Kim Shook
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Posts posted by Kim Shook
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God bless Mr. Kim. He cooked tonight - and it was good, too! Crabcakes & leftover Gratin Dauphinois w/ lamb gravy:
Kim
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jende - for the candy, I basically use this recipe. But I make some changes. I use twice (at least) as much white chocolate as called for. I put the mini oreos in the pan first, then scatter around the rest of the stuff - I used peanuts, Easter candy corn, dried cranberries & cherry yogurt covered mini pretzels. Then I poured the melted white chocolate over and put some of the prettier things on top and press down. I also had some little decorations that looked like miniature Easter eggs, so I scattered some of them on top, too. I also do this candy for Halloween & Christmas.
Kim
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Chufi - your crepes w/ lemon curd is gorgeous! And those strawberries
!David - the Pear Tarte Tatin looks wonderful - thank you for the explicit directions. I'd love to try this.
Shaya - everything about your braised beef rib dinner looks delectible!
Bruce - your wings are just picture-perfect! Recipe? Please??!!
Easter was my last blast for awhile. I had carpal tunnel surgery on Tuesday, so I won't be cooking for awhile (or posting much either - this one-handed typing is a PITA!!).
The table:
Ham & lamb:
Deviled Eggs:
Tony Bourdain's Potatoes:
Which, this time I sliced on a mandolin the way that Marlene recommended - she was right - they turned out even better! Thanks, Marlene!:
Roasted asparagus:
A salad one of my sisters-in-law made:
A cauliflower, brocolli & carrot casserole that another one of my sisters-in-law made:
My desserts are here.
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Easter Dessert Buffet:
Coconut Cake w/ Sugared Roses:
My first try at sugaring flowers. It turned out a little thick even though I did use super-fine sugar.
Coconut Cake - inside view:
Vanilla Cupcakes w/ a cute frosting treatment:
I called these my Monet Carrot Cake Bars
. I had no idea that you couldn't put royal icing on top of cream cheese frosting 
These were cute little carrots the night before. This is what they looked like when I took the cover off Easter afternoon:
Cookies and Candy:
Hope everyone had a great holiday week!
Kim
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What? You mean to tell me you haven't been reading the foodblogs yourself?
I used to read them religiously, but kind of stopped a while ago and haven't been reading them lately. I love the voyeuristic thrill of hearing about other's food, but I don't shop everyday at exotic outdoor farmer's markets, or cook gourmet extravaganzas or host fantastic dinner parties with 37 courses. 360 days a year I probably eat cold cereal for breakfast. Typically one of us cooks something that lasts 2 or 3 days and we eat leftovers. I'm cooking every night for this just so you all don't get bored! (What, leftover curry again?) I guess I'm just worried that I won't measure up to the high bar set by all the previous bloggers.
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Inspired By " Ace of Cakes" , my girlfriend and I made a pickle barrel cake for my grandfathers birthday ( he owns a pickle company). Chocolate espresso pound cake, chocolate butter cream.
http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11758034..._4454_19820.jpg
Sobel - that is fantastic! I am so impressed! Welcome to egullet, also! Post lots and lots on this board, if that is an example of what you do!
I guess this belongs here. These are the crispy, lemon sugar cookies that I made for our Easter dessert buffet:
Pink flowers, blue bunnies, green eggs (it didn't occur to me until just this moment that that might be an odd color choice
) and yellow chicks. I tinted the dough so that the color would be more intense. I like the effect.Kim
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When I have frozen cakes and cupcakes in the past, they always seem to get sticky and bits of the crust come off on the plastic wrap. Here is what I am doing:
Bake and cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and then freeze. Thaw in the wrap, then unwrap.
What am I doing wrong?
Ta, Kim
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We tested out some Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes - very spring-like and tart!
Here's a shot of the inside that I filled with homemade lemon curd
OOOOHHH! So cute! I wanna make those! I make a Key Lime cupcake with the meringue top, but yours are so much cuter!
Kim
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I actually like the plastic bags. I don't have any problem with flimsiness or lack of control. The lined cloth ones are wonderful, but I hate, hate, hate cleaning them out, so the disposable are good for me.
Also, Wilton sells a pretty nifty little practice set that you can slip either their patterns or your own (including copies of calligraphy) into and practice. This is great for writing especially. It's cheap, too.
