Not much experimenting at the moment but just wanted to say I love your thread title! :-)

Nothing like a slice of boule, toasted, with butter. So excited for you! Tonight I'm grilling a spatchcocked chicken on a bed of rosemary - but that's not original, I've stolen it from Sleevendog as she mentioned it last year and I could never get it out of my mind. But I do have it marinating in lemon, EVO, garlic, oregano leaves and will use applewood to smoke it. Wish me luck. I hope the rosemary doesn't catch fire! That'd be my luck! Oh, and I agree with choebud, that thread title is great!

I experimented with my corn fritters tonight. I added chillies, spring onions, coriander and creamed corn to the usual mixture and they were really tasty.

Maybe a "duh" thing, 2Many, but do soak the rosemary first. :)

I just made the big lasagna, a choice partially predicated on using up stuff. The last of the peas were starting to rot, and I couldn't see putting in the last of the (bitter) kale without the sweetness of peas, and the spinach had died, so I put the spinach and peas in the compost (wah!) and toasted the kale alongside the lasagna, thereby keeping the lasagna pure. :) (Not that there aren't a ton of veg in my sauce.)

Before that, I made the wonderful Molly Stevens braised cabbage which I've been crowing about everywhere. Ir was supposed to have been for a roadshow dinner, and got delayed and delayed, but the cabbage wasn't going to last indefinitely. It's enough for the whole family, who are mostly dispersed, so I've been putting the leftovers into sandwiches.

Something I'd also been wanting to try is a vegetable tian, which I was introduced to awhile back in this forum. I got the ingredients for it in my last grocery order, so I'm hoping to make it today or tomorrow (depending on fridge space--I need to get rid of the cabbage dish).

I've been experimenting a lot with my new kind of flour, as reported in Fun with flour. I have many more things to try.

I had a lot of things from before total stay at home, which were meant for feeding more people. I've gotten through most. There are a lot of sugar snap peas, which I might just steam, but I'm looking for something interesting to do with them. The salad greens gave up the ghost, as did the pears. I was going to make a pear tarte tatin, but I just couldn't bring myself to make it and watch it grow moldy through not enough people to eat it. So I was looking for something else to make, never got there, and they finally gave up.

OTOH, I got leeks to use in bean soup to use up my last pie pumpkin (when Shambo (I think it was) asked for ideas, I said winter squash, leeks, turmeric, paprika and pepper, and it sounded so good I had to make it). Ordering, one doesn't know the size, so I asked for three. They were pretty big so I only needed one for the soup. Next up: Leek soup.

Trying to stay off GW and finish work... thankfully didn't and saw your post plllog. Been a long time since I grilled, even longer using wooden grill sticks, so no, not a duh thing, I completely forgot and you saved my behind! Thank you!

On our very hot wood fired smoker/grill I make a foil parchment lined tray-ish the size of the chicken with the rosemary/wild thyme under the chicken. And most often some sliced potatoes under the chicken and some lemon slices. Flat foil but slightly rolled up to retain some juices.

Soaking will work but still might burn. Off to the side out of direct heat should be fine. My grill has a side fire box so no direct heat.

Totally new for me tomorrow...braising short ribs. Using two recipes I found and will fuse the two.

YUM!! I love braised short ribs. My favorite are beer braised.

Thank you Sleeve, I'll do that. Our grill has 3 burners, I start it up and allow the heat to build, turn off the 2 sides, and grill in the middle, which is large enough for indirect. DH will like the sliced potatoes (and now I won't have to also cook them on the outside 4th burner).

I love short ribs, but have never braised them. Good luck : )

YUM!! I love braised short ribs. My favorite are beer braised.

We are excited about the short rib inclusion in our local farm box. One recipe is beer and the other is wine. We had no beef at all except mince until yesterday.

I'm betting I'll wing it when the morning comes around. They are getting a miso rub tonight for a 24 hour rub/marinade.

Fixed a broccoli salad today. Used the leftover chunky stem remnants [stemnants] and cut them in match sized sticks. Sprinkled with a bit of EVOO and sprinkled parmesan cheese on them and baked them in the oven ... broccoli fries

to be continued ...

