Kim Shook
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Posts posted by Kim Shook
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I am the worst at baking .....especially BREAD. I even make bad bread in a bread machine, for God's sake
...unless I use a boxed mix. I can't tell you how many loaves of bread and biscuit recipes that I've ruined. And I don't know WHAT I'm doing wrong. I think sometimes it's b/c I use too warm of water for the yeast....I do test it, but I think my thermometer wasn't working the last time. What type of thermometer is the proper one to use for breads? Anyway, I stumbled across a thread about Cook's Illustrated the other day here, and found that several people listed the American white Bread (I know...I don't eat white bread either, but my dh does)as being one of their favorites and super simple to make. I was stimulated and hopeful...but now I'm having second thoughts....
Does anyone have any tips for me on baking breads? I honestly don't know WHAT I'm doing wrong. I try to get the right yeast, and all fresh ingredients and everything turns out like a freakin BRICK. I spent hours on a biscuit recipe on Thanksgiving and they seriously could have been used for brick wall construction (this is sort of a Thanksgiving tradition now...my biscuits that I spend hours on and never make it to the table
). I REALLY want to be able to whip out homemade breads, but it seems such a waste of time, money and ingredients at this point. Along with having a hard time believing I can't do something competently, LOL. So, I"m going to try this one last recipe and pray that I get a decent loaf of bread for a change. Any tips or suggestions are welcome. I'm going to try this again tomorrow morning after I visit this forum! TIA.....and I'll def. post how it turns out (one way or the other
)That recipe is my 'go-to' for a loaf of very good, dependable bread. And 'white' is a bit deceiving. This is not Wonder Bread! It has good flavor and a great crumb. Just follow the directions exactly . I am absolutely not a baker, but have never had a failure with this bread. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
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I adore pot roast and have tried lots and lots of different recipes. Italian Pot Roast is still our favorite after years and years! It is from "Simple Fare" by Ronald Johnson. I usually double the liquid ingredients and serve it with egg noodles so that we can make soup with the leftovers. I'm not sure if I make it more for the pot roast or for the soup
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I think that this is one of those community cookbook type recipes that come back around again and again. The tunnel cake recipe had the frosting intact through the middle of the cake. These recipes have the frosting mixed into the batter. My mom was introduced to it by her new neighbor when she moved to NC. I've tasted a couple of them and I actually liked them very much. Very moist. But then I don't mind a good, doctored up cake mix. So YMMV
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Here, finally is a picture of the cake that I made for work on Monday:
It's a daiquiri poundcake that I've made for years, but haven't done in awhile. I seemed to have a poundcake hex the last few times that I made one, but this one turned out perfectly. It's a really old recipe. A friend of my mother's made it years ago - I 'collected' it long before I could legally buy the rum for it! I brought a camera to work so that I could get a picture of a slice, but when I went back to get a piece, it was gone - nothing but a corner left. It tasted great, though, and I had to print off the recipe for a few people. It's already been requested for future birthday celebrations!
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Tupac - gorgeous souffle! I love Idiazabal cheese and think it must make a wonderful souffle!
Made this for a potluck lunch that we had at work on Monday:
It's Marlene's red pepper jelly cheesecake. Always one of the most popular things I make. It always disappears before anything else.
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You could do assorted grilled sausages--playing the Trojans.....get it? ":^)
Actually a great idea and I'll mention it to Mr. Kim. Thanks for the good wishes - will be thinking of you farther south on game day!
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Lan4Dawg - fantastic menu. I am no where near that far along with my planning. This - "sea food Sloppy Little Joe’s Spread over Yellow Corn Bread" - sounds especially good!
Virginia's first game is vs. USC Trojans on 8/30. Game time is 12:30, my least favorite time for tailgating. We always visit with some folks who have a spot right at the stadium and so have to leave our tailgate at least 1 1/2 hours before the game starts. Breakfast tailgating is really one meal I'd just as soon purchase somewhere and eat car-side with the Post. If Mr. Kim insists on true tailgating, I'll probably make Scotch eggs with my new deep fryer (we'll eat those cold) and serve with some fruit salad and sweet rolls. We can't do our tailgating after the game for this one because we are hitting the road immediately to head down to NC for the rest of the weekend.
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Sugar Plum - Here is the recipe. I've made it for years - some friend of my mom's used to make it and it's always popular. Lovely madeleines, btw!
DesertCulinary - thanks for the slicing advice. I don't have one of those big cutters, but I'll try again with the hot knife. I found the brownies on epicurious. Thank you! Your picture is even prettier than the professional one!
