Kim Shook

Jessica has a friend who makes them to sell. We've gotten them. They are more of a WV than a VA thing, so I haven't had them a lot, but they must be getting more popular because Kroger now sells them. I don't think that they are traditionally served with sauce since they are a bakery/convenience store item, but lots of people serve it with marinara. Traditional ones don't have cheese, though it is a variation. Adding cheese and marinara kind of steers it into the Stromboli realm. The beauty of the pepperoni roll is the fat melting into the bread during baking and spreading that flavor around. Here's pictures of the ones that Jessica's friends sell (obviously, they go with cheese on the top, but I cannot remember and can't tell from the picture if there's cheese inside):

@mgaretz – I love Kitchen Bouquet. I never used it until @Marlene clued me in to the secret of her lovely, meaty looking sauces and her dark and delicious looking beef stroganoff! @gfweb – I love the prosciutto-wrapped halibut. I did it years ago with cod and was so surprised at how good it was. I need to bring that back! And, as always, you do the most delectable looking sprouts! @patti – I think those crumbs looked perfect just the way they were – the unevenness made them look substantial. They looked buttery and crisp and wonderful. Dinner – quite possibly my very favorite leftovers:

And I only like girly drinks. No bourbon, whisky, rye, dark rum, scotch, gin, etc. I'm a vodka and light rum drinker. The closest thing to a "real" drink for me is a dirty vodka martini and a vodka and tonic with extra lime. 😁

Oh, I would never tell anyone.

@mgaretz – I love the deep, rich look of the sauce on your beef dish. @Ann_T – I have never stuffed ribs in my life and every time I see you do it, I think its one of the best ideas I’ve ever seen. @patti – your spinach Madeleine looks delicious. What is that fantastic looking topping? I had a monstrous chicken from Aldi – 6.75 pounds. I almost never roast my own whole chickens anymore – I just buy rotisseries from Costco. But this was $.95 per pound and I couldn’t resist its lovely fatness. Done: I call BS on all those TV cooks who nimbly tuck those wingtips under the chicken. No matter how far back I get them, they still spring back into that position. I am deficient at carving: I couldn’t find my roasting rack (I suspect it has fallen down behind the washing machine in the pantry), so the thighs were a little pale. Plated with green beans, parsley potatoes, cornbread dressing: …and gravy: Felt like Sunday dinner from long ago.

A couple of recent breakfasts: Toasted cinnamon raisin bread, sage sausage, and hard cooked eggs. The cinnamon raisin bread is gone now, of course. We cannot keep it in the house. Especially if we have peanut butter. And if we have blueberry preserves, forget it – it’s gone in two days. Today - because sometimes you just feel like being trashy: Whomp sweet rolls. I somehow ended up with a coupon for a free roll of these. I think I “Karen-ed” them about another product and they sent me a bunch of freebies. The rolls were about to expire and it just seemed like breakfast. So, with some sage sausage, it was:

I’ve mentions Ukrops here before, I’m sure. It was a local dearly loved family owned grocery store. They closed as a grocery store a few years ago, but still stock other stores with various provisions – baked goods, refrigerated entrées and side dishes, salads, etc. They have an extremely loyal customer base here and are going to be opening a market hall at some point, which locals are very excited about. The is absolutely no shame at all in Richmond in serving Ukrops foods to guests. I like a lot of it but find some things a little bland. Item in point – they make a perfectly good, if plain, white meat chicken salad. I fixed it up with apples and pecans for lunch the other day: Chicken salad (and one sausage – I was cooking them for the week and couldn’t resist) sliders, plain pasta with butter, and pickles:

