Kim Shook

Bruce - MORE rice !! It just looks so good with those lovely, glisteny vegetables! Meredith - Just gorgeous! A couple of recent breakfasts - fried eggs, ham (leftover from Easter), hot cross buns (ditto) and brioche toast: onion bagel with a fried egg and some of the good sausage that we got on our trip to the OBX:

tkassum - that is some good lookin' quiche! Shelby & Percyn - those burgers are wonderful looking! nickrey - how did that salmon taste? It looked gorgeous! Ann - I'm so glad to 'see' you! That pork is lovely and I could hear the cracklin crunch from just the picture - beautiful! Shelby - this is said with all my love and respect: is this weird week at your house? Our daughter, Jessica, made dinner for us on Saturday: Chicken enchiladas and chips. This is one of our favorites - really good!

OMG - where to start? Between Rob's utterly lovely mousse, Joe's delectable looking cheesecake and Ann and Amy's cookies, I would have a hard time choosing. Just beautiful work folks! This is actually not my pie, but my daughter, Jessica’s. She had a pastry lesson Tuesday night with my MIL, a real pastry expert. She makes some of the best pie crust I’ve ever had. Jessica is a pie filling expert – this is her apple, citrus and toffee pie filling in her very first from-scratch crust: Very proud Momma here – she’s 25 and has produced a shatteringly crisp, light pie crust. I’m almost 50 and still unroll the Pillsbury things !

Always, always, ALWAYS ! You are absolutely right. I have to say "very, very well done, please" and still isn't enough at some places. That's why I like places where I can get a slice, because when they put it back in the oven to heat up, it usually gets done enough (not always, though).

Is there a hardware store (paint) brush that would work as a pastry brush? I have so much trouble with shedding. I like the silicone brushes for some things but they do transfer too much butter and oil when you are using them for pastry. I haven't ever noticed much shedding with good paint brushes - even with repeated use. But are they food safe? If not, and I have to buy a regular pastry brush can someone possibly recommend a brand. I've bought dozens of them over the years and they last for a couple of uses and then we're pulling bristles off the food!

I don't have any feeling that wearing one is inappropriate. I have two - one from when I used to give cooking demos at The Fresh Market when I worked there and another that was a gift from my in laws from their Mexico cruise. I never wear them, though. I don't even like wearing long sleeves to cook in. T-shirts and a long apron (with pockets or, better yet really long ties that come around the front to tie) is all I can stand.

Shelby - what a great trip and what a wonderful report. It all sounds fantastic. Some of my family is from there and I've always wanted to take my mom back for a visit. Thanks for the pictures and the descriptions and everything!

percyn – more corned beef goodness. Mr. Kim and I have determined to do one of those soon. Lauriux – you certainly don’t need to apologize for using hot dogs for breakfast. I like them anytime at all. And I haven’t tried using grilled ones either – I’ll be trying that. Nate – even if the potato ‘batter’ was too heavy, it’s still a fabulous idea to use for eggs Benedict and I’m going to steal it! Easter breakfast: Fontina, Emmentaler and herb omelets, Benton’s bacon, home fries and my MIL’s hot cross buns.

tammylc – gorgeous stuff! I am especially amazed by those tulips! Lapin – Your bunny is adorable and the eggs look wonderful! Some candy I put together for the kids in our family for Easter: It’s called Jelly Belly bark. The original recipe called for white candy coating and I hate that stuff. So Kerry and Lisa Shock suggested that I just use good quality white chocolate. You just melt it and top with jelly beans. I am not a white chocolate fan (too sweet for me), but it’s pretty and nothing is too sweet for my nieces and nephews!

My daughter fell in love with Supermac's garlic cheese fries when she was in Ireland. She is dying to find a 'copycat' recipe. She says that they aren't just garlicy fries, but that the sauce is a "garlic sauce of wonders" ! Does anyone have any idea how they might do this sauce? Thank you so much!

Memories are regrettably short. FTV knows that. Howard Stern came back, so did the reptilian Don Imus.

Pastrygirl - those bonbons are amazing! They are so shiny that they looked like marbles to me, too! I am impressed! Dessert for dinner last night was a Figgy Apple-Mascarpone Tart with Green Apple Ice and Apple Cider Caramel that Lisa2K posted here sometime last year, I think. It looked so good that I printed out the recipe and finally made it. I'm so glad that I did! It was gorgeous and tasted so good. The tart: Plated: I have to say that as good as the tart was, the ice was even better! It was like essence of green apple. Everyone loved it! Thank you so much for posting that, Lisa2K!

