Kim Shook
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Posts posted by Kim Shook
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Here in Kansas we FINALLY got ONE ripe tomato. So, we had to smoke a turkey and make turkey sandwiches.
That looks great, Shelby! We aren't getting good tomatoes this year - not even out at the farm
! I love your cheery cherry plates! -
I searched, but didn't find this. I have a bunch of oil that I deep fried fish and chips in. The directions for the fryer say that I can strain and save the oil for a few uses. Two questions:
1). Since I cooked fish in it, is it worth saving?
2). If so, how fine a strain do I need to do. Is a fine mesh strainer good enough, or do I need to put it through something like a coffee filter? It's trying to go through a filter right now and it's going e x t r e m e l y s l o w l y.
Ta!
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I haven't eaten there in years and years, but I sure liked their Monte Cristo sandwich *sigh*
Ditto...plus those nasty little brocolli bites <very guilty pleasure>.
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After making those fries the unusual way on Sunday (microwaving in oil before the first fry), I did them the regular way last night (just 2 frying times). It wasn't really a fair test because I cut them much thicker this time (we didn't care for the really thin ones) - around 1/2". But I didn't detect any major difference in the flavor or crispness. Honestly, we are philistines and while admitting that the potato flavor is more pronounced in fresh potatoes, we really prefer frozen fries for the crispness factor. I know, I know - heathens.
BTW, we had leftover pieces of the fried fish and just dropped them in the fryer for a couple of minutes. They worked just fine - not quite as good as fresh, but not greasy at all. I think I like my deep fryer just a little too much
. I am reminding myself that Costco has big, giant, juicy shrimp and that those would be really good fried with a cornmeal crust! 
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We went to Eamonn's back in February while on our Washington jaunt. We really liked it a lot. Only wish they were in a slightly larger space. I can't imagine trying to get in there on a weekend. But it's a great atmosphere, good service and, most importantly, really good fish & chips!
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KIm..I think it looks awesome..besides, when you look at it, you just want to dig into it instantly. As gorgeous as it is, it has that 'homemade' cozy look to it, which makes it all the more appealing
I would LOVE to get that as a birthday or celebration cake. Besides, I know what you mean about the lettering. I've been baking and decorating cakes since I was 10, and I still can't do a decent lettering on a cake!Also, that apple tart recipe is in my blog, and thank you for the compliment. You MUST try the green apple ice..so refreshing and delicious!
Thank you, Miss Lisa!!! Lettering are hard
! Thank you also for directing me to the recipes for the apple tart, ice, etc. I cannot wait to make them! We go apple picking every fall and this will be the first thing that I make!
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menuinprogress - that beef looks amazing - I can't believe that was your first effort!
Megan - I like the idea of using the plums with pork - I've done peaches, but plums never occured to me! Do you pickle the ramps or is that something you bought somewhere?
Ce'nedra - I am just drooling over those mussels! They sound fantastic!
Susan - I just decided what I'm going to use the grilling planks for that we have had stored beside the washing machine for 2 years
!This is what I got with a birthday check from my father:
I decided to make fish and chips - one of my favorites - I never see batter-fried fish anymore:
It was a CI recipe and everything was delicious and crisp and lovely! It called for an odd (to me) method for the fries: in addition to the regular double frying, you toss the raw potatoes with a little oil, microwave for a few minutes, rinse with cold water and dry for 10+ minutes. Has anyone else heard of this method? We had lots of fish left over, so I'll be making chips again tonight - I'm going to just do the regular 2X method tonight and see if there is any big difference. I'll also make the chips a little larger, we all thought they were too thin.
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Kim: Ah, you're being too hard on yourself! The use of jelly roll is pretty imaginative, and the execution's good. That's a chocolate swiss roll with the same IMBC to fill it?
I wish! I am very embarrassed to admit that those are Little Debbies:blush: ! I don't know if you even have those. They are very cheap, icky packaged snack cakes consumed mostly by children
. I did peel off the waxy, terrible chocolate before pressing them into the cake 
. Those desserts are just awesome! I am very impressed and now hungry, too! That gooey fudge over the banana parfait is so gorgeous and glisten-y and wonderful! And the Poached Plum Frangipane Tart is adorable - I especially like the little heart petals in the sauce
!! Chufi - ohhhhhh! Those pancakes. I want pancakes for dinner tonight!!! Lovely!
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yunnermeier & dystopiandreamgirl - fantastic cakes!! They are both gorgeous and delicious looking. What are the odds - two cakes made with currants. And they couldn't be more different! Bravo!