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DesertCulinary - ok - you are my go-to PB & chocolate combo dessert muse now! It is my favorite flavor combination ever. To paraphrase my momma, if God made anything better than chocolate and peanut butter, He kept it for himself. I, too, would love the recipe for the brownies (or, at least the peanut butter layer). Also - how do you get such perfect edges? I've tried all the tricks with no luck! Would you share your method? And that lovely, flowy chocolate on top! Just beautiful.
mark - the pot de creme was extremely light, but not fluffy. It was almost weightless on your tongue and then you got a burst of chocolate. Really intense.
thecoffeesnob - welcome! Cupcakes are my favorite! Banana cake and chocolate frosting! Why didn't I ever think of that? I always put chocolate chips in my banana bread, but the cupcake idea never occured to me! Great idea!
Later tonight I'll post a picture of a daquiri pound cake that I made for work. I wanted to get a shot of the inside so I brought my camera to work with me. But it was gone before lunch was over and I could get back in to take the shot. It was really good - probably the best result I've ever had with a pound cake - very popular, too!
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I don't sing or draw or do any of the lasting, worthwhile, beautiful things that would be considered art. But the enjoyment of arranging a dish in a pleasing way, of seeing the colors and the textures and the shine---that feels like art, the only one I have.
I was about to write a joke-- something along the lines of, "NO! Just EAT IT!!!"
But Rachel, I'm a little choked up inside! What a lovely sentiment you've written here. Keep on keepin' on. (Er, is that the expression?)
Me too, Mark.
Except, Miss Rachel, you misspoke. You do have another gift, an art. Your gift for language is immense and even if we cannot share in your table art, we can, though your generosity, share in this other art!
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Dr. J - lovely meal - never too many pictures for me! I'm like a 4 year old 'reader', the more illustrations, the better!
Ihollers - welcome! Can't wait to see all of your imput! SD?? Wow - I'd love to visit there sometime! I hope that someone who is more technical minded than I has PM'd you with instructions, but if not, PM me and I'll try to help - I am computer illiterate, but I'll be glad to help!
Dinner last night:
Moroccan Lemon Chicken Tagine, couscous, tomatoes, roasted asparagus and salad
The chicken was done in the pressure cooker. Mr. Kim loved this. I liked it, but thought that next time, I should use chicken thighs rather than breasts. I love the pressure cooker, though. It was nice to have a meal like this ready in 30 minutes.
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I can never figure out why people care what I do. It's one thing if I am snapping away like Richard Avedon and causing bridal reception blindness with my flash. But I take one discreet shot of each plate, maybe a couple of my companions and never, ever use a flash. My picture taking would never draw attention. So why would anyone care? I get pleasure from looking at those pictures later. I am an inverdant memory keeper - I love keeping a record of the things that are special in my life - photos, matchbooks, letters, etc. I enjoy this. I have not a clue why that would annoy anyone else. Excuse my sentimentality, but I picture a frail old lady looking back over the special times in her life with the assistance of these pictures that some seem to hold in such contempt.
I have this same thought when someone seems to care what I eat. Why does my friend care that I like oysters and she doesn't? Or that I don't like her favorite restaurant? Or that I like catsup on my scrambled eggs, for God's sake??? What does it take away from you when I am different from you? It's hard to express tone in a forum like this, I don't mean to rant, I am truly perplexed.
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Shelby - your eggs have just been perfect! I am now planning on poached eggs for breakfast this weekend!
Sunday breakfast this weekend:
scrambled eggs, Benton's bacon, potatoes & raisin toast w/ mayhaw jelly
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Thanks so much, everyone! The are on their way tomorrow morning and are leaning towards the Strip district location based on what y'all recommended!
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Last night was salmon cakes, corn, roasted asparagus, tots and salad:
Nothing special, but very satisfying on a hot summer night - and we weren't so full that we couldn't go on a 3 mile post-prandial walk!
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Magus - I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Don't get discouraged - you did the right thing and you have a great plan and a great product - you'll get it all back again and more. Keep in touch! You have friends here that are interested in you and your success!
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I just got the CI American Classics 2008 issue. Out of 25 recipes, I've picked 18 that I want to try! That's a record for me - most other publications have a few I might like to try, maybe one or two that I actually will.
Last week I tried their fish and chips and they were wonderful. The fish batter was perfect.
BTW - has anyone heard about this little brouhaha? I like the magazine a lot, but, golly they take themselves seriously!
