Kim Shook

I'm planning on making these potatoes for Easter. I'd really like to put them together ahead of time (a few hours before serving - not the day before). I'd like to know if I can safely put them together and leave them sitting out on the counter for a couple of hours or would it be better to refrigerate and add some time to the cooking time? Ta!

@patti – I’d love to see that IP risotto recipe, too. I have a seafood risotto recipe from the New Basics cookbook that I haven’t made in years. I’d love to try to reformulate it to an IP recipe. And I'd like to start with a recipe that is tried and true! @rotuts – I’m so glad you got your favorite Thai! Bless that friend! Last night was a ham slice with beets (for Mr. Kim) and Parm noodles (packaged): The ham slice was slathered with mustard and fig jam before broiling. It looks weird, but tasted good. We also had salad and some more Billy Bread:

I still watch, but I know it's time to take a break when I find myself shouting at the TV! 😁

I used some good, locally made sourdough, Gulden's spicy (not terribly) mustard, and provolone to make cheese toast for lunch: along with some hard salami and ham.

I actually saw this on the menu of a very good restaurant in London in 2011. I was completely confused and no one could explain to me: ???????

I think @Anna N and @ElsieD are probably right. And the enameled pan may be contributing to the problem, too. Nothing seems to get hotter than the black surface of an uncoated iron skillet.

I talked about Billy Bread on the dinner thread. It’s a locally produced sourdough that is occasionally available in a couple of the grocery stores in the area (it’s mostly sold to restaurants). Toasted with sausage and eggs:

@Shelby – your pickly stuff looks great. For a second I thought you had slices of ring bologna in there. I need to make some macaroni salad soon! Dinner last night was from Costco’s prepared stuff – ravioli lasagna: We bought one of them to take out to Mr. Kim’s dad and stepmom and got one for us, too. Cheese ravioli with a good meat sauce and lots of mozz. Surprisingly good. Salad: Billy Bread – a locally produced sour dough. Small scale bakery and this is the only thing they make. They sell to restaurants and a few grocery stores. Our Kroger has it occasionally:

It looks good, though. Maybe a little dense - it's hard to tell from the picture. Amounts of black walnuts are hard to determine. With any other kind of nut, you can tell from how many you see in the batter and add more if you need to. Black walnuts are so strongly flavored that it's hard to tell until the cake is baked and you taste it! What is the glaze? It looks luscious!

That's interesting to me since my US-based family's "go-to" fruit salad is fruit (pears, peaches, grapes, cherries, apples, pineapple, mandarin oranges) dressed with fruit juice-diluted Miracle Whip. Miracle Whip is, of course, sweetened like the blue Kewpie. This salad has been our most often made fruit salad since at least the 1940's, that I know of.

I have a whole list of this kind of thing. So-called food "professionals" who mispronounce words (I'm not talking about accents here) and who pass on old advice and rules that have been proven wrong. Ina Garten STILL says to put oil in your pasta water.

Thank you! I was just about to post that. I had to SHOW the proof to someone once to prove I wasn't serving them something "bloody".

You've caught me out! LOL The congealed salad is from a local store and the rolls are Pillsbury whomp rolls. They ARE really good, though. 😊

A childhood lunch: My mother almost never ate a whole sandwich at home. It was always a "foldover". The bread wasn't cut - sandwich was made flat and then...folded over itself. I wonder if other families do this. Mr. Kim hadn't ever heard of a fold over. I've converted him, though. Now, when he's just a little hungry, he'll make himself a foldover. Served with a couple of sweet petites and chippy-dip.

