scrumptious! Between your lovely pie and Robirdstx’s chicken pie last month, I think one is in my near future! Bruce – your stew looks fabulous! Dinner last night: Cheeseburgers, fries and butter beans. While I love all kinds of cheeseburgers, I’m with Wylie Dufresne – American cheese makes the best, the most comforting cheeseburger. Nice to have good company on this exceedingly pedestrian opinion!

Well, there is no way that I can single out every meal that has made me swoon since I last posted. There are so many amazing cooks here at eG that if one wanders away for a couple of weeks one can’t begin to comment on everything wonderful! I HAVE, however read each and every post and I’m just blown away. Once again, I have to confess to not cooking much lately. Last weekend we moved my mother to a smaller apartment and right in the middle of that I ended up with a really bad cold that ended up running through the household – including Mr. Kim, Jessica and my mom. Between getting her moved, unpacked organized and trying to breathe, cooking has taken a back seat. I have done a little bit. Here’s a few meals, plus my Super Bowl contributions. Chicken Parm, pasta w/ sauce and green beans: For the Super Bowl – Korean-style chicken wings w/ sweet ginger glaze: This was a recipe from Norm Matthews. He made them back in September of last year and was kind enough to send me a link to the recipe. They were amazingly good. Nice light coating, due to cornstarch and the glaze was fabulous. Sweet, spicy and sticky. Even the kids loved them and they don’t usually eat wings. Thank you so much, Norm! Ree’s Cheddar Puffs: These were very good, but a bit awkward to prepare. Basically they are chunks of crusty bread coated on all sides with a cheese sauce, then frozen and baked when ready to serve. It was a big PITA to evenly coat the bread. Next time, I’m going to try spreading a thick layer of sauce over baguette slices and see if that doesn’t give the same effect. Dessert was a big failed experiment: Bar cookies with dried cherries, almonds and dark chocolate chunks. Much too dry. I’ve asked for some advice on the Baking forum. The good dessert was from the freezer: Mr. Kim’s apple cake – leftover from what we’d taken to his mom’s on Boxing day. This cake freezes like a dream – it came out moist and delicious and as good as fresh – nice to know. After I got the cold, but before Mr. Kim caught it, he made dinner for us. Great comfort food: Salad, steak and cheese stuffed baked potatoes and broccoli. Valentine’s Day Dinner – Romaine lettuce with roasted garlic dressing, crumbled Gorgonzola and spiced pecans: Really good salad dressing, but the standout was the pecans. The method was not like anything I’d ever done before. They were first cooked in a syrup made with water, sugar, paprika, cayenne and allspice, then drained and fried in oil. They turn out crispy with a glass-like coating. Beautiful and really tasty! With the salad, I served more of those cheddar puffs: Dinner was lobster chunks and scallops in a blood orange cream sauce, cous cous with currants and pine nuts (didn’t realize until they were in how much the currants looked like bugs – golden raisins would have been a better choice) and snow peas: I have to thank Jason Perlow for the idea of the scallops and blood orange cream sauce. He made that awhile back and I Googled a recipe for it. It was delicious and will go in the ‘keeper’ file. Thanks, Jason! Dessert was Mr. Kim’s favorite – caramel apple crème brulee: With an excessively brulee-d brulee. With BOTH of us down with the cold we had one night that was breakfast for dinner: Home fries, bacon and hardcore bacon grease fried eggs. With biscuits, of course: Saturday night was burgers w/ Gorgonzola, bacon and caramelized onions, fries, pickle-y stuff and raw veg: Dinner tonight started with a salad: Romaine, carrot, radishes, cukes, pear, dried cherries, spiced pecans and an olive oil/cinnamon pear balsamic vinaigrette. Dinner was sausages, fries and baked beans – half smokes for me: Kroger has started selling DC-style half smokes. And Evergood Louisiana Hot Links for Mr. Kim and Jessica: Too hot for me!

