Kim Shook

And didn't that feel good!!

Chufi – Lucky Mr. Klary and Happy Birthday to him!!! Dinner tonight almost totally a pantry/freezer dinner. I’ve been inspired by the Klatsch non-shopping topic, even though I didn’t participate. We had broiled chicken breasts w/ Marlene’s BBQ sauce, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce (both frozen since Christmas), salad and Ina Garten’s Easy Sticky Buns. I love sticky buns/cinnamon buns with BBQ chicken and these were really delicious and easy (about 10 minutes prep time – not including baking), but these had WAY too much butter. I’ll cut it in half next time. Because I was cooking from the freezer, I wasn't really planning, per se, and it didn't occur to me until I served the meal that it was an awfully SWEET dinner !

menuinprogress - gorgeous scallops! eVITAERC – lovely meal. Those sprouts look so vibrant! Enjoy your new space. I always miss cold weather foods when it gets warm and we’ve had a nice cold weekend, so I made my stepmom’s beef stroganoff. It is one of our favorites in spite of the onion soup mix that it calls for ! I also tried out a recipe for Brussels sprouts au gratin that slkinsey kindly sent me. We had had something similar at a restaurant and loved it and I noticed that he had made it a couple of months back and asked for help. We really loved it and will be having it a lot! Dessert was some banana bread that I made yesterday:

Joe – that coffee cake looks gorgeous and I am joining the amazement at your perfect and beautiful graham crackers. I love graham crackers (even the boxed ones are ok if they are the ones with cinnamon sugar), but very few bakeries make them. You may have just inspired me to try my own! I’ve found the AB recipe – what did you add/do differently, if you don’t mind telling? RobertM – your Milk Chocolate-Mocha Tart is beautiful! Well done! Are those just white jimmies on top and on the plate? What a nice presentation. schneich – Mr. Shook and I loved your éclairs! Now if we could just get to Cologne, we’d have one of each! suzi – yummy looking jam cake. I haven’t made one of those in years and we love them! Good wishes to johnnybird and tell him that Mr. Kim was asking for Toast Dope yesterday! I haven’t made a batch in awhile and he’s missing it! I’m not participating in Fat Guy’s Klatsch challenge, but I am loving following the thread and it inspired me to dig around my freezer and I came up with eight frozen bananas! Chocolate Chip Banana Bread w/ Chocolate Chips and Candied Pecans:

Oh, I think I know, Chris. I have never seen anything that would indicate that you would be anything less than graceful and kind in such a situation.

← Wow. As many of the commenters to that noted, that was tactless and classless. Carla took the blame on the show, and instead of being grateful for that, Casey made sure to rub it in one more time. While she attempted to save face, she ended up making herself look like a totally mannerless person. In addition to that, Carla's bio on the TC website and Carla herself say that she has classical French training. SO either they're lying, or Casey is just plain wrong. ← I agree with Mike completely. How utterly graceless of Casey. I saw NO attempt on Carla's part to 'throw Casey under the bus' to coin a phrase , so I'm guessing she's feeling a little guilt that she can't admit to.

I've been rooting for Carla from the beginning and knew she'd screwed herself last night when she veered away from her comfort zone. I was sorry, but understood. Then there was no one left for me to root for. The best thing about last night was seeing Richard.

This experience/experiment sounds worthy of it's own thread to me!

Tussius - that is one gorgeous burger! I showed it to Mr. Kim and even though we were going to a friends house for a burger cookout, we almost headed out to our favorite burger place for a fix! Dinner on Sunday night was corned beef sandwiches w/ swiss cheese and mustard slaw and cream of tomato soup (it was canned ). Just what we needed - very easy and comforting and GOOD: Mr. Mike wanted to make beef stew this weekend, so we made my grandmother's Chuckwagon Stew on Sunday: This stew was the only thing my sweet grandmother ever made well. She was a second generation Italian American who's spaghetti sauce recipe was watered down tomato paste! I think that the original recipe came from an old Southern Living magazine and I believe that I added the wine - the only wine that I ever saw in Bomo's fridge was Manischewitz Concord Grape ! We heated it up last night with leftover slaw and a baguette: I am trying to cook a few cold weather things while we still have decent weather, before the heat arrives!

