Kim Shook

I was out running errands yesterday and Tom Leonard’s (small produce/grocery store) is now selling these locally made ice cream sandwiches: Ended up being lunch 😁.

@johnnyd – I meant to say that I’m terribly impressed with the grits in your breakfast. They look so nice and thick. So often grits run all over the plate! Breakfast this morning was a slice of Publix Breakfast Bread toasted and with cinnamon sugar: Our Florida friends told us about this bread, and it is delicious. It’s loaded with raisins, walnuts, dried apples, dried apricots, and dried cranberries.

@weinoo – this is the Julia Child Caesar recipe that I use. It calls for the 1 minute coddled egg you mention. Dinner last night was grilled cheese (Swiss and American) and clam chowder (canned):

@heidih – Yep, I’m still using the Splenda for the cucumbers. We can’t tell the difference and Mr. Kim prefers them to be sugar-free. @gfweb – your scallops are gorgeous. So snowy white! @Shelby – thank you for the pork roast answer. So one more thing – how do you flavor it? Meaning when and with what? I assume you’re using a pork loin roast? I SV a loin roast at 138F for 2 1/2 hours and then sear the outside. Should I change that for your results? Thank you!!! @SusieQ – lovely looking pork. Like you, I need to cook brocollini a little more. I mostly like my vegetables to be tender. Crisp is for raw vegetables. I have to confess (and it will be no surprise to anyone who has known me for a long time) that I love most things in the meat/poultry/fish arena. I love most fish and shellfish and bivalves. I love all the poultry I’ve ever had, even turkey. I adore pork in all its forms – BBQ, roast, bacon, sausage, ham, etc. I also love beef – steaks are good, but what I really love is a crispy edged smashed on a griddle burger, a fall apart pot roast, rare roast beef with Yorkies & gravy, and short ribs. Having said all of that, I had the strongest and most “not me” craving this afternoon. I unashamedly confess my trashy food forays here. So no one can say they’ve ever seen this from me: That would be a Burger King Whopper with double cheese and an order of their horrible onion rings. I have no explanation for this. I NEVER want a Whopper. I sometimes want their chicken sandwich, I occasionally crave a Big Mac from McDonald’s. The Whopper is an aberration. If I were 30 years younger, I’d swear I must be pregnant 😄.

That is a beautiful looking cake! Pound cake is one of my very favorite cakes and I sometimes have trouble with it - specifically I have tended in the past to get a crust that rises up off the cake and has to be pulled off. Not a huge deal when that becomes the bottom, but looks bad in a loaf cake. Many years ago (2006) @shaloop gave me a recipe that helped alleviate that - partially by not preheating the oven. The theory was that not getting that initial "lift" helped avoid the raised up crust. Does that make sense to you?

Nectarine, soft cooked eggs, and toasted Billy Bread. The eggs were just perfect for me: They were done with a Cooks Illustrated method where the eggs are placed in boiling 1/2-inch of water over medium-high heat, covered and cooked (basically steamed) for 7 minutes. Most reliable method I’ve ever tried.

I had a cousin like that. When, in her 70s, she finally married the sugar daddy she'd dreamed of he took her all over the world. At her insistence they stayed only in "American" hotels. She complained to my mom that French bread had too many crumbs to eat neatly. My mother was too shocked to even speak. To be fair, she was just as bad about American food - always wanted ALL proteins (even fish) WELL DONE.

