Kim Shook

Do you have an objection to sugar replacements? Because the brown Sugar Twin is really pretty good. And it works very well in baking.

Sorry, jayhay - I wasn't ignoring you - we went to the beach for a few days. I would just use canned whole tomatoes cut into wedges and drained slightly.

OK, I really hope that egullet has some kind of health insurance for members. I am SUPPOSED to be recovering from abdominal surgery and I have been reading this thread start to finish (am only through page 20 so far) and I have about popped my staples laughing. It is truly humbling how often I have recognized something that I, too, have done! OK, here's mine: I will never again...use an ingredient without tasting it first. Twice in the recent past (like today and a month ago) I have done this and been really sorry. Oddly enough, both ingredients were chips - as in peanut butter and white chocolate chips. The peanut butter ones were just subpar and didn't add much flavor to my cupcake frosting, but the white chocolate ones went into some brownies that I was making today as an anniversary surprise for Mr. Kim (I haven't been released to drive yet, so I was trying to do something homemade). Well, I tasted a leftover chip AFTER putting the brownies in the oven and it tasted 'off'. Well we'll see . So, I will never again...except, I probably WILL !

Wow. Moms - gotta love 'em. Mine is trying to convince me to stop doing my big (and beloved by me) Xmas eve dinner because no one else really cares about it. The funny thing is that I know for a fact that this woman ADORES me and would lay down her life for me! Go figure . Anyway - the asparagus (to go with the lamb) will be tossed with EVOO, sea salt, pepper and fresh rosemary and roasted at 425 degrees until crisp/tender and served room temp. The green beans (to go with the ham) will be done Southern style - with side meat, a little brown sugar, LOTS of pepper and cooked to death. Here's the recipe for the scalloped tomatoes: Scalloped Tomatoes. They really are so good. Mr. Kim & I do NOT like stewed tomatoes at ALL, so we just took enough to be polite when his stepmom served these a couple of years ago at some family dinner. We were amazed and ended up taking the leftovers home! To answer your last question, we should be serving anywhere from 20 to 30 folks. I have a SIL who doesn't decide until the last minute in case she gets a better offer (Mr. Kim's theory), so I always cook for the higher number.

I am recovering from some surgery and unable to stand for very long or use my arms to do much (no lifting or pressing or pulling yet) so I am suffering from severe cooking withdrawal. I am not making it any better by spending my time at egullet or watching FoodTV. So with all of this obsessing about food {sidebar: this is totally off topic but when I was drugged in the hospital I did some inadvertent eavesdropping and heard my mother say that she was really disturbed by my 'obsession' with food and that it was obviously a 'cover up' for something that was missing in my life . Well. That is an interesting take on what I had always thought of as my full, interesting pretty great life .} Anyway, back to topic. With all this ‘obsessing’, I have already come up with my Easter menu: Lamb w/ mint sauce & gravy Ham Deviled Eggs Gouda Potatoes Au Gratin Scalloped Tomatoes My fruit salad Lettuce & Cauliflower Salad w/ Parmesan Green Beans Asparagus Yeast rolls Coconut Layer Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting Carrot Cake Bars Three Berry Pie w/ whipped cream Anyone else in the planning stages yet? Any input here? I realize that it may seem like a bit of overkill, but Mr. Kim and I REQUIRE lamb for Easter, but many of our guests have that weird lamb horror and so we must serve ham, too. The fact that we are serving lamb AND ham explains the various vegetable thingies, too.

I agree with this so much, jgm. What pisses me off is that PETA (and other similar organizations) and their tactics make ALL people who are concerned about animal issues seem like not to be taken seriously crackpots. They encourage a black and white mentality about the issues. Do I eat animals? Yep. Do I hate cruelty against animals? Yep. Those aren't mutually exclusive, but PETA assumes they are. I, too, would love some kind of recognizable, dependable 'brand' that would assure me of humane treatment - I would even pay a premium for that.

Is gravy/sauce/cheese gender specific?? Cause, I swear I would eat ROCKS with enough gravy on them. I consider au gratin to be a food group. Mr. Kim, though, not so much. He will actually PASS UP gravy and eat things nekkid !

Thanks so much, Shugga. I have emailed the info to my mom. I know that she and my dad will be thrilled. You will love Lowes, I think. My grandmother has one in the little town she lives in in NC (Reidsville) and I find stuff there that I can't find in Richmond!

I had to read Shalmanese's post again (too many words) to realize his procedure is may be a little more involved but not that complicated. Considering you cook from Keller's books he may have assumed you wanted a very special gravy, as he put it:"If you want to make the ultimate richest sauce ever...". Is anything Keller do "practical..simple.."? ← Point taken, Chef ! The reason I have that red wine jus left over is that I made the Bouchon skirt steak w/ caramelized shallots for Valentine's Day dinner. I think that kind of involved, intricate cooking is fun, but not something I can really indulge in all that often. I just thought that since I DID have some left over, I might be able to shortcut a good lamb gravy with it. Thanks for the imput everyone. Off to find some lamb bones!

