Kim Shook

Welcome to eG! Looking forward to your contributions!

Hello and welcome to eG, Luis! I'm always happy to see someone join us from outside the US (where I am). I would love to visit your country some day and look forward to seeing your efforts!

Welcome to eG! I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing about your cooking, too. If you don't mind, I'd love to know (in a general way) where in the world you are. I like being able to visualize how spread out we eG'ers are.

I'm pretty sure this was the brand (the trash has already gone). It was simple to heat up - I used the microwave, but you can use the stovetop, too. I really thought that the flavor was excellent - good, strong Swiss flavor - not wimpy like some prepared cheese fondues I've had in the past. It was in the refrigerated section.

We're trying to free up some freezer space and use food we already have (including what I call our dining room convenience store). Jessica devised this meal out of some frozen stuff she has bought. Beef and chicken taquitos, mini corndogs, and mini tacos (all frozen): Chips, salsa, cheese dip, and 5-layer dip: A tomato that was so ripe, it fell apart when I cut it: Leftover broccoli salad:

@liuzhou – the sturgeon looks delicious. I’ve never had good caviar, only the cheap little pots you can find at any grocery store, so I don’t know if I like it or not. This morning: An ET bagel with chive and onion cream cheese. Mr. Kim is off this week and went up to the bagel place before anyone else got up.

Yep, @rotuts! KFC is pressure fried. But I don't care for it. There's a place in Charlottesville that has broasted chicken that is delicious. You have to be willing to wait a half an hour for it. We're totally willing.

@Ann_T - If I could find a restaurant nearby that made pizza dough like yours, we’d by buying pizza at least once a week. @mgaretz – gorgeous meat. I sure wish we could count on getting a tri-tip when we ask for one here. @Honkman – I am absolutely NOT a zucchini fan. But I would absolutely try that zucchini-rice pie and I bet I’d like it, too! Especially with that gorgeous salsa. I’d leave out the curry powder and I know I’d love it. We’ve built up a collection of cheesy things in the refrigerator and decided to make them the center of our meal Saturday night. Cheeses and meats: Sartori BellaVitano Merlot, Old Amsterdam aged Gouda, Stilton w/ mango, soppressata, and coppa. Cheese fondue (from Lidl) and roasted mini potatoes: Additional dippers: Bread, ham, and apples. A couple of different breads (from Lidl): Broccoli salad: With a little too much of the not-broccoli stuff. I always have trouble getting the balance exactly right.

@Kerala – that meal looks incredible. I’m especially drawn to the chicken and the lamb! Nicely done! @Anna N – I think dressed salad on a bun with or without meat sounds very good! @BonVivant – lovely meal. That bread is especially delicious looking. RE: “BBQ”. I belong to a Expat British FB group (though I am neither – I just like the food) and they bristle and get cranky when someone calls a ground beef and potato casserole “Shepherd’s Pie” rather than “Cottage Pie”. As a southern American I have to confess that I feel the same way when someone says “BBQ” and means “grilling” 😁. Sunday lunch after church. Mr. Kim chef’s salad: I had fried chicken, green beans, spoonbread, and a side salad: Everything was delicious – the cucumber and tomatoes in the salad were almost certainly from someone’s backyard. The chicken was very good, but a little odd. I posted about it here.

Pressure fried chicken. Here's an explanation.

I'm 100% sure that it was deep fried. I guess I'm not being clear. I was surprised that the coating encased the chicken itself like a shell that was not quite flush with the piece of chicken. The flavor of both the coating and the chicken was good, but the skin itself had a flabby texture - as if it had been steamed rather than fried and had to be removed before eating in the larger pieces.

Also for getting things out of deep jars. They are very versatile items!

@blue_dolphin – Lord! That is a lovely peach! And I am definitely making that grilled cheese! @Shelby – completely with you on the fine grind sausage thing. I detest large grind or gristly sausage. Probably why I’m not crazy about the bratwurst that you buy raw and cook and prefer the already cooked ones. This morning: Bread, ham, and potatoes leftover from Saturday’s dinner. Plus, a scrambled egg and some cherries.