@Shelby – when you SV the pork, is it like BBQ or more like a roast pork sandwich? Must be time for pork to be on sale – Mr. Kim got butts for $.99/lb. at Kroger last week. And I love “French” salad dressing – only one in my house that does. @Duvel – Poor little guy! That he was up for experimenting is great! I had to laugh at the “American” pizza with the hot dogs in the crust. There is a great Youtube channel called “Great Mythical Morning” that Jessica introduced us to. They do some really funny and interesting food tests/quizzes/etc. One thing that they did recently was to taste test foods from other countries that are claimed to be “American”. It was very funny and reminded me of this and of @liuzhou’s topic on “Western” restaurants in China. Wednesday night was the other half of the beef tenderloin that I SV’d and served like a roast a while back. I cut this half into filet mignon and SV’d it. @Dave the Cook had said that he and @JAZ SV filets at 136F which seems high, but he promised it resulted in a perfectly medium-rare filet. I trusted him and that’s what I did. SV’d at 136F for 2 1/2 hours and then seared in vegetable oil in an iron skillet for a couple of minutes on each side: They were perfect: Served with fresh beans and a loaded baked potato. A filet is never going to be my favorite steak, but these were pretty tasty and, of course, uber tender. I also served a salad and some awful “French” bread from Publix: Jessica’s contribution was some sauteed mushrooms for Mr. Kim and her: I heard the retched (😄) things were quite good. We are taking BBQ over to friends’ house for their daughter’s college graduation party today. Mr. Kim did the smoking on Thursday (he had to work around the days he could work from home): I made the slaw this morning: I don’t know if everyone does this, but I make a different slaw depending on how it is going to be used. If it’s a side dish, I tend to cut/shred/slice the cabbage larger and the dressing is more mayo forward. I like a creamy slaw. If it is for putting on a BBQ sandwich, I mince/shred it very fine (I actually use a mini food processor nowadays) and use a very little mayo, mustard, vinegar, and a bit of vegetable oil. Anyone else do this? I found a lovely, fresh loaf of Billy Bread (a local bakery) at Kroger last night and this ended up being dinner: Along with some lovely fruit from the produce stand: Got a start on the summer marinated cucumbers today: Next door neighbor's garden is going well and he brought us some pickling cucumbers.

@CantCookStillTry – gorgeous sausage rolls. I need to make a batch for the freezer – we love having that option. On Friday Jessica and I went to have haircuts for the first time since the Fall/Winter of 2019 and we celebrated by having lunch at What A Burger for the first time in 39 years. I should say that this isn’t the WAB chain out of Texas, but a local hamburger place that been here since the 1950s. I was actually pregnant with her when we went there last. WAB was the scene of my infamous pregnant at WAB story. I had a huge craving for it and we drove all the way across the river to get it. The problem was that I was sick for my entire pregnancy – usually all day. So, I was hungry all the time, but couldn’t eat. I actually lost weight a couple of times. We ordered big, juicy burgers and fries and started to eat in the car. Suffice to say that I didn’t manage a bite and made it impossible for Mike to eat his. I didn’t actually get sick, but the sound effects were…effective. (Sorry if this is TMI!) This time went much better. Cheeseburgers: Fried pickles, onion rings, and crinkle cuts:

Breakfast this morning was just toast. But it was from a fresh loaf of Billy Bread (local bakery), so it was fantastic: One with too much butter and one with too much strawberry jam.

Jessica and I went and got our first haircuts in over 2 years. While I was waiting for her, I went to the specialty candy shop a few shops down. My afternoon snack came from here: For the Americans in the group it is just like a Sugar Daddy, but much richer tasting. No stick - you just slap it on a hard surface and eat the pieces.

@TdeV - @Anna N is correct - 1/2 c. WATER! Thanks for letting me know. I'll correct it.

Sorry! I never noticed that I left that out! I've asked my MIL and will fix it and let you know as soon as I hear from her. And 10X is confectioner's sugar.

That's exactly the information I needed! Thank you, @rotuts!

She's a wonderful baker. Pretty sure she uses Zante currants. She doesn't specify in her recipe, but I remember seeing them in her cabinet.

Question for folks who use the CSO to do baked potatoes. I usually do 425F for about 1 1/4 hours (until they "squeeze") on BAKE. I just looked at the chart and both directions indicate using BAKE/STEAM. I am wondering if the skin will be sufficiently crisp on BAKE/STEAM? Thanks!