LOL! "Stemnants" -- a new food vocab word that says exactly what it is! Thanks, Bragu!

I made a Flourless Almond Cake on Thursday. The only 6” pan in my kitchen is my little cast iron skillet. The cake was certainly easy to make and had a good flavor. I’m not sure I cooked it long enough. When tested with a toothpick, the pick came out clean, but the sides weren’t pulling away from the pan. In fact, when I tried to turn it out, it stuck a little to the side. And when I cut the cake, it had a not-quite-cooked look to the center, almost like a fudgey brownie. Of course, I’m not sure what a flourless cake should look like.

I may have to give it another go and cook it a little longer.

Other than that, I’ve kinda run out of steam. I’ve got a freezer, refrigerator, and pantry full of food! I need to get my cooking mojo up and running again!

A standard flourless cake is basically a kind of souffle. Damp in the middle is normal. OTOH, if there's a lot of almond meal (rather than liqueur or extract), it will function like flour and give a more cakelike texture.

Either way, you know what seems "right" to you. If it's lucious and delightful, you're fine. If it tastes undercooked, it is.

Plllog, I don’t think it tastes at all undercooked. I’m not put off by the texture. It is the first flourless cake I’ve ever made, so I didn’t know what to look for. Some reviewers said the sides pull away from the pan when done, so maybe it was just a titch undercooked because my sides weren’t pulling away although they appeared well-done. In a week or so, I may give it another try.

It could also have been your pan and how you prepared it that kept the sides from pulling away. Or the real temperature of your oven. If it tastes cooked, and you like the texture, I wouldn't worry at all about the sides. If it were undercooked, it would be pretty obvious and taste more like eggs or batter than cake.

I'm not a big fan of sides pulling away as a cake done indicator. If they're well pulled away, rather than just a bit loose, the cake is usually overdone (depending on the hydration of the recipe). That's what you want for construction--a good hard crumb. But it's not light and airy and all the other things you want from a flour cake.

I'm making Beef Daube Provencal today based on a suggestion in another thread. It's cold and rainy here... beef stew sounds good.

"Something I'd also been wanting to try is a vegetable tian..."

plllog, what ingredients are you using? I've made various veggie tians that were good. I do like Ina's with zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes and I forget what else. I've also made one using mostly root veggies. They're always tasty...and pretty!

DH pulled a bunch of beets he's been growing today. The beet ends were all pretty pathetic, but he wants me to cook the leaves tonight to have with our grilled steaks. Thought I'd just saute them in butter, garlic and a little lemon...? Never cooked beet greens before, so we'll see!

Freathers, thanks for the link. The recipe looks good. I've saved it. I hope you'll report back on it.

Chloebud, I've read a lot of recipes to get an idea of what was de rigueur. I haven't gotten to the actual plan yet, but I have zucchini, yellow squash, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and will probably use them all. And gruyere. Many recipes use parm, but my inner taster doesn't like the flavor combination with parm. I'm thinking California EVOO. It's less assertive than my Spanish or Italian. I make a tsimmis for Passover from mostly root vegetables that's fantastic. I couldn't do a tian for the multitudes, but I like the idea of a tian for the family. In face, I have turnips and parsnips, and will be getting celeriac. Maybe I'll add golden beets to my order and try it. :) Thank for the idea!

Most of our meals here, for the two of us, are turning into YOYO meals, except there is always some type of salad in the fridge. Yesterday I made some yellow mustard potato salad, shredded four head of romaine and bagged it for the fridge with some sliced peppers, and we made a broccoli salad. So, YOYO is usually one of the salads and maybe a sandwich. I love cold meat sandwiches. SWMBO = the 'S' is for her first name, 'Sara', not so much. She would take cold pizza for every meal [grin]. She also likes her smoothies. I like everything about them EXCEPT the texture, so I usually pass. This has been a bad time to give up caffeine ...

"...but I have zucchini, yellow squash, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and will probably use them all. And gruyere."

Sounds like you're well set, and Gruyere is a good fit.