Kim
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chaosuk - thank you. It really was an amazing trip and I was surprised by how much we managed to see and do!
Megan - I loved the case at Payard! I was just astounded at the variety. It was one of those times where I just wanted to be able to watch them do all those things. I can't even begin to imagine how they do the things that they do. I honestly think that my favorite thing at Degustation was the Sweetbreads, which I cannot even believe I just said
!Bryan - We'd love to come down to Durham sometime! My grandmother lives in Reidsville NC, so we might be able to combine trips!
kyeblue - well, as I said, we are country mice, so we enjoyed everything. And I guess its a good thing that there are people like us who don't recognize pretension or mediocrity when we see it - that insures the employees of places like Payard and Maison Du Chocolat continuing employment. And I guess that I must be a non-foodie, because I was certainly impressed with the beauty and artistry of the products of Payard.
alanamoana - thank you for your kind words, dear! I was cool when I was a kid. Now that I am old (47!), I am a geek who likes what I likes
. I don't really care about what is in style or whether I am 'supposed' to like something. If I enjoy it, I enthuse about it. Kim
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I try to actively avoid no reservations restaurants. I can't think of one place that I regularly go to that is worth supporting that lack of customer service.
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This whole report needs to be prefaced by saying that we live in Richmond, VA. We have traveled a lot and enjoy ‘fine things’. We have had our culinary consciousness raised by our experiences, our travel, seeking out interesting restaurants and my extensive cooking. That said, we live in RICHMOND, VA. We are not hicks, but we just aren’t used to the quality of product that you can get in NY. If we seem less discriminating than you and satisfied with less than you would be, so be it. We are country mice, after all – and it is nice to be pleasantly surprised sometimes!
Monday, March 19, 2007
This was the day of the memorial. After paying homage to Mr. Kim’s one non-food request for our trip – a walk through of St. Patrick’s Cathedral -- we met up with some HS friends and went to lunch at Molyvos, a Greek restaurant on 7th Ave. I had the white bean hummus:
and Country Greek Sausage – Lamb and Pork scented w/ fennel, orange and coriander:
The sausage was really good – juicy and flavorful and not at all greasy. The hummus was – meh. OK, but a little bland – mine (Giada De Laurentiis’ recipe) is better
.We had some time to kill, so I sweet talked everyone into walking over to Bouchon Bakery at Columbus Circle:
Got some shots of the case and saw someone in a Per Se jacket
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This was our haul; Meyer lemon macaron, mini chocolate cakes and a pistachio brioche:
The macaron was ok. Honestly, I’ve never had one before, so I can’t say what it is supposed to taste like, but I found it a little dry and chewy and the lemon taste was very, very faint (the chocolate one from La Maison du Chocolat the next day was much more to my liking). I am a fool for brioche and really liked the pistachio – I ate it that night in the hotel room wishing for a little butter! The little chocolate cakes were swoony.
We also got to wander around Whole Foods (same building) and I was pretty impressed. I work for The Fresh Market in Richmond, VA and we are pretty dern good for Richmond, but we are getting a Whole Foods and I may just defect. I was very excited to see the dry aged beef. The bakery was lovely, too. (Remember, Country Mice – we don’t have much in the way of Gourmet Shops).
Tuesday, March 20 – Our Anniversary
We kissed our friends goodbye in NJ and went down the yellow brick road, stopping first in Glen Ridge at a diner for breakfast. I had one egg, over med., wonderful tender/crisp Yankee home fries and fried Taylor Ham (a first for me – pretty good, kinda like fried bologna). I love to eat at diners and delis when I am up North. As a Southerner, I am proud of my food heritage. I think that we do many things better than anyone. However, that would not include diners, delis or subs. This is what home fries should look like:
We checked into our beautiful, lovely, fantastic, FREE (thank you AMEX points!) room at the Omni Berkshire. Mr. Kim was ready for a break, a nap, some luxury tub lolling, but I wouldn’t have any of that. We hit the streets for our only full day in the city. All I can say is, “Thank you, jebus, for Crocs!”