I made these this weekend:
Banana chocolate chip muffins - an old and easy standard in our house. I make a batch whenever there are enough past-it bananas in the freezer.
Kim,
The muffins look so good. I have tons of frozen nananers in the freezer. I checked out the recipe but I have a question. Does it have to be miracle whip? I NEVER buy that.
I don't really know why it wouldn't work with mayonnaise as well as Miracle Whip, it's certainly worth a try.
Kim, I really like the idea of the sliced jelly-roll to decorate the top and sides of the cake! Very cute. Just from looking at it, I think your buttercream could have been whipped a bit longer. I'm sure that nobody noticed anything wrong with it. It looks delicious.Do you think it should have been whipped longer before or after the addition of the butter? It always deflates a bit when you add the butter, but it just didn't seem to come back from the addition this time. It tasted just fine, but I just love the fluffiness of this icing.
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This is a cake that I made for work. I'm not terribly pleased with how it ended up looking. The humidity made my meringue buttercream 'slump' a bit, I think. It tasted great, but wasn't as fluffy as it has been for me in the past. Also, I obviously need some practice with spacing my lettering! The little swirly things are slices of Swiss Roll. I thought they'd look cute. The cake is devil's food and the icing just plain vanilla - my idea was doing a Swiss Roll cake. Good idea, I think, but execution needs some work!
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Randi - I have to confess that as a full fledged carb-fool, I am always disappointed in a meal without bread or rolls. It can be meatless or vegetable-less - that's fine. But I gotta have a piece of bread - even with dumplings, stuffing or potatoes. The other night for dinner I had 2 Yorkshire puddings doused with gravy and a roll on the side:blush:! I understand your perplexity, though. We carb fiends make no sense!
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David - it's summer and I'm in the mood for seafood and your crab croquettes are just exactly what I want. They look and sound wonderful!
Soba - lovely, fresh looking meal! I never thought of using the cippolini's with pan fried potatoes - good idea - I'm stealing that!
I finally did some cooking this weekend! I must have been on the same wavelength as pickledgarlic . Saturday I did the America's Test Kitchen roast chicken:
This little guy makes me want to put a top hat and a cane on him
! This was just delicious. You butterfly the chicken, do a compound butter and rub it under the skin. Then you roast it over sliced potatoes so that the potatoes get all the wonderful juices dripped on them. I served the chicken and potatoes with brussel sprouts, Marlene's Yorkshire pudding and gravy:
Fantastic Yorkshire puds! Easy and the best I've ever made! The gravy was delicious - even though it was a really quick one - I used purchased broth and the backbone that I cut out to butterfly it, but it turned out really well.
Sunday's dinner was milk-braised pork tenderloin, noodles, squash, corn and Parmesan-ranch pan rolls:
Boring plate, huh? This was one meal that I should have served on my dark plates and maybe adding a green veg would have been a good idea
! I hadn't tried the milk-braised pork before and it was very good - sweet and gentle and tender. But even though you blend the sauce at the end and get it smooth, you still have some little curdled bits on the pork and it's not a very attractive dish. I don't think I'd serve it to guests who wouldn't "get" it. -
I am still testing recipes for Mr. Kim's fantasy football draft party, so for lunch on Sunday, we had these:
That's mini reubens - two ways. One is open faced and broiled, the other regular sandwiches wrapped in foil and baked. Both had the same ingredients - mini rye bread, corned beef, 1000 Island, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. We preferred the open faced one, but both were very good.
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yunnermeier & dystopiandreamgirl - fantastic cakes!! They are both gorgeous and delicious looking. What are the odds - two cakes made with currants. And they couldn't be more different! Bravo!
I made these this weekend:
Banana chocolate chip muffins - an old and easy standard in our house. I make a batch whenever there are enough past-it bananas in the freezer.
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I must be the only person on earth who liked the plastic wrap slide cutter. I was quite peeved when Reynolds discontinued that feature months ago and went back to the wrist-mangling serrated cutter of yesteryear. I do like the more streamlined box that can easily fit in a drawer -- in my case, a narrow shelf between the pantry wall and the refrigerator. But for weeks and weeks, I kept looking for plastic wrap with the new slide cutter mechanism, for naught. It appears more than one of you called in to complain about it.
Since then, I've learned to make peace with the old design. It's a bit faster, I suppose, but I'm accident prone and preferred not having so many sharp edges around. I just hate when you get accustomed to a product only to have it yanked from the shelves without warning.
I need to get out more.