Darienne – thank you, ma’am! Baselerd – all that coconut goodness! I would SO love to taste that. For Valentine’s Day dinner, I did Mr. Kim’s favorite – caramel apple crème brulee: With an excessively brulee-d brulee. I’ve never had that problem before. I’ve always used one of those little kitchen torches before and now I have a big one and I’m wondering if it is too intense? Anyone else ever have this happen? This is just a regular vanilla bean crème brulee with a layer of sautéed apples and dulce de leche under the custard: It makes for a messy looking crème brulee once you start eating, but it’s really, really good:

Oh, my goodness! What an amazing assortment of lovely looking and sounding breakfasts. Mine is awfully tame: Scrambled eggs w. Korean hot sauce, smoked ham (Mr. Kim’s from Christmas – a freezer bonus), biscuits w/ fig preserves. The biscuits and preserves are home made and the ham home smoked, but still. Y'all are astounding!!!

Thanks so much for all the advice. I'll be experimenting with everything (and hydrating the cherries with each try) because I really, really want these to work!!

Does anyone have a really good, chewy, moist cooky bar recipe that they would like to pass on? I tried making cooky bars for the Super Bowl and failed utterly. I’ve been thinking about a bar cooky with dried cherries, almonds and dark chocolate chunks for a while. I don’t ever make bar cookies, so I didn’t have a good recipe. I found one online and went ahead with the add ins. Driest fricken things I’ve ever tried to eat. They were ALMOST biscotti, but not as crisp. I’m not going to give up, though – the flavor combination was fantastic. So I’m asking for advice. I sent them into work with Mr. Kim with instructions to tell everyone that I KNEW they weren’t very good, but to eat them with coffee or tea and pretend they were biscotti!

dcarch – lovely looking rice salad! Bruce – thank you. And your bachelor food sounds suspiciously like the kind of food I gravitate to when Mr. Kim is out of town or working late. Add my truly shameful pleasure – fish tacos made with frozen fish sticks – and I’m there! Those chicken thighs look great! Do you sear them in a pan first to get such a nice crust on the skin? Wapi – the juiciness of that chicken breast is amazing. It really supports sous vide as a method! Shane – duck confit poutine sounds like the best idea in the world right now. Thanks for all the nice comments about my pancakes. They really were good and it’s so nice when you are able to satisfy a craving so happily! I haven’t been doing much meal prep at all lately. Too many nights out. Sunday was our daughter Jessica’s 29th birthday and we had a family celebration on Friday night. Dinner, by request of the birthday girl was ham, turkey and Swiss panini on raisin bread with Dijon and fig jam: Quick Tomato Consommé: Potato chips and a relish assortment, including my MIL’s fantastic sweet pickled green tomatoes: Dessert was Daiquiri Poundcake: And Pumpkin Poundcake with lemon curd:

Paula – I’ve bookmarked that site. They look amazing. I did two desserts for our daughter Jessica’s family birthday celebration on the 25th. Daiquiri Poundcake: And Pumpkin Poundcake with lemon curd: The curd is home made by my step-sister's English mother (we have odd connections in my family) and she gives it to us every year for Christmas. Absolutely delicious and completely unlike store bought. She had a celebration for friends at her apartment on the 26th and my contribution was PB&J cupcakes: Since I haven’t yet found a great yellow cake, I did these with angel food cake. I used angel food for them the last time that I did them and liked that change a lot.