First we wandered around Chelsea including going through Chelsea Market. My friend whose memorial service we came up for lived in Chelsea, so I have spent a lot of time here. I really enjoyed showing it to Mr. Kim. I love Buon Italia and can’t imagine how wonderful it would be to have that kind of store to shop in on a regular basis. We had cupcakes at Eleni’s Cupcakes. Mr. Kim says mine are better:
Lunch was at Pomme Frites. We had been steered away from here and I am glad that we ignored the warnings and went anyway. As I mentioned before, we simply aren’t used to the quality and variety that New Yorkers take for granted and so were thrilled with Pomme Frites. We had a small (!!!) order of Frites with 3 different sauces: Roasted Garlic Mayo, Mexican Ketchup and Wasabi Mayo. We also had Poutine. All delicious, all wonderful, possibly all spurious, yep – but we were happy:
That day we also went to Fish’s Eddy and Little Italy and Chinatown. In Little Italy we stopped at Ferrara for a snack. We had a fruit tartlet, sfogliatella and cannoli:
The fruit tartlet and cannoli were pretty good, but I was hampered with the sfogliatella as I was earlier with the macaron in that I hadn’t ever tasted it before. It was tougher than I expected it to be. Not really flaky like it looks. It was sure pretty, though!
We just really looked and didn’t eat in Chinatown – we were stuffed and anticipating dinner. I did have one interesting experience, though
. My daughter requested a knock off designer purse as her souvenir of NYC. Well, the last time I wandered around Chinatown (admittedly, a while back) they were sitting out on tables on the sidewalks – like, out in the open??? Um, apparently, no more. Apparently, when the proprietor of a tiny little bag shop realizes that that is what you are after he calls a big, giant goomba with a suspicious lump under his jacket to stand in front of the shop while he opens a freakin’ secret door in the back wall (eeeeeeeeeeeek!) to show you the stuff 
. Anyway that’s what I hear. And Jessica loves her souvenir. 
Dinner was at Degustation. We came in just in front of Matt Lauer and his guest – at about 7:20 for a 7:30 reservation. Guess who got seated first
? Well, they did comp us champagne and croquetas. These were very good – comforting and the most ‘regular’ food we had all night. The food here was like nothing we have ever, ever experienced. I admit that we were so overwhelmed by the experience that we didn’t even take one picture. I could really kick myself
. We both just sat and grinned and rolled our eyes at each other like big old rubes and ate and ate and ate. So if anyone has photos of any of the dishes we ate, would you please post them so that I can copy for our journal? After the comped croquetas, our next dish was the Poached Egg, Jamon Serrano, Chorizo, Smoked Cheese and Rice Cracker Crusted Asparagus – truly luxurious – like Tupac says in his review of the restaurant on the Degustation thread, it becomes like a soup with the slow poached egg.
Next was the Grilled Spanish Mackerel, with a Trio of Apples and the Seared Scallops, Jamon Serrano Broth, Carrots and Artichokes – this was topped with deep fried baby artichokes. The mackerel was not oily and strong, the way I expected it to be, but very, very flavorful anyway (I didn’t find the apple additions terribly interesting). The scallops were fantastic – perfectly cooked and I could eat deep fried artichokes for months without getting tired of them
. I’m going to learn how to do that. Our last dishes were the Crispy Sweetbreads, Cucumber Dill Greek Yogurt w/ Thai Chilies and the Grilled Lamb Belly, with a Maitake Mushroom and Potato Hash brown, Beet Gastrique and a Slowly Poached Quail Egg. I admit that I was ‘ascared’ of the sweetbreads, but I was very brave and they were awesome. Really. I almost wished that I was my old big belly self so that I could eat more. Of course, they were crispy – deep fried. And I am a Southerner. So if you served me boiled ones <slight shudder>, all bets might be off
! The grilled lamb belly was fabulous, too. Mr. Kim freaked a little until I told him it was like lamb bacon, then he dove in and got all happy and greasy. The little hash brown cake was adorable and tasty with its tiny quail egg cap! I smeared the soft yolk around like I was at some wee elf diner and wished for a tiny little biscuit to sop up the juices! All in all, a fantastic and perfect anniversary celebration. We really felt like we were eating at a new level. It was interesting, beautiful and different food, without trying too hard or being weird for weirdness’ sake, if that makes sense. We talked about it for a few days like you do when you have read an important book. I think that we are now harder to please. So next time Mr. Kim intends to fight Matt Lauer for the seats
.It was turning very cold, so getting to the Pegu club was a relief. Mr. Kim was very suspicious of y’all when we were trying to find it. I think that he thought we were going to be shanghaied! But we opened the door and all that warm red and the jazzy music enveloped us and he was his old trusting self again. We climbed the steps and were instantly comfortable with that atmosphere! Unfortunately, there were no seats available at the bar (I like to watch
), so we found a table and ordered drinks. I distinctly remember writing down what we had and can’t find the paper anywhere. Mr. Kim had something with ginger beer in it and mine had some brandy. Whatever, they were delicious. It was so delightful sitting there sipping a complex, delicious cocktail, listening to beautiful music in those sophisticated surroundings. And watching the lovely YOUNG people. Honestly, I have never felt so old and fat as I did this trip. Everywhere we went, we kept saying, “we are the oldest and fattest people here.” It was very odd. In Richmond, we are rather attractive and au courant. In NYC? Not so much.We swung by Times Square, which Mr. Kim had never seen at night, went back to our hotel, got into the Omni robes and took pictures of each other in them, like the big, giant hicks that we are and snoozed like happy little piglets.