percyn – we adore Benton’s. We have 8 lbs. of the bacon and some of the ‘proscuitto’ in the fridge right now. We haven’t tried the ham slices yet – I’ll get Mr. Kim to add them to our next order. We have been completely spoiled for any grocery store bacon including Neuske’s! We gave some to our dads last father’s day and both of them thought that it was too strongly flavored and didn’t really care for it! Prawn – just a gorgeous, gorgeous egg shot! That is exactly how I like my eggs. I got ‘schooled’ by our waiter this morning at breakfast. I ordered over medium and it came with clear, raw whites when cut. When I sent it back, he informed me that if I didn’t want uncooked whites, I should have requested ‘over medium-well’ . Yes, he still has a face, why do you ask? Shalmanese – I think that would be my new favorite breakfast, too.

Anna - I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles and so glad you have insurance! What a lot of mess you'll have to go through! Thanks for the link to the cauliflower recipe. It sounds wonderful and I'll be trying it! I guess you know you're an eGulleteer when you use a friend's troubles to find a new way to cook cauliflower!

er...this is not a problem for me . As a matter of fact, if Yankee Candle had a 'Hot Fries' candle, I'd buy them out!

We had them last night, cooked basically the way I usually do (taught to me by my English dad - Ted Fairhead). I lightly steamed them, cut them in half and sauteed. The only difference with last night's sprouts was that instead of butter, I used leftover bacon grease from some Benton's bacon that I had in the fridge. They were amazing! BTW, Hi Sandy!! I haven't seen you on any of the threads that I frequent and it's really nice to 'run into' you!

OOOOHHH, Shelby! That looks amazingly gooey and good! I love French onion soup and love to play around with different methods/onions etc. I'll have to make it before it gets too warm!

Why lower? Were they not cooked through? ← They were cooked through, but were slightly too dry. I thought that doing them at a lower temperature would give them the cooked, but limp quality that I've noticed in other peoples first fry. ← Have you tried different types of potatoes? Your temperatures sound good to me. I think a waxy potato makes moister fries. ← I haven't, but I will, because I really do like a creamier, moist center. Thank you, ma'am!

Why lower? Were they not cooked through? ← They were cooked through, but were slightly too dry. I thought that doing them at a lower temperature would give them the cooked, but limp quality that I've noticed in other peoples first fry.

OnigiriFB – I too, have usually had better luck with frozen fries than with fresh ones at home, but I keep trying because I can’t believe that I can’t better frozen ones sooner or later (though I am not ashamed to admit that I like frozen fries just fine). I made twice cooked fries this past Friday. I used russets and cut them with my handy-dandy new cutter: Which I just love. It comes with two cutting plates – one skinny like McD’s and the other large, which is the one that I like. I soaked them in water for a couple of hours, rinsed dried and then cooked at 325 degrees in my deep fryer to this point: Then when they had drained, I put them on a ½ sheet pan and put them in the fridge. The next evening, just before serving, I fried them at 375 to this point: They turned out very well – I tossed them with some Paula Deen’s house seasoning (salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder, I think) and a touch of cayenne. I think that the next time, I’ll try the first fry at a lower temperature.

Percyn - please 'splain slow cooked eggs. I want one of those for dinner tonight...or a midnight snack...or breakfast tomorrow! Wow! Breakfast on Sunday was scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, twice cooked French fries (I still have some leftover once cooked ones and they will finally be finished with tonight’s dinner!) and assorted bits of bread buttered and toasted:

SaladFingers – gorgeous duck and amazing sauce! Wow! Percyn – Oh, my! Your Valentine’s dinner is everything – perfectly beautiful, delicious sounding and that glisteny, loveliness! Ktepi – that is my kind of meal. I like the low version of pork and beans and I can’t imagine a more deluxe, lovely version than your upscale one! Jamon.Iberico – I want that sandwich! How did you do your artichoke hearts? Friday night was Mr. Kim’s poker party. I did grilled chicken sandwiches with Marlene’s phenomenal BBQ sauce, slaw, and twice cooked spicy fries: Dessert was Dream Cookies: and No Bake Peanut Butter Tarts w/ chocolate sauce: These cookies represent my oldest cooking – I have been making them for near 40 years. Since I was about 8 or 9 years old. The recipe is from one of those series that grocery stores used to sell – a different one every week. These were a Woman’s Day series and I remember looking at that particular volume because it had both Cookies and Christmas and I wanted to make everything in it. Momma and I made these wonderful shortbread-type cookies and they have never failed me since. You can tart them up with cinnamon sugar topping, or add toffee bits or citrus or just serve them perfectly plain. They are our favorite family cookies still.