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Mr. Kim and his friend are coming to P'burgh for the Steeler's game this Friday. They want to eat at Primanti Brothers, but not the one at the stadium. They are staying at the airport. I noticed online that most of the locations are open very late - so they could eat before or after the game depending on what time they get to P'burgh. They are looking for which location that would be between the airport (where their hotel is) and the stadium. Thanks for the help!!
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Susan, I am enjoying my vicarious vacation very much, thank you! I'll have a slice of pie and then I'm going swimming
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Well, it took a year, and another birthday, but I made the Chocolate Bar cupcakes finally. They were a big hit, both at 'school' and at home. Nice brownie flavor.
The 'chocolate bar' was 62% ghiradelli chips. We got to use the scale for the first time, and herself measured all the dry goods.
The dairyfree restriction was lifted by changes in class population, and the frosting color restriction was also lifted, so I frosted them with a semi-sweet chocolate ganache. The munchkin decorated the tops with mini marshmallows.
We scaled the recipe to 150%. We baked 24 cupcakes, then 12 more. The batches were indistinguishable. The batter had nice stability. The finished cupcakes were very delicate and rich.
Somewhere, there's a picture.
Kim Shook's Chocolate Bar Cupcakes
I need to bake some dairy-free chocolate cupcakes ....I've never made cupcakes before & wont have time for a retry (then again, the intended audience wont be deducting points for appearance).
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thanks for any and all suggestions, comments and help.
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I'm so glad you liked them! It's one of my favorite cupcakes. I make them a lot after Christmas - we always forget whether we have chocolate or not for fudge when we are out shopping and see the bars on special. We always end up with extra bars to use up!
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For dessert last night, I made pots de creme:
I had never made this before and had no idea how easy it was! I got the recipe from Pioneer Woman. This is a no cook recipe - everything done in the blender. I'm not a coffee fan, so I used skim milk as the hot liquid. So good! I'll be making this recipe over and over again!
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Shelby - the pimento cheese looks perfect. It's one of my favorites - especially homemade. With a sleeve of saltines, it's a perfect solitary midnight snack!
adey - lovely meal! The crab dish with the blossoms was especially appealing! And the Homeric Merv is a darling
!Last night the in-laws came over. I made fried shrimp, fries, corn, slaw, 'panini'd' baguettes slices and assorted pickles and marinated vegetables:
(Otherwise known as a beige plate
) I love my new toys !And for dessert, I made pots de creme:
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Prawn – I cannot bear hot foods, but that chicken would tempt me! It’s gorgeous! And that ham
. I am a fool for all ham, but that one is just exactly what ham should look like!I have been wanting to make the Scallops w/ Miso-Mustard Cream Sauce that nakji made awhile ago – I even went out and got the miso a couple of weeks ago. But our wonderful seafood shop hasn’t had any scallops come in that they wanted to offer for awhile. Today, finally, success. They had large, dry scallops when we called this morning and we raced down to pick them up! They were gorgeous! Here they are after cooking:
Here they are plated with the sauce and some couscous that I cooked w/ toasted almonds, saffron, onion and golden raisins:
The scallops were just fantastic! Thank you so much, nakji for introducing it! The sauce was really tasty, but subtle and didn’t in any way overpower the sweetness of the scallops.
I served it with marinated cucumbers and sliced tomatoes with goat cheese and olive oil:
Dinner! 2008
in Cooking
Posted
Shelby - are you the cutie pie with the spoon on your nose in your avatar?
David - the pork roast is so succulent looking! I buy the best I can get, but mine never looks like that!
lhollers - lovely meal and congrats on figuring out the impenetrable imagegullet! That flank steak is just perfectly cooked!
Bruce - those wings look sweet and sticky and delicious - just the way I like them!
For Mr. Kim's birthday dinner last night, he requested steak, baked potato and salad (what can I say, he's a man
!). The salad was spinach and apple salad with hot bacon/red onion dressing:
A wonderful rib eye from the Butchery, baked potato, Hanover tomatoes, asiago bread and the shrimp from "Flavors of Morocco" that suzilightning made and described here a while ago:
The shrimp was really good and easy!
Dessert was purchased pastries:
We are having friends and family over on Sunday to celebrate and I'll be making his real birthday dessert then.
I will be having a real cooking orgy this weekend. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be making the desserts for Mr. Kim's birthday celebration on Sunday and doing some cooking ahead for his fantasy football draft that I'm catering: chili dog cassserole, ice cream sandwiches with Tri2Cook's toasted marshmallow ice cream and Sugar Baby cookies. Can't wait!