Flotch - the Pissaladiere is just lovely! Bruce - that is such good chicken. We haven't had it since last summer - I need to put that on my 'do again' list! Nate - the chicken and ribs look perfect! Ktepi - gorgeous pizza - I like the idea of ramps on pizza! Prawn - lovely meal and I'm glad the new kitchen suits! (pictures, pictures!) David - those oysters !!! I will be trying the Wondra coating - I love a really thin, crisp coating. We had some friends over for dinner last night including eG's Zeemanb and his lovely Meredith (there would be pictures of them, too, but the ONE that Mr. Kim took was completely blurry ). The calm before the storm: Hanging around the kitchen snacks: Chili Lemon Rice Crackers, Green Bean Crisps, Smoked Oysters & OIives Apps: Goat & Fontina cheese puffs w/ black pepper infused local honey: I think maybe I won't do the slashes next time, it looks kind of gross, but they were absolutely delicous. Orange-Pecan Salad w/ Paprika dressing: Beef Bourguignon and Cheddar Grits Cakes: A shot of the grits cakes: I put them on a Panini maker and got some nice grill marks. Sauteed Sliced Brussels Sprouts w/ pancetta: Roasted Artichoke Hearts: These were absolutely tasteless. This was a recipe from some old PBS show called 'The Holiday Table'. I've made plain - olive oil, salt and pepper - roasted ones before and loved them, but the coating on these was just a sodden mush, the only crispy parts were just the very edges of the crumbs. Blah. Bread machine brioche: I've made this bread a couple of times and I really am happy with it. It's delicious fresh and leftovers make fantastic French toast. Cheese course: Cheeses were Supreme Brie, cave-aged bleu, Emmental, white Stilton w/ lemon peel (fantastic) and Morbier les Trois Comtois, the preserves were Rowena's carrot jam, Stonewall Kitchen Old Farmhouse chutney and Pepper Patch Jezebel sauce Dessert was something that Lisa2K posted on the dessert thread sometime last year I think: It was a Figgy Apple-Mascarpone Tart with Green Apple Ice and Apple Cider Caramel. Plated: This was incredible - a wonderful finale for the meal. The green apple ice was insanely good and possibly the best thing on the table all night. I was really proud to have made it! Thank you, Lisa2K!

Tri2Cook - thank you so much! That is a very similar method to some nuts that I do. I can think of lots of things to do with caramelized cereal!

Oh, my goodness what amazing cooks are at eG! Really beautiful and inspiring stuff, y'all! Rob - I would have loved to have been a PB pie guinea pig - it is my all time favorite thing. If I could only eat ONE THING for the rest of my life, I would have to pick PB! The final recipe looks fantastic! Ilana - your chocolate bars are gorgeous. I love the idea of adding the candied peels! cmflick - I love the bunny and I agree with Darienne - you can't go wrong with a chocolate bunny! Tri2Cook - I love, love, LOVE your cereal!!!! How do you caramelize cornflakes?? I made these last night for a birthday at work today: Carrot Cake Cupcakes. They are an Ina Garten recipe. Very moist and flavorful without being heavy. I left out the raisins, by request . I cheated on the frosting and used the canned stuff because I was so late getting home tonight. The canned cream cheese frosting is really pretty good, IMO, but the tubes of decorating goo were crap. It blobbed and bubbled and ran all over the place – I will never use that stuff again .

Thanks for the kind comments on Mr. Kim and Jessica's dinner - they were tickled that you all responded! Prawn - enjoy your new kitchen! Looks like it is producing very well - I especially love the linguini and clams! Percy - thank you for the link for the Korean beef - I think I have every single thing needed at home right now. My cooking has been really boring lately. I am doing a dinner party on Sunday and I think that I've been concentrating on that instead of daily stuff! Dinner Tuesday night was cheeseburgers on focaccia, broccoli and salad: Last night was a very lazy one – eggs on toast, hash browns (frozen) and NC sausage: Dessert was one of these: Carrot Cake Cupcakes I made for a birthday at work today.

I am making beef bourguignon this weekend for a dinner party. What cut of beef should I use? I usually try to find something that is nicely marbled to stay moist, but really want this to be delectable, so I'd love some guidance! Ta!