OK - stop it! Stop the culinary arguments amongst yourselves and HELP me! ! Since even Shalmanese says he's only done that one time, could someone give me a practical idea that I might actually use ??

I am doing a boneless lamb roast for Easter and I want gravy. Really rich, good gravy. I have some leftover red wine jus (from Keller's Bouchon cookbook) in the freezer. I would love some help in making a delicious sauce - the kind of thing you end up sopping up with bread rather than waste. I want it to be thick and very, very rich. Thanks so much!

Thanks, Melissa - I think probably that is what shugga was talking about, but I don't see anything on their website about being able to purchase their products. Maybe Shugga meant at the market in New Bern. Thanks, again!

My parents are living in New Bern now after living all over the place and are having some frustrations with restaurants and groceries! She is up in VA this week visiting me and I gave her the info you posted in your New Bern thread. She is wondering where Rainbow Meadow Farm is. The good pork and lamb sounds intriguing to her. Thanks for your info. By the way, she says try again with Nicola - it is one of their favorites!

Any updates on this, Chef?? Also - have you tried the Alabama Ribs & BBQ place in Goochland yet??

What recipe did you finally use? ← Beanie, here's the recipe: Almost the Best Peanut Butter Cooky. An important note is that you have to use a name brand peanut butter chip - the store brands taste butterscotchy, not peanut buttery.

Just wanted to let anyone who remembers my search for chewy peanut butter cookies that I took the last bag of cookies (made and frozen mid November) for Super Bowl Sunday and they were fantastic. Still chewy and had lots of peanut butter flavor. I was really thrilled. I have found my peanut butter cooky!!!

Which things have done this recently, Kim? I need company in my misery here. ← I used to make this jazzed up chicken casserole with Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice - I REMEMBER this being gooey, comforting and rich and REALLY flavorful. I've made it twice in the past year and it was...ok - a little bland and boring. Also what my mom used to call 'Beef Birds' - its that one where you smear a bread dressing on thinly pounded beef filets, roll them up, brown in fat and then braise until done - I think it was based on an old Julia Child recipe. I grew up on this and always requested it and when I made it recently, it was also somewhat lacking . But on an up note, my Italian Pot Roast (from 'Simple Fare' by Ronald Johnson) is ALWAYS good and has been for years! Don't be sad - see this as an opportunity to explore new recipes !

This actually happens to me a lot. I am religious about keeping recipes that I have made and enjoyed, with notes, if possible and now I have them all on a website. Sometimes I will make something that I KNOW I loved a few years ago, that I remember eating and enjoying and serving to guests and I just don't like it anymore. I think that my palate has changed over the years as I have exposed myself to different things. At age 46, I suddenly discover that I actually like raw onions - which I never did before.

I made this for breakfast Super Bowl Sunday. We both really, really liked it. I did add some dry mustard and will definately make again and try some other variations. I am having the last bit tonight for dinner with a fried egg and some toast. Thanks so much for posting!Country Grits Casserole

We have a kind of 'wild' area across from our house that is frequented by bird, squirrels, etc. Mr. Kim just totes it over there in the pan once it has cooled down and dumps it there. I guess this is environmentally sound. We don't fry too often.

I just ordered this. Baker's Edge Pan. I think it is pretty impressive that it made the King Arthur catalog. I will report back as soon as I get it and try it out. ← Made the brownies for todays Super Bowl party. They were incredible. No middle pieces at all. Every brownie has at least two edges, some have THREE. I am in love with this pan.

What a great idea, Kim. They sound fantastic ! ← Checking in post party - they were the single most popular thing that I served. 8 people ate 60 of them!!

By the way, I just finished trying out the Buffalo Dip Wontons and they turned out great! Here's the directions:Buffalo Dip Wontons

I just threw out a giant bottle of seasoned salt because I keep forgetting that I hate, hate, hate the stuff and using it when a recipe calls for it. It makes everything taste chemical, dusty and oddly dry to me. But when a recipe DOES call for it, I can't just leave it out. I know that it contains salt, sugar, turmeric, paprika in about that order. If I do leave it out, what should I replace it with? Does anyone else have this problem??

Wanted to let everyone who was so nice to offer help know that the party was a great success. Everyone loved everything and daughter was thrilled and took most of the leftovers back to her dorm to share! The dips that I tried out (Caesar, Bleu Cheese and Caramelized Shallot and Asian-Style) were all really good - and a nice change from the purchased kind like I usually end up doing. But everyone was wowed by my cupcakes. I made 6 different kinds and did a pretty display of them on the sideboard - they weren't as pretty as they will be when I get some more instruction/practice, but very, very good! And yes, even with sliders and Costco mini tacos, I did get 'how fancy' comments. Someone who is having a party soon even warned me not to expect all this at her party. I am guessing that, being not as exceptional as store bought mini tacos, we are having 7-11 burritos ! Thank you all for your comments!