Oddly enough, being from the South, I've only ever tasted them once. Odder still, it was at a restaurant in Indianapolis IN called The New Orleans House. @racheld's husband called Indiana "The Northernmost Southern state" and considering the fabulous "southern" food we enjoyed there, I think he was right. I don't know if y'all ever made it there, @caroled? We lived in Batesville IN during the late 1980's - pretty much equidistant between Cincinnati and Indianapolis. The New Orleans House was where "nice people" ate special occasion meals. It was IN NO WAY fashionable or cutting edge. In fact, it was a little dowdy. We are enthusiastic fans of dowdy and this semi-buffet was a favorite - especially to take visiting parents to. It is closed now, but The New Orleans House was a buffet that did it right - the things on the buffet were things that did well over refrigerated pans or steam tables - salads, deli meats, steamed seafood, etc. Things that did not hold well were passed by the waitresses and that included fried frogs legs. I believe that I was the only one at the table that was ever brave enough to try them. I think I was simply too old to learn that particular new trick. I don't remember a taste, just a feeling of slight revulsion. I wanted SO badly to claim my southern-girl roots, but I just couldn't. I've felt the same trying to down bourbon and shad roe. I don't like sushi, but that doesn't bother me nearly as much as my lack of being able to appreciate bourbon and frogs legs!

I have done this on and off throughout my grown up life. When we were young and broke, it helped to save money - I'd buy the absolutely necessary and on-brand stuff first (cat food and cigarettes) and then the stuff I could go cheaper with. Then, when I was working it saved time. Now, when I'm so scattered and unable to focus, it is a great tool that encourages me to sit down and plan and make a shopping list. I have a Word document with different meals that occur to me that I can choose from. I don't always stick to it, but it helps. I love the use of canned corned beef. I've used it for years fried for breakfast, or for hash, but never thought to put it in a sandwich. I'll be trying that.

Yep. I salt all of those! I grew up with a salt-loving mom. We used to have dry olives because we'd sip the brine out of the jar. When Dirty Martinis became a thing, we were all over those! I still love a REALLY dirty martini!

Thank you to @liamsaunt and @Allura for bringing up something that a LOT of us are going to be struggling with this year - being without our extended family/friends for the holidays. We'll have Mr. Kim's mom here for Thanksgiving - masking and distancing. We'll drop the masks and keep the distance when we eat. She's really behaving herself (except when her youngest son visits from out west - and that isn't until Christmas), so we aren't worried about her. But we'll miss being with the folks we usually see. For me, there's the added situation of this being my first Thanksgiving without my mother. She loved Thanksgiving dinner and I know it will be a hard day for me.

This morning: Just eggs, toast, and salted apple slices. Does anyone else salt apples? This is the way that my mom served apple slices as a snack (we were a very salt-forward family), but no one else I know has ever heard of it. We salt watermelon, too.

If it's Fall, then...

Welcome to eGullet! I think you'll be glad that you jumped in! You already have an intro after being here so long, so how about telling us something about YOU? What do you like to cook/bake? Where (generally, if you like) do you live?

So, this is weird. Once they got cold in the fridge, my eggs were fine. Not bouncy at all. Perplexed. 🤨

Am I the only one who sees the figure of a tiny little man on the bottom right tteokbokki in the third picture of @shain's post? @gfweb – I would LOVE a recipe for shrimp/artichoke dip! @Shelby – great. Now I am craving bierocks! Dinner on Sunday was one of those “what can we heat up quick because SOMEONE, who was asked no fewer than 5 times over the last 2 days, forgot to go to the shed freezer and get flat iron steak out”? So “he” got hot dogs 😁: Last night was fajitas. Meat and onions: Bell peppers: I don’t seem to be capable of photographing fajitas well: But my salads are pretty!

Saturday was our church project – prep and deliver 100 lunches - day. We picked up lunch afterwards at a place that I’ve been wanting to try for a long time. A good friend of Jessica’s runs a local Facebook restaurant recommendations page, and it has really caught on. Jessica’s friend is in the publicity business, so he knows many local owners and chefs and they are really getting involved. A soul food place has opened up and the pictures have been driving me crazy. We finally stopped in on Saturday. The name is Ms. Girlee's Kitchen. Our meal was just wonderful and the folks were so welcoming and friendly. These were called Crab Delights – about golf ball sized: Delicious. And “That Sauce” (that’s what its name is) was crazy good. Just slightly sweet and tangy. Perfect on the crabmeat. Bite: Almost no filler. Mr. Kim chose the chicken sandwich: Probably 3/4 lb. of chicken, house made pickles and more of “That Sauce”. The chicken was perfectly balanced – crisp, but super tender and juicy. I am not a fan of battered fries, but Mr. Kim liked them a lot. I went there wanting their meatloaf. I had seen pictures. It looked fantastic and Frank (one of the owners) assured me there were no bell peppers or mushrooms in it. Alas, they were out. I opted for fried shrimp instead, with mac and cheese and cornbread: It was all excellent – very light coating on the perfectly cooked shrimp, which positively POPPED in my mouth. The mac and cheese was up to Grandma standards and the cornbread was unusual and very good – not overly sweet, but very smooth textured and tender. We also had these assorted side dishes: Yams, potato salad, and cabbage. This is one of those places that you are talking about going back to while still eating your meal!