Wednesday, March 21
Since this was the day we leaving, we just focused on one area of town to go to. We were walking and I was so cold that when Mr. Kim told me we could stop and eat anywhere, I turned into the first place we passed. So, we had breakfast at Burger Heaven on Madison Ave. Again, I am sure this place was nothing special in NY. But for us, it was wonderful. Mr. Kim ate something, but his main aim was coffee. I had your basic egg, sausage, home fries and toast breakfast. The sausage was incredible and of a sort we just don’t get down here. It was very fat (thick) and really, really meaty tasting. Ours are about the size of my finger and bland. Also, the multi grain bread used to make the toast was remarkably good. I’d love to know what they get.
This morning was (by chance, not design) devoted to the viewing, photographing and obtaining of various sweet goodies. We stopped by and didn’t go in (it brought out our inner mices a little) Lady M:
We did go in, and drooled over, and photographed and were treated in a very lovely manner by the folks at La Maison Du Chocolat:
Some shots of the store:
What we brought home:
This stuff was truly above and beyond anything we had ever tasted before. We are so spoiled now. The chocolates were phenomenally creamy and rich and complex. That triangular thing was coconut inside. And the nougat was hard to share.
Then we went over to Payard were we drooled some more and took a pile of pictures before they fussed at us – “No pictures, no pictures!”:
Idiotic rule. But we didn’t get ugly with them about it because we didn’t want them to spit on these:
I don’t know what all these things we brought home were except I got two brioche things (because I am a fool for brioche) – one was almond and candied orange (mmmmm) and they were all delicious.
The last thing on my list of things to find in NYC, I managed to find at D’Agostino’s:
I almost danced in the aisle when I saw these on the shelf. Drake’s coffee cakes and Yankee Doodles – the best, best, BEST ever snack cakes. And not to be found in Richmond in more than 5 years! I bought an entire box of each!
Funny thing about this trip was that I lost 3 lbs. and that I didn’t get ill once. Since having the gastric bypass, I get ill a lot if I eat rich stuff or just eat too much. But it didn’t happen at all. As you can see I was eating a lot of different things, but I think that I was getting so much exercise and activity that it helped keep me on an even keel. Nice. I’ll have to remember that and see if it helps at home.
So that’s our trip. We had an amazing and too-short visit. We want to come back soon. We have so many places that we want to go to. Thank you to everyone who gave me advice and answered my questions. I’m sorry that I didn’t get to meet any of you this time, but I felt your presence in every place I visited. I feel very glad that I found egullet a few years ago and also that I finally got up the nerve to sign up and begin posting. I think that I could go to any country in the world now and feel that same presence and welcome and comfort. Thank you all!
Kim
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Sure! It's actually a cake recipe that makes no mention of cupcakes, but they worked fine. Be forewarned, the batter is pretty thin. Here's the RECIPE
I also grated most of a bar of Lindt bittersweet chocolate into it and they came out wonderful! I actually liked the cake more than the frosting so I'll leave you to find a better one. (I didn't use the one listed, I used another which turned out to be a mistake....too sweet and grainy!) They also bake up to pretty high dome (not sure if you like that or not):
As you can see, I greased and floured the cupcake pan, so I'm not sure how liners would work out. (probably fine)
doughgirl, how many cupcakes did it make? Also you said, "I also grated most of a bar of Lindt bittersweet chocolate into it". What size bar and was this separate from the chocolate that you grated on top of the cupcakes?