Patrick – that Genghis Kahn beef looks amazing. I wish I could get color like that when I stir fry beef. Kate – I think your Italian wedding soup looks delicious and I love the little ‘bomber’! Prawn!!! – wonderful to ‘see’ you and your gorgeous food! Brownhornet – lovely pasta. I got a pasta machine with some Christmas giftcards and I’m heartened to hear that it was easy for you. I’m a bit intimidated. Scotty – your ‘steak and eggs’ has me swooning! Chris – I’ve never made that classic recipe and need to. It looks and sounds wonderful. Soba – gorgeous pasta and cauliflower. Those are two things that I never think to put together and I don’t know why. Maybe because they are both white? Dunno, but I need to try it – looks delicious! Kayb – welcome back, girl!! I am WAY behind in my catching up at your blog and have missed you here. Those beans, that pork. Ahhhhh! Some recent meals: Spaghetti Bolognese and garlic bread. Sandwiches and chips: Cucumber, tuna salad, egg salad and olive and cream cheese. Marcella Hazan’s Pink Shrimp Sauce w/ Cream on fettuccine: Bruce made this back in December and it’s been haunting me ever since. It was fantastic. The method is unusual to me. After shrimp is sautéed, 2/3 of it is pureed and becomes a part of a sauce that includes tomato paste, wine and cream. What you end up with is a shrimp and pasta dish that REALLY tastes of the shrimp. It is easy and quick enough to be a weeknight meal, but impressive enough for company. And, since it easily serves 3-4 with a half a pound of shrimp it’s also economical. Thanks so much, Bruce! I’ve been craving pancakes for a week, so that’s what was for dinner tonight. Also eggs and sausage: I’ve been searching for years for THE pancake recipe. I love thick, light, fluffy pancakes and have found lots of good recipes, but not the ONE. I think that I finally have! I just Googled “thick and fluffy pancakes” and BAM. I found the recipe on a site called realmomkitchen.com, but it has a long genealogy – back through veronicascornucopea.com, radishesandrhubarb.com to Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook with little adjustments here and there. Well, I have that cookbook, of course, but I’ve never tried the pancakes. It is very easy to assume that dowdy little cookbooks like that don’t have much to teach modern me. I am chastened. Here are my pancakes: And even though the photo is blurry, you can see how thick these were: You’ll have to take my word about the fluffy and light part, though. Fabulous. And JUST what I wanted tonight.

jmacnaughtan – your Paris-Brest is beautiful. I would LOVE to taste that. minas – what lovely marshmallows. I promised myself that one of the things that I would tackle when I was able to quit work was marshmallows. It’s been almost a year and I haven’t yet, but you give me some inspiration! Baked a cake for one of Mr. Kim’s coworkers: My usual Chocolate Bar Cake with Michael Ruhlman’s Chocolate Buttercream Icing. Slice: This was delicious (Mr. Kim was able to save me a slice) and Michael’s icing is so light and delicate. It’s almost texture-less – just pure chocolate taste.

Baselerd – that noodle dish looks and sounds amazing. NOT something that I’d ever attempt, but I wish I knew someone who would! Soba – the Pastina e ceci looks so delicious! And the classic spaghetti with clams has been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl! dcarch – beautiful brisket and latkes! Dinner last night: Kielbasa w/ peppers and onions, baked beans and fruit salad.

Basquecook – thank you for your kind words! So many of my holiday foods are recipes made by family and friends. Most of my Christmas night dinner items are from the Christmas dinner that my paternal grandmother made since my dad and his brothers were small. She was a complete non-cook (her refrigerator only contained olives for martinis and Metrical shakes) except for Christmas night when she went all out and cooked the best meal I’ve ever tasted. The chicken salad and pimento cheese are from a lovely lady who used to post here at eG. Old timers will remember Rachel and her wonderful writing. I have been fortunate enough to become her friend and actually meet her and her family. I love the continuity of cooking foods that come from my personal history. My mom’s mousse recipe can be found here: http://www.recipecir...hrimp_Mold.html . Shane – thank you! Mr. Kim got a jar of jalapeno olives in his stocking and I am stealing your idea of putting them on pizza! Ranz – the chicken galantine looks delicious! Tri2Cook – my cousin!!! We’ve missed you so much! Christmas Eve, our house, come early and help me set it all out! Jason – those scallops sent me scurrying off to Google a recipe for orange cream sauce. Fantastic! jvalentino – that smoked ham looks amazing. I just emailed Mr. Kim about it. rico – lovely shrimp and a BEAUTIFUL photo! Dinner last night started with the inevitable salad: I also did Marlene’s Crispy Pork Chops w/ her Quick Tonkatsu sauce, fried rice (left over from dinner out the night before) and collard greens: The pork chops were from Omaha Steaks and were, as usual, bland and characterless, but Marlene’s method of coating them and the sauce really ramped up the flavor.