RE: "one bite food". Mr. Kim says the same thing and it makes perfect sense. I agree with you that most BBQ restaurants that I've been to - especially the newer ones and the chains - cater to the average eater rather than the BBQ aficionado. "Fall off the bone" ribs are the perfect example. That phrase is describing overcooked and probably soggy meat. @Smithy – definitely try the tzatziki with salmon. My mom used to do that and in summer especially it is so good. @Duvel – your “lazy” sandwich sounds fantastic! Mr. Kim was at a baseball game, so Jessica and I were on our own for dinner last night. She requested a veritable buffet from one old favorite and one new Middle Eastern place. From the old favorite: Hummus, tzatziki, and orzo salad. He got us to taste the cabbage roll, which neither of us had ever had: Both of us liked it. We even got one for Mr. Kim to taste. The folks at the new place (Nineveh) are Iraqis, so some of the names are different, but the foods are mostly recognizable to me. We got some of the best falafel I’ve ever had with some really good samoon (pocket bread): We actually watched them scoop and fry our order. We also ordered a beef & lamb shawarma: Stuffed with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and pickled turnip (another “never had” and it was really good) and sauced with tahini and something they called “steak sauce”.

@Kerala - have a wonderful trip! @Ann_T - lucky Moe! I can't imagine a simpler, more delicious breakfast! Or lunch or dinner, for that matter. This morning was another croissant, this time with sausage and a fried egg:

While on a freezer safari, Mr. Kim dug some of his mom's Hot Cross Buns from Easter. Still so good:

Canadians call it Kraft Dinner, I think. I ended up down a bit of a rabbit hole. There was a line of "Kraft Dinners" out at one time. I can find only 3 - Macaroni & Cheese, Spaghetti, and Noodle with Chicken (which I lived on as a broke college student).

🙄

DAY ONE 6/10/2022 We took a little trip – the first real vacation we’ve taken since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020. For the folks who are on FB with me, I didn't talk about the Florida aspect of it there because there is a relative that lives there that I don't care to spend time with - especially since we only had two day. So that's why on FB it only looks like we went to Charleston. We left Richmond on the morning of the 10th heading south on the way to Florida. No stops of note until our traditional stop at the out of control South of the Border just inside the South Carolina border. This tourist trap is one that I’ll stop at every time I drive by. I grew up wanting desperately to go there and being fascinated by what I could see from I-95: Not to mention those amazing billboards up and down the highway: But Ted was his most British on long drives and put his nose in the air and foot on the gas and refused to indulge me (though he indulged me in a myriad of other ways). Mr. Kim’s dad was similar. So, as adults in control of our own car with our own spending money, we stop every trip. My little fat self was always curiously craving cafeteria foods, Drive In movie snacks, gas station hot dogs, etc. I still have that curiosity, though I don’t gratify it very often. But understanding that, you’ll know how hard it is for me to turn away from this: I mean they have a giant hamburger on the ROOF! AND they serve tamales. But I managed to deny myself and just got a drink. In the bizarre time warp of Pedro’s South of the Border, they still sell candy cigarettes: One of the reasons that I was willing to leave South of the Border untasted was because we’d decided to take a slight detour off I-95 to go here in Holly Hill, SC: When you see the sign, you think that it’s hard to believe this place has only been open 45 years. It feels much older and more established. And then you read this on their website: "Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sweatman, better known as Bub and Margie Sweatman first opened a small bar-b-que place in the town of Holly Hill, SC in 1959. After closing this location, they only cooked for special gatherings with family and friends. Cooking for these occasions took place in the "old dairy" which was located just a few yards from the Sweatman's home. Their desire to open a bar-b-que restaurant came to fruition when they purchased an old farmhouse. Sweatman's Bar-B-Que opened for business in 1977. " The house where the restaurant is located: And the pit house in the back: They cook during the week and are only open Fridays and Saturday. They do whole hogs over oak, hickory, and pecan and baste them with their mustard sauce (mustard based BBQ sauce is a SC tradition). The menu: My “plate”: Gorgeous mac & cheese, some short ribs (these aren’t even mentioned, we just got them with our meal) – incredibly tender and flavorful, pulled pork and hash on rice (see Mr. Kim’s description below). On top is just a casual piece of crisp, fatty crackling. Every portion gets one until they run out. Mr. Kim’s meal: Slaw, ribs, hash on rice (some of those short ribs, too – you just can’t see them). And a little cup of banana pudding, because how can you not? I didn’t even mind the use of Nilla Wafers. Every single thing was truly delicious. Mr. Kim’s Yelp review: "Sweatman's is legendary. I am glad we diverted off of the tedium of I-95 to eat here. You have to love barbecue to go looking for this place, but it is time well spent. An old school pit to plate kind of place, you won't find anything fancy here. But Sweatman's delivers good smoked meats.... ribs are pretty much unadorned but well smoked. A good deal fattier than I prefer, but tasty. Whole hog pork is very well executed. The barbecue hash over rice is really good -- for those unfamiliar, it is like a thickened brunswick stew with bbq meat in it. If you are like me (and I pity you if you are) and are obsessed with tasting the full variety of what the world of BBQ has to offer, this is one place you have to include on your list." We got to our friends’ in time for dinner. Mr. Kim had brought, as requested, some of his BBQ which we had for dinner: We brought the slaw and meat, they supplied the buns, beans, and broccoli salad. They couldn’t believe that we’d eat BBQ for lunch and be ready for it again at dinner. We told them that one of our retirement dreams is to do a couple of months long BBQ crawl all over the south. Day one done. Went to be exhausted, full, and smelling vaguely of smoke. More to come!