I could have written this post! I agree completely with everything you said. I am even more pitiful than you (re: the "need to get out more" comment) in that I actually emailed Reynolds about this. I got an email back that basically said, "go away, you plastic wrap geek"
. I won't use anything but Reynolds, though, so I am out of luck.ETA: I will defend my love of the little cutter thingy by saying that with my hand/wrist issues (pain, neuropathy, weakness), it was easier to use than the serrated edge cutter.
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I have been wanting dessert for the last few days and you folks are the reason why
!!!Mary Elizabeth - you are a big part of my cravings! That pandoro is lovely - I don't know pandoro - is it sweet or bready? It looks more like bread. I like Rob's idea of French toast! And the Castella is beautiful - sinking and all!
Joe - I love those frozen pies! You hardly see them anymore - kind of like good cream pies, but they are so perfect for summer! When I convert cream pies to springform pans, I usually increase the ingredients by half again. And I love the idea of pretzels in the crust. One of our favorite summer 'salads' is that goofy strawberry jello thing in the pretzel crust.
Sugarplum - I will have to try the Ina Garten lemon bar recipe. The last time that I tried them, they were a major PITA. Someone had ordered them for a party and I was really unsatisfied with how they turned out. They just didn't hold up as well as I would have liked and were not very firm. Yours looked much better. I just went to the site and printed out the recipe.
Lisa - your apple tart is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I would love the recipe for the tart, the ice and the intriuging sounding cider caramel! I am envisioning serving all three after my favorite Beef Bourguignon on the first cool Fall weekend (can you tell that I'm tired of summer?).
emmalish - your caramels and cupcakes are adorable. I am definitely going to try making those precious little flowers!
A couple of days ago I did these ice cream sandwiches made with Tri2Cook's Toasted Marshmallow ice cream and Abigail Johnson Dodge's ice cream sandwich cookies.
Tri2Cook , we are just addicted to this stuff! I made it on the weekend and Jessica had friends over on Monday and the three of them just stood around the ice cream with spoons scooping and scooping. I am catering Mr. Kim's fantasy football draft in August and these were a test for one of the desserts for that. I'm going to dip the sides of the sandwiches in graham cracker crumbs to get a S'mores effect. Mr. Kim took these to work and they vanished. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
General question - you can see some little cracks on the tops of the sandwiches. I'm going to be more careful when I roll the cookies out and assemble the sandwiches next time, but I'm not sure that I can avoid the cracks. Do you think this is ok - do they look hopelessly amateur or charmingly homemade
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Susan - I, too, think corn that is old is not truly corn and I confess that this was older than I would have liked, but it was still pretty darn good! We are also getting fantastic peaches. Now if we could only get good tomatoes!!
The prosaic dinner at our house last night was chili cheese dogs (with canned chili
), frozen fries and a big salad. I was trying to see if I could possibly butter and toast hot dog rolls the night before and reheat them to serve (testing things for Mr. Kim's fantasy football draft in August) - they didn't work out very well - they were just tough. Anyway - boring dinner, but I did make these for dessert:These are ice cream sandwiches made with Tri2Cook's Toasted Marshmallow ice cream and Abigail Johnson Dodge's ice cream sandwich cookies. These were also a test for the draft celebration and were a much greater success than the hot dog buns!!
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Chinese country ribs, slaw (the alarming pinkness is from some red cabbage that was in the mix), corn and sweet potato rolls
Ok, I give! Where's the recipe for those ribs, please, Please, PLEASE ? They look SO good, and of course I don't see them in THE COOKBOOK. Are they braised or grilled and what is that beautiful sauce?
Thank you! Here's the recipe. I am almost embarrassed to admit that they are slow cooker ribs (in the crock pot section - that's why you couldn't find it). I got the recipe from someone I trust at chowhound.com and they are really good. The sauce is an assortment of the usual faux Chinese suspects: catsup, soy, ginger, garlic, 5-spice powder
. Don't forget the hoisin - I did and missed it.Last night's dinner was tacos, corn on the cob, black beans, salad and stir fried snow peas (I know, but they were in the fridge from the weekend and needed cooking). No pictures because I was on the first shift and Jessica was 2nd shift getting ready for her Bastille day gathering (baguettes, Brie and pomme frites with some Andrew Lloyd Webber monstrosity on DVD in French:rolleyes:). From slicing the lettuce to washing the last dish - 1 hour flat. I felt like I hadn't eaten one hour later
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One of my favorite things about the online life is the ability to live so many different vicarious lives. One day, I can be a world traveler, tagging along on Tracey's trip to Munich, enjoying Klary's sunshine filled home in Amsterdam, and seeing all the different places that our bloggers hail from. Another day, I can be a food professional - writing articles with Fat Guy, managing a catering business or restaurant with one of the many accomplished members here. I even try to imagine that one day I might grow up to be a writer like Rachel or Maggie
. What I learn is not only how these things are done, but how awesome are the talents of eGulleteers. Thanks so much for taking us along on this ride of yours, Rob. I am having the time of my life and, as with all of the blogs and restaurant reviews and travelogues that I read, I only regret that I don't have the ability to travel as much as I'd like - I would be on the next flight to NM to enjoy the fruits of your labors first hand! And you would definitely be my caterer !I can't give any advice from a professional point of view, but I love the idea of fresh marinated baby vegetables as a side - not a heavy marinade like those jarred artichoke hearts, but a light lemony one. And the wedding food?