Patrick – gorgeous beef stroganoff! Percyn – Oh, my goodness! That lobster thermidor is lovely. Good thing that you had it for NYE – it’s bad luck to eat lobster (or chicken) for New Year’s day. Robirdstx – your chicken pot pie looks just exactly how I like them. Lots of chicken and gravy and not a lot of icky cooked carrots! (And I appreciate you posting the recipe). Soba – gorgeous pasta! I got myself a pasta machine with a gift card and have already decided that I want the pappardelle attachment! And I particularly love the looks of the colcannon, too! Basquecook – deeply impressed with that gorgeous looking and sounding spread! The skin on the little guy looks amazing. I’d have been tempted to selfishly keep it all to myself and bring it out of the kitchen ‘naked’! Rico – I am sitting here at 1:20am CRAVING pastrami. The closest I can get is deli ham and white bread. Crap. I’m going to go ahead and put my Christmas meals here, since I can’t seem to find a ‘Christmas dinner’ thread. A pre-Christmas meal that I found on my camera - cheeseburgers, mac and cheese and succotash: This was the year that I changed how we did our Christmas Eve celebration. Gone was the sit down dinner for 50. The last few years almost no one came on time and many refused to respond to the invitation at all, or gave a yes and then didn’t show up. I decided last year that if they were going to treat the night like an open house, that was what they were going to get. Nothing that had to be served piping hot, nothing that required a table and a knife and fork. It was mostly finger food and mostly room temperature. The spread included a relish tray with olives, pickles and celery: Crudités and dips, fruits, cheeses and crackers: Gruyere and chive gougères (a popular choice this year, I noticed): White bean dip and green olive tapenade with pita chips: Liptauer cheese spread with pumpernickel and rye bread: Rachel’s chicken salad w/ mini croissants: My mother’s shrimp mousse: Mr. Kim’s smoked ham and mini biscuits (purchased): Everything was delicious and extremely well received and it was a much easier party to prepare for. I found myself looking for things to do that day. We still had folks that didn’t bother to show, but that is just a given with our relatives/friends and we’ve just decided that we have to roll with that. We had too much food, as always. I think that next year, I won’t bother with all the fruit, maybe just some grapes. And 4 cheeses were too much. Cubed Cheddar and Gouda is enough, I think. The vegetables were popular, but I did too much of each of them. This is definitely the way that I’ll go from now on. I didn’t change my ‘goodies’ – these are always basically the same. The dessert table: It included lemon chess tarts, mince tarts, peanut butter cookies and caramel covered marshmallows: Sugar cookies & Turtle candy (pretzels, Rolos and pecan halves): Happy Accident candy (the detritus from Sponge candy mixed with melted Cadbury bars): Candied pecans and iced almond clusters, gluten free sugar cookies (I can’t find a picture of them unwrapped – but they were just round sugar cookies), sponge candy and peanut brittle: I also can’t find pictures of the fudge, but I made my usual ones – milk chocolate and Reeses Cup. Since we didn’t do our traditional Christmas Eve meal, I decided to do it for Christmas night. We invited some friends and my mother was here, so it was just 10 of us. Our friends brought the turkey and some sides and bread, so it was a fairly easy meal to do. I somehow missed getting a picture of the turkey, but we also had leftover ham: Oyster dressing and cornbread dressing: Salad with 2 dressings (my dad’s paprika and Marlene’s bleu cheese): Fruit salad: Rachel’s ‘pammina cheese’ and celery: Potato salad: Cheese potatoes: Orange-Cranberry sauce: “The Gravy”: Sweet potatoes with bourbon syrup on the side: Dhfrhfhfieoggijrp I was sick with a bad cold from the 27th through the first, so all we ate were leftovers and OPF (other people’s food), but I did manage to make us our New Year’s Day lucky meal – ham: Black eyed peas: Scalloped tomatoes: Au gratin potatoes: (not lucky, I just got a craving for gooey, cheesy potatoes) Collards: Cornbread muffins: (I don’t think that these are among the lucky foods, but they ARE obligatory with greens) Plate: Between my lingering cold, redeeming gift cards and using Groupons that were expiring, I haven’t cooked much this past week. Tonight, though, we were craving grilled cheese and salads: (My new salad bowls – got a Crate & Barrel gift card) Grilled American, Gruyere and Parm w/ Dijon mustard on some onion rolls that I had in the freezer. The onion roll was a really nice change.