Every year, if possible, we try to spend a weekend in the Outer Banks of NC to celebrate our anniversary. This year was our 27th. We always have our celebratory dinner at Ocean Boulevard. Every year we worry that it will have gone down hill and that we will be disappointed. Every year, we discover that we have worried unnecessarily. This year was no exception. We ate at the kitchen pass through and got to watch the fun: Mr. Kim started out the with a small plate of Jerk beef tenderloin, rice & black beans, guacamole, tomato concasse and roasted red peppers. He really loved this - probably his favorite thing that he ate that night: My small plate was pulled duck confit & local greens en crepe with candied pecans, orange supremes and Humbolt Fog bleu. This was fantastic - the confit was excellent - so tender and deeply flavored: Mr. Kim's main was fried rice of NC shrimp and swordfish, cured pork belly, julienned vegetables and baby shiitakes and hot sweet & sour sauce. I thought that the fish was a little dry (but I almost always fine swordfish a little dry), but he liked it a lot. My main was Crispy Panfried NC Catfish & Blackened Oysters on an Heirloom Grits cake, braised collard greens and lemon aoili and smoked peanuts. I almost never order catfish because it can be so muddy tasting, but figured that it was worth the gamble here. It was. So tender and sweet. Everything tasted wonderful and went together so well. The oysters, while tasting perfectly sweet and being so tender and properly cooked, had a very gummy coating - it was too thick and in not overcooking the oysters, I think they undercooked the coating because it was so thick: We didn't have room for dessert, so we took home some Orange-Cream Cheesecake. It was delicious - thick, creamy and moist without being wet. I forgot to take a picture of that. We are so glad that we can still recommend this restaurant to folks looking for a really good meal in the Outer Banks.

Knaw – that coq au vin is just gorgeous! So dark and rich looking! Percy – that Korean bbq looks so good. What is in the marinade/sauce?? We love skirt steak (I actually have some in freezer right now) and I know we’d love that! I spent the weekend in NC with my parents and Mr. Kim had dinner for me when I got home tonight. He made a really good Bibb salad with apples, Purple Haze goat cheese, bacon and the tomato, sweet/sour dressing that we get from a local deli. The main course was Pork Chops with Cranberry-Thyme Pan sauce and some nice little new potatoes steamed and sautéed in bacon grease. Jessica made her Dirty Corn – corn fried in bacon grease with bacon, pepper and salt. It was all delicious and very, very welcome!

Percy - thank you for the good wishes. Mr. Kim says that he'll have one of those incredible corned beef biscuits to celebrate! Bruce - that is beautiful. Another breakfast that Mr. Kim would like to celebrate with! I made those pancakes again this weekend for my parents while I was visiting them in NC. They looked the same - no pictures!

Shelby – no apologies! I am impressed by the sushi – I couldn’t manage that nearly as well! Dinner tonight was boneless chicken breasts done in the Panini maker. They were marinated with bottled Caesar dressing and brushed with Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce. We are trying to be a bit healthier – Mr. Kim and I both want to lose some weight and have diabetes/cholesterol/blood pressure concerns. They were a bit dull. But the method was really quick and easy. I’d like to try this with boneless thighs: Dessert was much better: Strawberries with double Devon cream and demera sugar. We shared !

I have a stupid question - You guys don't let the butter melt? Or was that just for the beauty shot. I find it VERY important to use mass quantities of butter, and make sure it all melts before the maple syrup goes on... ← Not stupid at all. That was just for the beauty shot, but I took it off. I don't put butter on stuff that will have syrup, jam, gravy, etc. on it. I can't really taste it and the extra fat can make me nauseous (I am 6 years away from gastric bypass surgery). But I should have let it melt a little - to look more luxurious!

Nancy - that is an awesome looking sandwich! percy - as usual, you are the king of eggdom! We spent the past weekend in the Outer Banks. Friday was our 27th wedding anniversary. The only cooking that I did was breakfast on Sunday: The sausage is some local meat that we get every year from a store at the VA/NC border. It is delicious and we always stop Sunday night and get some for the freezer. The pancakes are the buttermilk ones that a friend at cookskorner.com made. They are our new favorites - really, really good. The only real difference between this recipe and my usual is the buttermilk, which my regular recipe doesn’t call for. It really does seem to make the pancakes fluffier.

Here's a link to where I have the recipe.

Kim, I think if you chilled them just the same but flattened them a bit when you put them on the pan that they would probably turn out just right. ← Thank you, I'll try that the next time I do them. They were a little 'dome-y', weren't they ?