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Smithy - I, for one, take absolutely no offense at your question. It's a valid question and I wish I had been able to do it without surgery. But I couldn't. I was 44 years old when I had the surgery and had been fat all of my life. I tried every diet that existed and never really lost what I needed to and manage to keep any significant amount off. And every year found me just a bit heavier than the last. I was on diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol medications. I was completely out of control and ashamed of myself and my lack of willpower. The surgery is hard, but it is, at first, a FORCED change. It forced me to start what I couldn't manage to do for myself. Before I gained back any control over what I ate, I had already lost a significant amount of weight. And, 5 years later, I am still forced to eat smaller portions - just through the physical act of getting uncomfortably full so soon. I still struggle with food - I am stalled at a 100 lb. loss, because I eat too often. But while I would never recommend the surgery to anyone, I have never regretted doing it. Hope that gives you some understanding! Don't be afraid to ask me questions - I don't mind at all
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Has anyone been to Patina Grill? We went on July 9th for my birthday dinner and had a really bad experience. I had high hopes for this meal. I have heard nothing but good about Patina - both in the media and on the internet. The place is just beautiful and the menu impressive. The wait staff is very friendly and seemed knowledgable. The quality of the ingredients was top notch - I'd love to have the ability to get seafood where ever it is that they do. But...
Start to finish the execution was seriously flawed. Most everything was overcooked to the point that it was dry and tough and chewy.
Mr. Kim started with bresaola, feta and roasted pepper calzone w/ fennel-olive puttanesca. The flavor was wonderful and the rich sauce helped cover the over cooking of the calzone. You really could taste the separate ingredients and they were so well suited to one another. I thought that the fennel-olive sauce was especially good.
Jessica's app. was seared scallops and spinach gnocchi w/ proscuitto & herb butter. The scallops were beautiful - sweet, obviously dry scallops and the gnocchi were beautifully light. Again, inexplicably and criminally over cooked.
I started with fried oysters, cornmeal dusted & served with applemint remoulade. The oysters were NOT over cooked. They were delicious and sweet and briny. I thought that the 'dusting' of cornmeal was a little heavy, but that's a minor complaint. The remoulade was indistinguishable from tartar sauce - I couldn't taste the mint. As a matter of fact it wasn't until I reread the menu that I even remembered that it was supposed to be applemint.
Mr. Kim's main was coho salmon with red dal, dosa and eggplant bringal. Again, the fish was so good and fresh and the over cooking had dried it out unforgivably.
Jessica's main was butternut squash and chevre ravioli with rosemary-maple brown butter and asparagus, lemon & pine nut saute. The filling was delicious with a perfect balance of the silky squash and the more assertive chevre. The asparagus was crisp-tender and very fresh. The pasta (housemade - we know because we saw them rolling it out in the kitchen) was so tough that you couldn't cut it with the side of a fork.
My main was rabbit BBQ w/ scallion-corn hushpuppies and grilled vidalia onion relish. The rabbit was so tough that not only did it not pull apart to pressure, it was actually hard to cut with a knife. The sauce and relish were tasty, but the hushpuppies lacked flavor and were just blobs of fried, heavy dough.
I was the only one who got dessert - it was my birthday, after all! I got frangelico-lemon cheesecake w/ amaretto cookie crust. It was a large piece of creamy cheesecake - admittedly, I am not a big fan of cream cheesecake. I prefer the texture of classic NY-style cheesecake. Drier than creamy and one that, if you picked it up in two hands and bent it, it would break. So that's personal preferences. But the crust was soggy and I got no frangelico, lemon or amaretto flavors at all. It just tasted like a creamy, plain cheesecake.