@Shelby – I’m going to guess Lender’s frozen plain bagels. Being from the Washington, DC area, I grew up with Lender’s at home. We did have some Jewish delis, so we knew good, fresh bagels, but at home we got Lender’s. And, as a bread for breakfast sandwiches, I think they work very well. They are firmer than a roll, but softer that a regular bagel, and the plain let the meat/cheese/egg flavor shine through. I haven’t had one in years, but think I will remedy that next time I’m at the grocery store. @liuzhou – that sauce sounds interesting. I wish it was something I thought I could find here. After parking lot-church bagels on Sunday from our favorite bagel place. Mr. Kim had salt with cream cheese and bacon: I had an ET with bacon, egg, and cheese: Car snack later that morning: Yesterday: And today:

I was really surprised. I just put what I thought would be the right amount in the IP - which turned out to be half of that roasting pan - and filled it with low-sodium cartons of stock. I figured I could just reduce it down to the flavor I wanted. But I tasted it right out of the IP and it was GOOD!

Is anyone getting a start on US Thanksgiving yet? Day before yesterday, I started roasting some turkey necks and veg to make stock for gravy: After roasting in the oven, I transferred to the IP along with some low sodium packaged chicken stock. Resulting stock: That roasting pan made 2 gallons of stock. This is the darkness I like in a roux for gravy: I think that the light above my stove top makes things look orange. It wasn’t orange – just a nice medium brown. Finished gravy with some of the neck meat added back in: So: 6 necks=2 gallons of stock. One gallon of stock=2 quarts gravy. I’ve got a gallon of stock in the freezer (divided) that I will use for Xmas gravy and 2 quarts of gravy in there for Thanksgiving. There will be 4 of us for Thanksgiving and 3 for Christmas. Think we have enough? Speaking of enough – we found turkey parts at Wegmans – packages of bone-in, skin on breast halves and legs (2 per package). So, I bought 2 packages of each, rubbed with poultry seasoning and pepper and vacuumed sealed them. They are now in the freezer and we’ll decide later on how many to SV for Thanksgiving: I cleaned out my potato/onion/pots & pans cabinet and am now eyeing 3 enormous sweet potatoes and thinking I’ll make my mashed sweets tomorrow. They freeze very well, I think.

That Air Fryer I got at Kohl's for Jessica's Xmas gift? This is how I found it on our porch: Opening the box: That's how it came - no padding, no paper. The actual box: So we just went up to Kohl's to return it and purchased one that they had in stock to replace. This is the last thing I buy at Kohl's for a while. As much as possible, we are not shopping IN stores. The last thing I ordered from Kohl's was an IP for Mr. Kim's mother's BD. It came with a giant dent in the side. So, no more online shopping from there and since we aren't store shopping, no Kohl's for us. Wish now I'd bought on Prime Day - our Amazon stuff usually comes very well packed. But this was SUCH a good deal! 🙄

That was an interesting and fun read. Being raised by and with British people, I tend to go back and forth between "biscuit" and "cooky". And I'm not even sure what my own criterion is! Apparently "cookies" are now known in the UK. According to The Great British Baking Show a biscuit is crisp, while a cooky is chewy.