It's because you live in California 😁! Seriously, though - I've never seen a southern bride that didn't get at least one deviled egg plate for a shower or wedding gift. And when I was a bridal consultant, I saw more than one bride change her silver pattern because the one she originally picked didn't come with ice tea spoons. I'm guessing that was a regional thing, too!

They were cooked enough. They just weren't seasoned enough. More pork, folks.

Interesting. I wonder if this is what they want to achieve? To me, as good as the chicken was, it was second best to a coating that clings to the piece of chicken.

So would this method prevent the coating from adhering to the piece of chicken? Because I like it to really adhere and become part of the outside of the piece.

We posted at the same time! See my response. Maybe???

Do you mean that it is cooked in the same way? IE pressure fried or broasted? I'm not a big fan of KFC - when I've had it in the past I always found it a little soggy and this wasn't soggy at all. The opposite, in fact. But that could just be the way it's handled by the employees. You'd think, though, that if it were pressure fried they would make a big deal of it. I would believe that it was pressure fried before I'd believe SV.

I think "capped" is one of those weird words (like inflammable/flammable) that really means the opposite of what makes sense. In this case, it means "cut off" or "removed". So, left whole. 🤪😵

I had some really good, but mysterious fried chicken yesterday. Here's a picture (though I'm not sure how helpful it will be): The restaurant is a place we eat at often - I'm guessing that they would describe their food as home-style or country. If the owners were African-American, they would call it a soul food place. It is extremely good food and well prepared usually. The spoonbread is among the best I've ever tasted and the tomatoes and cucumbers that accompanied the salads were almost certainly from someone's home garden. I'm just setting the scene here. Back to the chicken. The crust was extremely crunchy and the meat very juicy and tender. As a matter of fact, they texture of the wing meat was probably the best I've ever had - uncharacteristically tender and flavorful. But...there was a very slight flavor that stirred a memory for me. When I was a poor college student and craved fried chicken I would sometimes buy a box of Banquet Fried Chicken. I could get enough pieces to feed me for 5-6 meals for the price of one fast food chicken dinner. But upon heating, the frozen chicken had this faint taste. The same taste I think I tasted in the chicken yesterday. I am absolutely NOT saying that I think this was frozen fried chicken! The meat itself did not have the unmistakable texture of cooked and frozen poultry. Another thing was that I brought home the thigh and the breast and when it had cooled to room temperature, I started picking at the thigh - eating the coating (as I am wont to do). I pulled at the edges and then at the skin-side of the thigh and the whole side crust came off in one piece - leaving behind the actual skin itself - flabby and inedible. Turns out that the coating is actually encasing, not clinging to the surface of the chicken pieces. What method of cooking would cause this? Mr. Kim asked if sous vide then frying would do this. Not having done that yet, I don't know ( @Shelby???) but I really can't believe that this restaurant would have a SV set up. Any ideas? I'm really curious. Thanks!

No one looks under the cabinets. 😝 I have tried the other gizmos - I even own a couple. The one that looks like a fat church key is great for breaking the seal on a jar lid. But if you CAN put the under the counter one up, it really is the best for people who have the limited use of both hands.

Since starting to use this method, I've been able to "hold" strawberries for a week. Works for blackberries, too. Mr. Kim wanders the Capitol Square farmer's market at lunchtime and can't resist the berries.

Everyone probably already knows this, but when I bring deviled eggs to a gathering I completely prepare them up to the point of actually putting the yolk mix into the egg white halves. I put the whites in one ziplock bag and the yolk mixture in another. I pack those and my deviled egg platter (you DO have a deviled egg platter, don't you? 🤨 😄) up and tote them to the party venue. When I'm ready to put them on the table, I put the whites on the platter and cut a little corner off the yolk bag and squeeze it into the whites.

I've made different kinds, but the ones that disappear the fastest are the ones my mother always made - 1/2 and 1/2 apricot preserves and BBQ sauce + small meatballs. I make my own meatballs - quite sure that my mom never did. She was a good cook who made simple things - most dishes would have had less than 5 ingredients.