This was a fairly expensive meal - 3 apps, 3 meals, 2 cocktails, 2 coffees, a liqueur and one dessert cost $160. We sent back the rabbit and ravioli and they, of course, took them off the bill - very nicely and apologetically, too. I would have been much more forgiving if it had only been one dish that had this problem, but 2 of the apps. and all three mains? I hope that they were just having an off night. I'm not sure that I would ever be able to convince Mr. Kim to go back, though. I thought that it was odd, too, that we sent 2 of three mains back and no one in management came to the table. I would have expected SOME interest in that. The chef has a mixed background (Millie's and Havana 59) but really should know better. Maybe he wasn't there that night and his assistants were new. Honestly, it was as if someone had taken perfectly chosen, perfectly seasoned and perfectly prepared meals and set them under heat lamps for an hour. Whatever, we had a seriously subpar meal and what's worse - they took fine quality ingredients and ruined them - to me that's a bigger sin that using sub par ingredients in the first place.
Mr. Kim's take on the evening:
"Last night’s meal was reminiscent of the perennially disappointing Washington Redskins: A lot of initial promise with terrible execution. Beginning with my drink order, I should have known I was in trouble. My request for a “dirty martini” was met with a vacant look followed by passive acknowledgement that should have warned me. Instead of vodka, I got gin. Instead of olive juice, I got….gin. Just a portent of things to come.
My appetizer sounded interesting. A calzone, featuring bresaola, feta, and roasted pepper calzone with fennel-olive puttanesca. Sounded downright yummy, in fact. And while the puttanesca was everything I expected, the calzone itself was charred excessively – I have a feeling by design, as it was quite obvious. While this did not ruin the flavor, it rendered the pastry tough, forcing me to crush it with a knife to get at it. This in turn rendered the calzone pretty much empty with its contents spilt into the pattanesca. The flavors were great, and it all went down well, but this could have been so much better with a more tender treatment of the calzone shell. Still, everything I note on this dish could be attributed to chef’s vision versus my preferences rather than inattention and ineptitude. These last terms I save for the Large Plate.
My dinner was placed before me by a table runner – the first thing brought to me by someone other than our waitress. Perhaps this was because the kitchen was tired of seeing my grilled wild sockeye salmon over split red lentils and dosas with bringal and mint chutney sitting there dying under a heat lamp, I do not know for sure. In any event, it arrived much the worse for having been in that kitchen. The salmon itself was the driest piece of fish I have eaten, short of jerky. Not only was there no moisture on the top of the fish, but upon flaking it the interior was also a husky reflection of the usually moist meat. It was flavored gently and well, but required large quantities of water with each bite. The lentils beneath were very tasty, but any goodwill generated by this layer was swept away by the unforgivably dense dosas cakes beneath. These could not only be cut at all with a fork, but were so cold and dense that they could not truly be cut with a knife – they had to be ripped apart to be eaten. At $30, a very disappointing plate, to say the least. It would have been returned to the kitchen had it not been the best of the three entrees at the table."
I hate to damn a restaurant on just one visit. But the faults were so all pervasive, that I was wondering if anyone else had an experience here that could explain this?
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Daniel - fresh sardines <sigh>. I wish I could get those - I love them so much and no one in Richmond does them, that I can find.
Bruce - I'm with Doddie - that sauce is gorgeous!
Sunday dinner:
tomatoes that looked good, but were only ok - we haven't had any really good tomatoes at all this year
Chinese country ribs, slaw (the alarming pinkness is from some red cabbage that was in the mix), corn and sweet potato rolls
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I have always thought that there was a discernable difference in texture between whipped cream that is shot from a charger and whipped cream that is whipped by a mixer or by hand. It seems to me that most restaurants would use the charger and that most home cooks would use the mixer/hand method (if not the can - but that's another topic/confession
). When I have whipped cream in most restaurants it seems airier and more insubstantial than when I whip it myself at home. It's possible that the restaurants are using better quality cream than I have access to, but mine feels better. Does this make sense? Am I right? Or am I just fooling myself? -
M & M Premiums
in Ready to Eat
Posted
I've tried the mint and the raspberry almond. The mint was quite nice, but the raspberry was filled with fake raspberry flavoring <ick>. The dark chocolate in all M&M's brings up a problem with me - I have always thought that dark chocolate melts more slowly than milk chocolate. That's fine with a piece of chocolate - you just let it melt in your mouth - nothing wrong with that. But when something has that hard shell coating, it's awkward - you chew a little then you have shards of coating and chocolate both in your mouth to let melt. I know I'm making chocolate eating more complicated that it needs to be. And then you add the further complication of an almond
and it just doesn't work for me 
! I'll just stick with the milk chocolate M&M's!