@patti – I very much like the look of your fried shrimp – they don’t look all gunked up with a heavy coating. Is that a batter or just a dusting? And I don’t think it’s hypocritical at ALL to be fine with store bought crust and rotisserie chicken and not with Cream of… I cannot make a roast chicken as well or as cheaply as Costco does. So, I hardly ever bother. And while I CAN make pastry as well as Pillsbury, I sometimes don’t want to. But, cream of… soups just taste funny to me. I still use them in some recipes, but mostly I find it makes thing so much better to make my own. @dcarch – how long did you SV the lobster tails, ‘cause they aren’t too expensive right now. @Duvel – what a lovely menu and venue for a picnic! @CantCookStillTry – “Kangaroo balls” just has a ring to it, doesn’t it? 😄 @Norm Matthews – thank you for sharing your brisket story and the picture of your childhood home. This is one of the best things about eG – the stories and history associated with food and family. On Friday Mr. Kim requested breakfast for dinner. I didn’t tell him it was almost exactly what I’d had for actual breakfast😊: Served with fruit salad: On Saturday we had IP pot roast. We were planning to take half out to my in-laws, but they forgot we told them that and made some for themselves. So, theirs went in the freezer and we ate the side dishes I’d made/bought for them. Before gravy (made with some Bisto onion gravy mix): (Bob Evans’ mashed potatoes and apple-glazed carrots). After gravy: Also, some corn: It was a carb heavy meal, but the corn and carrots needed to be eaten. And you must have potatoes with pot roast! I got the potatoes for the in laws because they are easy for her to just toss in the microwave and they are honestly better than leftover fresh-made ones, I think. I was so surprised by the corn. Mr. Kim doesn’t really think about “in season” when he shops – if it is in the produce section, he’ll just buy it. The corn was something he bought on a solo trip. I thought it would be horrible. But it was actually very good. God knows where it was from. Mr. Kim made dinner on Sunday: Roasted shrimp, mashed potatoes, cocktail sauce, Ukrops’ (formerly a local, family-owned grocery store, now a local, family-owned food purveyor) broccoli, rice and cheese casserole, and Ukrops’ corn pudding. Everything was fantastic except for the broccoli and rice. It was nothing but broccoli stalks – not one bit of floweret. The best thing about making pot roast is having leftovers to make into pot roast soup. Tuesday’s dinner: Interestingly, a friend just told me that she uses her leftover pot roast to make beef Stroganoff. I will try that next time. Green beans: In an amazing development, at age 36, Jessica liked the soup and the beans for the first time in her life! Jessica made dinner last night. Nibbles: Wensleydale with apricots, aged Gouda, and honey Gouda. Dinner: Roasted broccoli with lemon, roasted dill potatoes, and salmon with a creamy dill sauce. Everything was delicious. The sauce was really a standout – light, but really creamy and silken. She also did pan fried portabella mushrooms with lemon for Mr. Kim and herself: Tonight: Mr. Kim’s plate: Pork tenderloin – rubbed with Penzey’s Ozark seasoning mix - Jessica’s roast potatoes, green beans, and apple-glazed carrots. My plate was the same with an ear of corn and no carrots. Cornbread:

I did a pot roast in the IP to take out to Mr. Kim’s dad and stepmom on Saturday. It was a large roast, so the plan was for us to keep half. My mise: Seared meat and sautéing onions: My roast was a bottom round. After the discussion about timing on cooking beef and @JAZ's advice on timing, I cooked this for 50, rather than 70 minutes (it was a LOT of meat and I wanted it very tender). I thought it was perfect. After the pot roast was done, we found out that his stepmom had forgotten we were bringing it and made some for them on Friday. So, we put their half in the freezer, and I served the sides we were planning to take out there - Bob Evans’ mashed potatoes and apple-glazed carrots (I have NO idea why this section is in BOLD and why I can't get rid of it and why the spacing is so weird): Having had a fail at hard cooked eggs in the IP recently, I tried them at 6 minutes instead of 5. They looked good, but were tough and bouncy: They were, however, very easily peeled since I held them for 2 weeks before cooking. I’m really disgusted and think I’ll have to go back to the ATK steaming method. So disappointing. I have a question – my MIL asked me when she should use “low pressure” and when she should use “high pressure”. My answer of, “whatever your recipe calls for” wasn’t really very informative for her. Is HIGH the default if the recipe doesn’t say, or does it depend on what you are cooking?

@BeeZee – I have to say that, considering the pizza desert I live in, that greasy office pizza looks really good. @gulfporter – that salmon looks incredible. Does he hot-smoke or cold-smoke it? I love the thick chunks. Lunch today: Just ham and cheese on multi-grain toast with tortilla chips and my favorite Chi-Chi’s mild Salsa (not pictured).