Kim Shook

@Shelby - The cocktail sauce actually is for the cheese. I think it must be a family thing because I don't know anyone else who does this except my dad's family. I guess my mom got it from them, because I grew up with it. If there is a plate of nibbles that includes cheese or bologna or ring sausage and crackers, there is always a little bowl of cocktail sauce. No clue where or when that started, but my paternal family is very into cocktail/happy house culture and has always been as far as I can remember. My 83 year old dad and his twin brother sit down to wine and a carefully arranged plate of nibbles every night at 5pm. I think I'm ready to start following the family tradition😁! I'm pretty sure this was lunch: 😊

The recipe called for butter and that's what I used. Salted butter because I am weirdly sensitive to any tanginess in dairy - sour cream, cream cheese, and unsalted butter all smell just slightly "off" to me.

Hi @Lauren S.! Welcome to eGullet. I have a friend in Sudbury and have been wanting to visit the Boston area for years! Maybe after all this crap is over! I know you'll find lots of chocolate production information and kindred spirits here. Looking forward to your contributions!

I somehow posted this dinner from Tuesday on the wrong thread. The last of the New Year's Day ham and fluffy pancakes:

That is lovely! One of my favorite desserts! We cataloged the inside freezer today and uncovered some walnuts, self-rising flour, and a LOT of bananas, so I made banana bread: Huge disappointment. When I took the loaves out of the oven, I smelled a really unpleasant fishy odor – almost like ammonia. And when they cooled the slice tasted awful. I was hoping it was just me and my screwed-up palate, but Mr. Kim thought the same thing and actually spit his bite out. He’s never done that before. I guess the bananas were just too far gone.

We cataloged the inside freezer today and uncovered a bunch of stuff. I took some leftover BBQ brisket and pork (butt and rib meat) from Mr. Kim’s last judging, some beef stock, and vegetables, tomato paste and made a stew with added potatoes, red wine, and pearl onions. Mr. Kim took notes, so we created a new dish. Of course, we’ll never be able to truly recreate it because so much of the flavor came from mystery contestants’ BBQ entries! But now we have something to do with the leftovers of his tastings that he brings home. The pearl onions and meats: With the wine and some tomato paste: Served with some potato rolls:

I'm loving this so much. Reading this has inspired me to go back and read my NOLA report. We went to Luke and Cochon also and it's nice to see that 11 years later they are still so good! Thanks so much for sharing your visit.

Ham rolls, horseradish Cheddar, and cocktail sauce:

Ah. I'd really rather use the sink. It is the right height. My biggest bowl is what I'd need for most greens soaks and it wouldn't fit into the sink. Are those the silicone lids? I saw this picture and realized that I got a set of those for Xmas and that the smallest one fits just right. Problem solved! Thank you!!!!

I have tried that, actually. But I guess my sink isn't smooth enough? Or the water and what is soaking moves it slightly? But the leak still happens.

@Dejah – best wishes to your husband! I’ve been thinking about him. @liuzhou – your chips always look so good! @Honkman – that quiche looks absolutely perfect. @Norm Matthews – Oh, no!!! I don’t blame you for sticking to tradition now! But I like the sounds of your improvisations! I think I’ve said before that I agree with you about the ham hocks. I used two this year with my peas and I got about 3 tablespoons of meat total. Hope you liked the shrimp – it’s a real favorite with us. @Shelby – your beans are gorgeous – so whole and firm looking. How did you cook them? NYE was a free for all - everyone picked what they wanted and all three of us sat around and watched TV. One glass of champagne at midnight and then we crashed. Jessica made devilled eggs: Mr. Kim chose an assortment of deep-fried frozen junk: Pizza Rolls, Jalapeno poppers, and mozzarella sticks. There was also raw veggies, dips, chips: Jessica made some Rotel and Velveeta queso (not pictured). I did those little ham and cheese rolls that are dressed with a mayo/mustard/poppy seed mixture: I ended up cooking a double dinner for New Years. Jessica just doesn’t care for the traditional dinner, so I added some easy dishes that everyone liked, and we were all happy. My MIL joined us. The table: Ham: This was a Kirkland Master Carve half ham. I did it in a slow cooker with a sauce of pineapple preserves, Coke, mustard, and maple syrup. Low for 3 hours. One of the best hams I’ve ever made. Scalloped tomatoes: Collards: Rancho Gordo yellow eye peas: This was the only field pea type that they had at the Little House Green Grocery (a tiny, incredibly well-stocked local store). I did these in the IP. They took a lot longer than dried black-eyed peas I’ve done in the past, but were so good. Cornbread: Jessica’s devilled eggs: Wine and olives: The extras included Old Bay roasted shrimp: Green beans: Duchess potatoes: These are a Richmond tradition – prepared potatoes from a local company that sells prepared foods but used to be a much-loved supermarket. Plates: Yesterday dinner was leftovers: See those sad, dry collards? Mr. Kim was putting things away last night and, without thinking, he threw away the pot likker. The only reason I’m not at the divorce lawyer’s office this morning is that he was as appalled as I was when I asked him about it, and he realized what he’d done. I had nothing to soak my leftover cornbread in☹️ 😉.