@patti – wow, those chicken livers look so good. No one around here eats them but me, so I almost never cook them. But I’d love to have those. I will check our Costco to see if they have that stuffed chicken breast. I use frozen Kiev for the same thing you were mentioning – having something easy and tasty with no huge expectations for those nights when you need good, dependable food without a ton of effort! @JoNorvelleWalker – thanks! That’s actually kinda what I do. Except I flatten in my hands slightly rather than putting balls of ground beef in. Also, I wonder if the temperature of the beef matters? Mine is usually refrigerator temp when I put it in the pan. @mgaretz – Thank you! I use Gravy Master – would that be the same as your caramel coloring? And, as far as cornstarch goes – is that a last-minute addition? @liamsaunt – yes, I somehow missed that step🤪. I’m determined to get it right, so I’ll be trying that again soon! @Shelby – great looking turkey sandwiches. Mr. Kim was making “time to smoke some butts” noises this morning. I think I’ll sneak in a turkey breast for him to do at the same time. Last night was very much the kind of meal I mentioned to @patti just now. Grocery store prepared foods of a fairly high quality. Easy, tasty and dependable: Chicken cutlets, sprouts, Duchess potatoes with some really good cheat gravy. I made the sprouts and they were especially good – sliced in half and cooked potsticker-fashion – sauté pan with oil and a little water in it. Cooked from cold over med-high heat with a lid on the pan. When almost tender, the lid is removed and any leftover water poured off, then they are sauteed until they get that great color. Served with Ukrops (local business – went from being a beloved grocery store to being a beloved food purveyor and food hall - same suppliers of the potatoes above) strawberry and cream congealed salad and cornmeal rolls:

My three favorite food groups – pig, poultry, and bread. The applesauce is my nod to healthy eating: 😁

Damn. Seeing this thread pop up reminds me that I have one I got for Xmas that I need to drink (eat? use? launch?).

Fresh eggs from my SIL's chickens: With toast made from my bread machine bread: Perfect yolks:

Bacon gimmicks jump the shark as soon as they are produced. REAL bacon will never jump the shark.

@liamsaunt – once again, you have me craving fish and chips! @patti – shrimp and grits is one of my favorite dishes in the entire world and yours looks fantastic. I’ve just added it to my menus document! @weinoo – I’ve never had brandade and I need to fix that. I love anything that is in that creamy fish realm. @liuzhou – gorgeous chips!!! @Duvel – that burrata is positively alluring. I just told Mr. Kim that when the tomatoes come in this summer, we are finding burrata and a good baguette and we’ll feast on just THAT for dinner. @mgaretz – I love the dark, glossiness of the sauce on your beef stew. @Shelby – I’ve gotta try that lemon posset! Everyone’s corned beef looks so good! (Not to mention the lovely Ruebens.) I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never made it. It's been so long since I've posted in the Dinner thread that I'm taking up a lot of space here. Last Wednesday was just a pickup dinner as I had to start fasting at 7pm for some bloodwork on Thursday: Locally produced and canned Brunswick stew. It is surprisingly good – a touch of Worcestershire and BBQ sauce and it is as good as lots of homemade (not mine). Thursday night was from one of our favorite Greek/Italian places: Chicken Alfredo for me and Chef Michael’s for Mr. Kim (basically all the meats). I’ve been craving cheeseburgers and fries for a few weeks. I decided to give @Ann_T's CSO “fries” a try on Friday. After the halfway mark turn - soaked and tossed with a little olive oil and salt before putting in the CSO: Done and served with the burgers: They were really great and no harder or more complicated than other baked “fries”. And certainly easier to clean up from than deep fried potatoes. My burgers were less successful. While they tasted great, they really fell apart: I like a really thin, crusty patty. I press the meat together (I try not to overwork) and don’t season until they are frying in butter (or ghee) in the iron skillet. Then, it’s just salt and pepper and Worcestershire. I realize my pan was not hot enough, but I don’t think that is why they tend to fall apart. This happens a lot when I make burgers. I’m wondering about just switching over to pre-made patties. I kinda overdid the buns: Not burnt, though. Very buttery and crunchy. Served with a salad also: With blackberry/goat cheese vinaigrette. Sunday was quick and easy – prepared veal cutlets from Publix with Rao’s sauce and pasta: Served with a salad and some Momma-style garlic bread: That would be leftover hamburger buns, buttered and sprinkled with garlic granules. I’m guessing growing up, we had this to accompany spaghetti more often than garlic toast made with crusty bread😉. Monday’s dinner was a bit disappointing: Sweet potatoes, shredded sautéed Brussels sprouts, and miso glazed salmon. The salmon was the disappointment – partly my fault and partly not. The glaze tasted good (miso, brown sugar, sake – I also marinated a few minutes in soy sauce) but was MUCH too thick. Instead of a glaze, it was more of a goo. The part that I think wasn’t my fault is that it was mushy. I don’t think that it was underdone or overdone. Not sure what the problem is. I’ll give Publix another chance, but no more than that. Tuesday night Mr. Kim requested tuna salad sandwiches and tomato-beef consommé for dinner: I also made some egg salad. This soup is an incredibly easy cheat – just V8 and canned consommé with some aromatics. It simmers for about 20 minutes. And that’s it. We all love it. It makes for a great weeknight meal, but I’ve also served it to company. Last night Jessica brought dinner from one of her favorite places, Tazza Kitchen: Spicy sausage with aged provolone, fresh mozz and a black pepper honey drizzle. Prosciutto and arugula with fresh mozz and grana Padano. White pizza with bechamel, Parm, fresh mozz, caramelized onions, and bacon. All good and not too spicy for me.

