Kim Shook

I never thought about it before, but someone on another website mentioned that she brines large amounts of stuff and THEN puts it in the freezer and doesn't have to brine before she cooks it. Just thaws and cooks. Does this really work? I never thought of it, but if it did, I'd use brined things a LOT more often. I like the effect of brining, but just don't plain enough in advance to do it.

Kim, I keep a butane torch handy just for these occasions when things need some help in color and flavor in certain spots. Good idea, percyn! I have a tiny little culinary one, but I've been eyeing the larger one at Lowe's for performing all kinds of kitchen mayhem!

Prawn – thank you! I love the look of those short ribs – I need to do them soon, I keep seeing them everywhere and they are ‘speaking’ to me. And your potato dauphinoise is possibly the most beautiful variation I’ve ever seen! David – your sole dish is lovely and the description sounds absolutely delicious! Thanks for the point by point, too! I love reading that kind of thing. Tonight I finally used the Cusinart rotisserie that Mr. Kim gave me for Christmas: Chicken all done: Out of the rotisserie: I was a little disappointed in the skin. I thought it would be crisper. The meat was completely done, but the skin was a little pallid in most places. Carved: Plated with broccoli and hollandaise, Marlene’s Crispy Smashed Potatoes and Marlene’s yorkies: With gravy:

kayb – your French toast looks so perfect. I’m jealous, mine never gets that evenly toasty! Blether – your fish looks delicious with those little crispy blisters! And Komatsuna sounds like a green I would like a lot! Breakfast this morning was very simple: Scrambled eggs, cantaloupe, sausage and croissant

YAY! we love love LOVE spaghetti and meatballs. perhaps the definition of comfort food. ummm garlic bread. I know what I'm doing for lunch. or dinner. Well, crap. I didn't realize until just now that I forgot to make the garlic bread. I had some really good long breadsticks in the freezer that I was going to use, too. Next time.

Dinner two nights ago: Spaghetti and meatballs. All but the pasta was frozen and just needed heating up. I’m not big on leftovers, but spaghetti sauce is different!

Catherine, frozen bananas are a boardwalk tradition in the US and I love them dearly. A trip to the beach would not be complete without one.

Lapping myself. Dinner tonight: Leftover mini frittatas with cornmeal griddle bread and country gravy. Good combination.

Bruce – gorgeous burgers! I feel the frozen patty pain – Mr. Kim is always buying them and cooking a gross to feed us all week. Ick. Mrs. C’s cabbage salad looks and sounds wonderful! I make something similar and it is a favorite around here. deensiebat – I love knishes, but I’ve never made them myself! I’m impressed. Dinner last night was Buffalo wings and veggies:

Kim, as usual, the recipe sounds divine, but when do you put in the cranberry sauce? I would think it would go in at step 2, but maybe I'm nuts or did I miss something? Thanks! Doh! Thanks so much for catching that. I've been making this dish for more than 30 years and I guess I just mentally inserted the proper directions! Yes, it goes in at step 2, like you thought. And you would sprinkle it with GINGER rather than the less known spice, GINER (which sounds vaguely obscene anyway). I'll be updating it on my webpage! Thank you, again!!

Chris - I don't know if casseroles are your thing, but this one is really good and actually goes from freezer to oven for 2 hours, turning the pieces once after one hour.

Hi Kim, Nice looking dinner. Have you ever made Arancini with your leftover risotto? Thanks, Nick. Well, that's leftover ORZO risotto (my daughter and I can't eat rice - both have had gastric bypasses) - do you think it would work? I adore arancini! For interest's sake Kim, have you ever tried farro as a substitute for rice in your risotto? No, I haven't ever thought of it, Nick. I'll make a note to grab some next time I see it and try it. Thanks!

Someone at work ordered a giant cupcake cake to give to a friend: The cake was a weird recipe – Melted Ice Cream Cake. It’s one of those Ann Byrn cake mix fix-up recipes. I still haven’t found a yellow cake recipe that I love, so when someone requests yellow cake, I tend to tart up a cake mix. This was actually pretty good – you just add melted ice cream in place of any water and oil to the cake mix and then add eggs. The cake was very moist and dense and rich flavored. The frosting is my usual Fudgy Chocolate Buttercream. I used a yellow-dyed white buttercream on the bottom to mimic a paper cupcake cup.