Can't wait to make these!!
Kim
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I live in rural Southern Virginia. We have a Jersey milk cow for our own use and have 6 Katahdin ewes and a flock sire. So far this year we have 4 ram freezer lambs. We have one left in the frezzer from last year and his will be the leg of lamb for this year's Easter dinner. We also have a flock of chickens which supply all our eggs and the extra roosters amke the most lovely stock.
I will try and figure out the pic posting thing as I would love to contribute that way as well. I see so many appetizing, beautiful culinary offerings from so many of the members here!
All the best,
~Berta
Another Virginian!! I am in Richmond. Welcome, welcome!
Kim
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We love Gingerbread Waffles.
I also make corn bread waffles (just use your favorite corn bread recipe and cook in the waffle maker) and top with pulled pork. Really, really good.
I have a recipe for coconut waffles that I am going to try soon - will check back in with that report when I have done them.
Kim
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When we were in NY last week, we went by Lady M. It is really beautiful and I got a couple of good shots through the window (I will never understand the hysterical "no pictures" thing - they put much better and clearer (i.e. - more 'copy-able) pictures on their website than I could ever take), but we just 'window shopped' because we weren't really ready to sit down and have a dessert right then and weren't sure how amenable they would be to 'take out'
! I swear to God, we tiptoed through NY like scared mice - we were overrawed and intimidated by a lot of the places we saw and that is just not us
. I don't know what was up with us. I am prepping our 'report' and will attach it and photos of our visit to the thread I started requesting info for our trip. Pan suggested that was a good place to report back.
Kim
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The crunchy bits in the dessert are italian amarettii cookies, slightly crushed.
Such a great item to use in other ways than just eating. I put them on top of grilled peaches that have a little mascarpone on them. MMMM.
Have I mentioned that when we have our worldwide egullet potluck, I would like Marlene to be in charge of the roasted meats??? Seriously, Marlene, everything you make looks wonderful, but that roast??? What is it that Daniel says? "redunk"? Yep, it is redunk!!!
Kim
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Pears in puff pastry.
Today, at our local "gourmet" grocery(LOL)...I found some pears that were an unusual color, very pale yellow, almost white. The little sticky label called them 'Ya Pears', with no indication of country of origin. They looked very good with no bruising or apparent flaws. Unfortunately, when I got home I found they were extremely hard and with very little taste. Sauteed in sugar and butter and encased with pastry they were o.k, but hardly memorable.
I have the impression that they are an Asian variety because of their placement in the store. Has anyone heard of these, and were they simply unripe?
Disclosure: Ted is my dad. I will have to show you how to post your photos here - that way you could show a photo of the hard little pear, too!
Ted is going to Europe in a couple of weeks. Take plenty of pictures so that you can do a report when you come back! I know I will want to see that. He's a great writer (brag, brag)!
Kim
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Today I made Martha Stewart's strawberries and cream cheesecake. It was great. The pictures not so much...
Rebecca - is this the one that you make with roasted strawberries??? If so, I make that one, too and it is awesome (I am 47 and rarely use that word, but it is correct in this case)!!!
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Bruce beat me to it, but I just want to add my yippee!!! that Ann's gorgeous pictures are gracing this thread again. I missed my bread fix!
Kim
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Kim, I may need to use that potato recipe...looks great
Pressure cooker shortribs with kohlrabi and carrots. Once again, I'm amazed at what the pressure cooker can do...
Nishla - here you go: Gratin Dauphinois! It really was good. Thanks to Marlene and Tony, I can now serve guest quality gratins without the embarrassment of watery, still-crunchy potatoes
! I even PM'd Mr. B. a thank you note. And I just have to say: I GOTTA get a pressure cooker. Those short ribs? <Drool>!!!
Kim
Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
Jason, those are just gorgeous. Sesame, especially black sesame is one of my favorite flavors. I went to your blog and copied the recipe. I'd really like to try these. Thank you for posting.
Kim