The first of many panettone French toast breakfasts:

I would honestly try these different kinds of Twinkies and cupcakes if I found them in individual packets, which I almost never do. I'm not buying a whole box of anything (except Yankee Doodles, of course 😉).

We love the tang of canned sauerkraut – the cheaper, the better. We don’t mind it heated, but often don’t bother with that. Friday: Saturday was our 39th wedding anniversary. As I said in the Breakfast thread, we decided to have a safe celebration like we did last year. Just an aimless drive with a few stops to pick up food or walk a little. Lunch was at a place I’ve been frequenting since before I was born. It is in Arlington VA and has been open since 1957. Pizza and subs. I’ve always joked that you only liked the pizza if, like me, you had to have been inoculated by it in utero: Mr. Kim does like it, though. I do like the pizza. But what I’m really here for is my favorite sandwich in the entire world: It is a ham, steak, and cheese sub with grilled onions, slaw, mayo, and pizza sauce.

Good LORD! I’m looking at these recent breakfasts and thinking that I need to step up my game. Some of my recent breakfasts Bread machine bread and IP eggs. I had fasting bloodwork done on Thursday morning and treated myself to a bagel: Sausage, egg, and cheese on an ET. Saturday was our 39th wedding anniversary and with the pandemic still on and both of us only half vaccinated, we opted for a day-long drive like we did last year. We started in Richmond with bagels. Mine was sausage, egg, and cheese on an ET again and Mr. Kim had a sad looking, but good tasting cinnamon raisin with butter: In January, we ordered 3 large panettone from Amazon. I sliced them up on Sunday to dry out a little and made French toast for the freezer on Monday: Many future breakfasts cooked and cooling: A sample: It was very good. Breakfast that morning: Bread machine bread and scrambled eggs. We went this morning to the Cremation Society to pay for and make arrangements for our “final” stuff. Prices are about to go up and we know what we want (the bare minimum – I will haunt anyone who tries to throw me a funeral that costs thousands of dollars). Got breakfast at a little breakfast shop on the way home. I got the sausage biscuit and gravy with Cheddar tots: These are amazing. Mr. Kim got the scrambled egg and country ham biscuit: We waited until we got home to share a crème brûlée doughnut: The top is a shattery disk of sugar and it’s filled with cream, but we finished it quickly when we got to that part.

Really good. Wonderful in the CSO. I'll be posting a few pictures in the breakfast thread in a little while.