Just wanted to pass on a trick for reheating leftover wedges of cornbread. Bake/steam at 325F for 7 minutes. It honestly tasted like I'd just taken it out of oven and cut it.

Yesterday: We were craving beef and 5 Guys was closed. It was not hot, but it scratched the itch😊.

Bumping this up for possibly newer advice. I'm tired of using this unreliable stopper in my sink: I lost 2 full sinksful of water trying to wash my collard greens. The first sinkful was fine but subsequent two just leaked out. Can anyone suggest a better one?

@Shelby – In the second picture of your New Year’s breakfast – the far right sausage. What kind of sausage is that? It looks really good. Today’s snowy day breakfast: Crumpets, New Year’s Day ham, Benton’s bacon.

I've been cooking my eggs in the IP without one single problem since March of 2020 - pretty much one dozen every 10 days. I really like the method as opposed to digging out a Dutch oven and finding the cover. I'll give it another try. I'm wondering if there wasn't something in the weather or air pressure that was affecting the IP. My beans took a total of 37 minutes and my collards took 11 minutes instead of the usual 7. My beans:

He will certainly be missed by me. I loved his posts - he was so positive and friendly. Still reeling from David Ross and now Toliver. Crap year. Love and hugs to everyone. I'll tell you all now that you have no idea how much you all mean to me - both eGullet and you as individuals.

Do you have a picture?

AND my tried and true method for 5 minute hard cooked eggs has failed. I have a dozen ice cold soft cooked eggs. 😡 I seem to have lost my mojo. I guess when you don't cook for a couple of months, it is to be expected.

Thank you, ma'am! They were ok after the last (3rd!!) 7/7 round. They taste great.

Yep. Peanut butter jars do NOT go to recycling. I'm just not wasting that much water. Though I heard that you can put some grated chocolate in the jar with the PB and microwave - delicious ice cream topping.

HELP, please! I'm doing some @rancho_gordo yellow eye beans in the IP (best by 5/23). I have cooked them for 16 minutes with a 15 minute natural release. They were still too hard. So I've done them now an additional 7/7 (pressure cook/natural release), a second 7/7 and am starting on my third 7/7 because they were still too hard after the second 7/7. They have plenty of liquid - 5 cups to 1 pound of beans. The yellow eyes are slightly larger than black eyed peas, so I'm not surprised that they would take a little longer - but 1 1/2 times as long (assuming that they are done after this round). And I do seem to have some busted jackets, too. Can anyone tell if I'm doing something wrong? Should I not have done RG beans in the IP? Store bought bags of beans work fine for me. Thanks, everyone!

@robirdstx – your casserole looks and sounds delicious, but I LOVE that classic Corning baking dish! Is that a modern one or vintage? Doesn’t matter in the least, but I’m just curious. On Monday my MIL brought over some of the pancit that she made for our Boxing Day gathering that had to be cancelled due to COVID exposure on the 23rd: She usually loads this up with shrimp and chicken, but our portion ended up being a bit protein-lacking, so Mr. Kim went to our neighborhood Chinese restaurant and picked up a couple of things to augment the meal including orange beef and hot & sour soup: I also served some of the salad that I’d intended to take to my SIL’s on Xmas day – salad greens, apples, walnuts, and fresh cranberry vinaigrette: And some freezer dumplings: Tuesday: I was tired of leftovers😉. On Wednesday I found some meat sauce in the back of the fridge and served it with one of my least favorite pastas. I don’t even know why I have this stuff in the cabinet. By the time the center gets tender, the “petals” are gummy: But that bag of sliced turkey scraps wasn’t looking appealing and I don’t seem to have poisoned anyone😁. HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! 🍾

Lunch on Tuesday: Turkey, gravy, and the last of the oyster dressing. It looks awful, but it’s my favorite meal of the holidays. Yesterday was some leftovers – my MIL brought us some pancit and I had some freezer dumplings:

Thank you for posting this! I saved the recipe and will be trying soon. I'm planning to do a little cooking ahead for New Year's Day tomorrow. I found a little store nearby that sells @rancho_gordo beans. The closest to black eyed peas they had was the yellow eyes, so I'm going to use my IP black eyed pea recipe to make them. I figure it should work the same. I'm also doing southern green beans, but without the little potatoes, which I've had good luck with doing in the IP. Jessica really doesn't care for any kind of field pea, so a big batch of green beans will satisfy her and give us a vegetable option for the week.