They are very lovely. And I'm sure they are great. Not sure they are over 4 times as good. ($40/lb. as opposed to nuts.com for $9/lb.). 😄

Lidl croissant with Duke’s, Swiss cheese, and tomato. Never had this before, but I woke up thinking about it.

We were out of town the 10th through the 15th. It took me awhile to go through all the wonderful food that you all indulged in while I was absent. @Annie_H – salmon cakes! An old favorite in both our families, but always made with canned salmon. Once I tried making it with fresh salmon, I never looked back. I still use the recipe sent to me by @suzilightning ❤️ 😟. @Norm Matthews – Tuffy Stone is from here (Richmond VA) and we have a couple of his restaurants. His restaurants aren’t very impressive, but I know he’s won lots in competition (two very different worlds, I always think) and I’m interested to hear about his cookbook. @Ann_T – I’d love to know what you put into your brisket when you slow roast it. And what the gravy consists of. And I love the sound of your mint sauce. Growing up, none of us were fans of mint jelly on lamb. My mom always kept Crosse and Blackwell mint sauce in the fridge and yours sounds even better. @Shelby – as always, everything looks good (well, not the asparagus 😁), but the pork belly!!! WOW! I just want that top layer. The crunchy fattiness is making me yearn!!! And that PIE! I have a nosy and stupid question, though. You have a plate with pasta/sauce, bread AND salad on it. Are they teency little servings or do you use ginormous plates? @Duvel – gorgeous, juicy looking burgers! And good Lord, that schnitzel restaurant. I am definitely coming back as a German. I’m going to put together a little food report on our trip as soon as I can, so I don’t have a lot to post here. On Thursday, we were still recovering from the driving and the heat in South Carolina, so I heated up some sausage gravy I had left for Jessica and added frozen biscuits and scrambled eggs: I thawed some berry mix and added fresh bananas: It made a fine dinner! Saturday was tuna salad sandwiches, chippy-dip, and a salad: Yesterday, being Father’s Day, we took Mr. Kim out of town for the day. On the way back no one felt like one felt like waiting for a table and sitting in a restaurant, so we got takeaway Italian. Jessica got cheese ravioli in pesto (no picture) Mr. Kim and I started with salads and rolls: I don’t know what Greek restaurants do to make their yeast rolls so amazing, but I’ve had them and loved them at so many places in my life. There is some spice/herb that they use that is so subtle, but so unique. Mr. Kim had his usual Chef Michael’s Favorite: Basically baked spaghetti with every meat they possess plus mushrooms, meat sauce, and mozzarella. I did NOT get my usual Greek meal – I’ve been craving lasagna for a bit, so: Taking it out of the container turned it into a bit of a mess, but it was very satisfying. Dinner for me tonight was heated up leftovers from my brisket dip sandwich I had yesterday. I got a fresh baguette from Lidl today and put the innards on that: