Kim Shook

I could not agree more with all the comments about the ridiculousness of this 'challenge'. My fantasy was that the final five called bullshit on this insane challenge after learning about the 16 hour time limit. I would have loved for them to actually get together and to say "this has nothing to do with being a chef and everything to do with your television ratings. We all quit, fuck you and your ratings." Wouldn't that have been awesome????

Oh, wow. I am drooling. We are having guests over tonight for burgers and stuff, but I so want to change the menu now!! We have breakfast for dinner all the time - sometimes very elaborate, sometimes just pancakes and sausage. We used to do waffle night every Friday, until our daughter complained!

Ok, report time! We finally had the Croquettes and the baked eggs. They were both very, very good. The croquettes were really different, but we liked them a lot. The eggs, I just cut in half and topped with a cheese sauce - a bechamel with a little cheddar, parmesan and fontina. Then I baked them until they were hot. I wasn't sure I'd like them, but they were great - rich and cheesy, but still eggy.

Not to be at all argumentative (and I don't like Reggie much, myself), but he makes a big thing about being 'Southern' (I don't really see it). And 'girl' is very much a Southern thing (see the GRITS thread on the Southern Food Culture board) - 70 year old women having lunch call each other girls. We don't mind being girls at all - in fact we call those other folks 'boys'.

Yes, Long John Silvers works wonders too! ← Snort! Ok, now I lost my morning caffine nostrilly! (Hey, Katie girl!!)

Um...Mr. Kim came home wanting Mexican. So we went out. I'll cook it tomorrow and let you know. (I'm so embarrassed, after all that help and all and I go out for tamales ).

Well, the croquette mixture is in the fridge. I about tripled the ham because 1). I wanted to use up what I had and 2). I wanted ham croquettes not white sauce croquettes - when you add just the amount called for in the recipe, you can barely detect ham in the mixture. The mixture has to sit for 2 hours. So, a late dinner, I guess. Loved everyone's ideas - I will save them for later - its getting ready to be ham dinner season in my family (traditional summer Sunday meal) and they will come in handy. (I still have leftover gouda/garlic potatoes and they will go great with the croquettes, too).

Hmmmmmmmmm. Croquettes? How about this: Ham Croquettes I think I have everything in the recipe. I could just do the eggs in a little cheesy bechamel casserole. I already made some slaw and with the cauliflower that might be great. Thanks!!

This is probably heresy, but I bought the disposable sea salt and peppercorn filled grinder at Costco and they work amazingly well (better than the $25 one that I just threw away (sorry, don't know the brand name - I bought it at Bed, Bath & Beyond). I will continue to use until I can save up for the Magnum.

"I wasn't born in the South, but I got here as soon as I could." Momma, in a moment of pregancy-induced insanity, gave birth to me in Washington, DC, but brought me across the river home to Arlington as soon as the drugs wore off. This has been my personal motto ever since !

I am sick of ham sandwiches, boiled eggs and egg salad. I was thinking of doing roasted cauliflower tonight (I made a salad with it for Easter) which we LOVE (thanks to egullet for the introduction) and trying something with the ham and hard boiled eggs. How about a casserole with them and a sauce - a bechamel with some cheddar/swiss added??? A little hot sauce and dry mustard in the bechamel, maybe? What am I missing? Thanks, y'all!

So will the Southern belle of my dreams allow me in the kitchen to cook? I've been cooking for Mama Fresser since I was 7 years old. ← Law, yes! Shiksabelles love being served!

Hush, you! We know your wife! But you are forgiven. Southern girls and Jewish boys can't resist each other. Just ask Florrie King. Both raised to believe that we were the center of the universe and adored by our opposite sex parents.

I went ahead and used both the vanilla and the coconut. I am very leery of subtracting vanilla from a recipe. I always think that it adds depth and don't want to lose it. I might try it as an experiment, but I was making this for company and didn't want to take any chances.

I did hear that - don't know the exact reference, but I got the idea . I asked my husband if I had heard it right !

Thanks so much for the answers to my question! I will try adding more liquid! It is very possible that she accidentally left the liquid out. She apparently never used recipes, just did things from out of her head and only wrote them down when requested by someone else, when I do that I can easily miss a step.

Thank you all so much. I am copying all of the comments and printing them out to put in my cookbook in the front of the vegetable section! I WILL make good potatoes!!! (My baked, fried and mashed are fabulous, though ).

Snerk! I confess. I voted for Gus. He, at least, knows more about food than poor Reggie (who I would enjoy knowing, I think). I really thought Andy was the best, though and thought he would make it farther than clueless Carissa . I told Mr. Kim that I bet Andy got a culinary job through this show, which is what he really wanted. During his bio on the show he said that he came to NY to attend culinary school and work, but that his wife had a baby and so he had to get a 'real' job. I really hope that he gets something great - he seemed to be really knowledgable and someone I would like to work with.

Because I was cooking for lots of people, I cooked two pans of the recipe. I did cover the 2nd one and baked for an additional 20 - 30 minutes - that worked for me! And there was plenty of liquid - both pans still had liquid in the bottom when finished cooking.

I seem to be au gratin and scalloped potato challenged. Every. single. time. I try to make one of these dishes, I end up with half raw/half cooked crunchy potatoes!! I follow the directions exactly. I promise. Easter dinner is a good example. I made these: Garlic Potatoes au Gratin exactly as directed: thin sliced raw potatoes (I used a mandolin), 325 degrees for 75 minutes. The recipe didn't specify, so I assumed uncovered. At the end of the 75 minutes - semi-raw, crunchy potatoes. I ended up having to microwave them for about 15 minutes to get them done in time for dinner. What is this ??? Does anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions? This recipe was so good that I refuse to give it up!

OOOHH! I second this one - sweet potato chips with pork sounds like an instant classic to me!!

I did take a picture, but I am not digital yet - I will have to wait until I finish this roll, have it developed, get a picture CD and figure out how to post to egullet !

Well, I made the lamb jus and used it to make gravy for Easter dinner. Worked great. It made a really rich, tasty gravy that stood up well to the lamb, but didn't overpower it! I am dying to make that tarte tatin, Marlene - I have to wait until Mr. Kim will be home to do it, because I can't turn the pan over by myself. I am newly impaired and keep starting to do things and suddenly remember that I can't anymore ! It looked wonderful!

I really don't know that answer to that. The cream of coconut is like sweetened condensed milk - very sweet and thick. Coconut milk is less sweet and thin, isn't it? I would think that you could substitute, but how or if it would change the taste/texture, I don't know. Maybe someone else could answer this question. Is there a specific reason that you would want to use the milk instead, or is it just what you happen to have??

Yep, that's it EXACTLY, Chris - the crumb was finer than pound cake, but not so...what? Moist, dense, heavy??