Mr. Kim and I had dinner last night at Pomegranate on Cary Street almost in the Bottom. It calls itself a Euro-Bistro, just to give you an idea. Fantastic meal - this place has been open for 7 years and I can't believe that we've never been - we'll be going again and taking people with us! Doesn't hurt for Mr. Kim that the chef is a Steelers fan! The chef/owner is Kevin LaCivita. Really attractive place with companionably arranged tables - not too close or too far from one another. The chef's kids were there doing their homework at the back and I understand that his mother makes the desserts. Just the kind of place that you can imagine dropping in on once or twice a week, if you lived nearby. We don't, but we'll make the effort, I think. I started with a salad: baby arugula, bruschetta of herb Delice de Bourgogne cheese with a lemon and EVOO dressing. Really good and just on the edge of my tolerance for bitterness. This is what arugula should taste like. Mr. Kim started with the restaurant's signature soup (all the reviews that I've read mention it): Cream of Pumpkin, balsamic vinegar reduction and white truffle oil. It was really delicious and actually was perfect paired with my salad - we mentioned that the two of them would make a good lunch. The soup would have benefited, I think, from some sharp flavor to contrast with the sweetness - maybe a drizzle of sherry vinegar, creme fraiche or some spicy croutons. My main was roasted pork loin over rosti and spinach with a Dijon cream sauce. This was my second choice - I originally wanted the Frenched rack of lamb over mascarpone polenta and fresh arugula with a blueberry mint infused olive oil. But the chef hadn't gotten his lamb delivery, so I had to choose something else. Usually when this happens, you aren't really happy and you are set up to not like your 'second choice' as well. This was not the case here. The pork was some of the most tender and flavorful I've ever had. The cream sauce was delicious and unctuous without being too rich and the rosti was a revelation. I cannot imagine how it was done - the outside was crisp (even under the meat, spinach and sauce) and the inside tender and creamy with each strand of potato being separate. So good. And so well done. Mr. Kim's main was the beef bourguignon topped with truffle whipped mashed potatoes. A beautiful version of this most comforting of all comfort foods. Tenderly melting meat with a sauce that was perfect - not too sweet, as it sometimes is and and the potato was actually a thick potato cake with a beautiful crust. We were much too full for dessert, which was a choice of chocolate soup or caramelized berries with Chantilly cream. One thing - both Mr. Kim's soup and the bourguignon had truffle oil on them and we couldn't taste it on either one - I didn't miss it, but if it is supposed to be part of the flavor profile, they missed something. Our server was just perfect. Very nice and friendly without being the slightest bit pushy. Just human and nice. We had some great street theatre to keep us entertained. Across the street from our window table, some man had had to call the police because the cars parked (parallel) both in front and in back of him were literally no more than 6 inches away from his bumpers. It took forever for the tow truck to come, so we watched and surmised and laughed with the lady at the next table about how fascinating we all seemed to find this scene.

I have three recipe for you to think about: Banana Stuffed Croissant French Toast - you can use other fruit, if you like Gingerbread Waffles Toasted Coconut Waffles

Our daughter, Jessica, has been fascinated with Bento boxes lately and this was the lunch that she prepared for today: Lovely, huh? I hope she keeps it up! She did a really good job, I think.

Wow - I follow myself on the dinner thread again ! Dinner last night was skirt steak, slaw, roasted asparagus, leftovers of Marlene's potatoes and some mini croissants from Whole Foods:

Thank you both so much! And its great that I can start them Thursday and then do the final fry on Friday just as I'm serving them!

I am 'catering' Mr. Kim's poker party on Friday and I want to do spicy fries. How early can I do the first fry? An hour? A few hours? The night before? Thanks in advance!