Our breakfast this morning was Mini Ham and Cheese Frittatas – a Taste of Home recipe: We also had Kerry Cornmeal Griddle Bread from Darina Allen’s Forgotten Skills of Cooking: The griddle cakes tasted great, but I think that I did something wrong. They were too thick, I think. The recipe was unclear, but indicated that you were to use all of the batter to make one cake and maybe I should have made 2 or more.

Rico – we had the salsa again tonight on tostadas – still so good! Bella – we really loved it. I wondered if the dressing would be too sweet with the OJ and maple syrup and it isn’t at all! I’ll be making it again, I know and I’ll try the pink lady apples. They are one of our favorite apples. Dinner tonight was Mexican Shredded Pork Tostadas from the March/April Cook’s Illustrated. The pork after simmering and pan frying: Plated w/ pineapple salsa, cojita cheese, avocado, cilantro and lime and black beans on the side: Close up:

Seriously, no one has cooked since Sunday?? Dinner tonight was Ina Garten’s Cape Cod Chopped Salad – arugula, apple, bacon, bleu cheese, toasted walnuts and dried cranberries with an orange juice vinaigrette: before tossing plated I don’t know why it’s called a ‘chopped’ salad – the only chopped stuff are the walnuts and the bacon. But it was really good!

percy – that lobster roll looks fabulous! Dinner tonight was chopped salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette and shrimp quesadillas. Salad: quesadillas in the pan: Plated w/ Rico's pineapple salsa and black beans: Rico, that pineapple salsa was wonderful. And perfect with shrimp. We had some leftover and I think that we'll just be eating it with a spoon! Dessert was Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace cookies:

dystopiandreamgirl – your panna cotta is just so lovely and the pan you used is just perfect. Inspired by emmalish’s gorgeous picture, I made Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace cookies today: Truly some of the most divine cookies I’ve ever tasted.

Hi Kim, Nice looking dinner. Have you ever made Arancini with your leftover risotto? Thanks, Nick. Well, that's leftover ORZO risotto (my daughter and I can't eat rice - both have had gastric bypasses) - do you think it would work? I adore arancini!

Gail, I found them a one of those 'party' stores. Party City, maybe.

HappyLab – love the egg on the pasta. That is such a great idea and something that I never think of doing! nickrey – I love the combination of the figs, pork and pancetta! It looks delicious. Dinner last night was very simple: Cheeseburgers, baked beans and leftover risotto. The risotto saved very well – not as creamy, of course, but the texture and flavor were great.

Dinner tonight was (inexplicably dry) slow cooker country ribs, vermouth artichoke hearts, mashed potatoes and cloverleaf rolls:

For anyone who is interested in my full report on our trip, I've finally posted it on my blog.

Gail - I'm astounded at such ambition! I do lots of large group entertaining, but only up to 50 or so. I'm sure that the folks here that cater have lots of ideas for you, but probably want more info from you. Where are you doing this? What will the kitchen facilities consist of? How much help do you have? That kind of thing. One thing that I've done with great success is shot glass desserts. I've done key lime pie and chocolate mousse. With the pie one, you just mix up gingersnap crumbs and butter and put that in the bottom of the glasses (I used disposable plastic ones - very inexpensive), fill a giant piping bag with key lime filling and squirt away. These can be done the day before and topped early with stabilized whipped cream. I've had these with cheesecake, fruit and cooky crumbles. When you start thinking about it, the possibilities are endless. Good luck! I'd love to hear a running report of how things are going.

That looks great, Darienne! I think that it should freeze just fine. You're doing a test freeze anyway, right? But, as long as its cooked first, I can't imagine that it would be a problem. The only thing that might happen is some drying out, and I always find oven French toast a little too damp anyway - I prefer it leftover rather than fresh out of the oven.