Abra

For me it's always soup. It's amazing how a bit of this and that in broth makes something good for lunch. I almost never throw anything out, although today I did toss a spoonful of escargots that I just couldn't figure on eating as leftovers.

It's not a hole, it's a truth window!

It's a lovely little trick. Now I need to make some hummous so I can try it out.

I love that idea, using them for an antipasto salady-type dish. I don't have a month before I need to serve them, but I imagine that even a quicker version of that would be good. I'm going to go start them right now!

If you mean are the flowers edible, absolutely. They're great in a salad.

I bought these in Aix en Provence in a store that had a lot of Middle Eastern groceries. Google shows me Turkish dried eggplants, but those seem to be hollowed out halves for stuffing, as opposed to slices. What's the best thing to do with what I have?

I love chawanmushi. But yesterday I saw the instructor of my wine class who confirms that something based on duck confit would be exactly right. Now to figure out how to make that least fluffy of foods fluff up. I'm tempted to try a duck confit macaroon, but I'd need a way for the fluff not to turn into sog. edited to add: of course I lick my kittens, doesn't everyone?

Holy smokes, homemade pork floss! Now there's a concept. It's always seemed like something one really couldn't make at home. I have to try it, even if not for this particular event. I'm nervous about introducing Asian flavors into this wine tasting, as all the Asian food I've had here is very "frenchified" for my taste, and I don't think I could bring myself to do that to a good Asian recipe.

I for one really appreciate the fact that you continue to share all of this with us, despite not really having the time. Since I'm living in France I get to see lots of the dishes you describe but not necessarily how they're made, and I'm really interested in your accounts. Could you link to the steak technique that you use that came from here originally?

What's bombaloni? It's a cool word. I've thought about gougères split and filled with some sort of fluff, but not brandade because I made that last time. I love hummous, but I don't think I can make it be fluffy. Creamy, yes, and smooth, but it's sort of innately heavy, unless you have a recipe I've never found.

Both of those look really nice, Jack! With the macarons, since you use icing sugar, I'm guessing that it's the cornstarch component that creates the structure, as opposed to the sugar itself? I might try those with a duck confit mousse. Have you ever done those shrimp chips in the micro? They look wonderful, but I don't have a fryer per se.

Welsh rarebit?

There won't be an oven, so those nice-sounding soufflé ideas are out. Does anyone know how to make a savory macaron that isn't actually sweet? It's kind of a fad here to make tapenade macarons, but boy are they sugary. I have to confess that in all my many years on eG that salmon marshmallow is the single most disgusting thing I've heard of. Maybe alone it would be ok, maybe, although I'm not committing to it, but didn't he want to put it in hot chocolate? That is truly horrifying. Now a duck confit marshmallow.....

Something like this just happened to me. I left my coat over the back of the chair (no offer to hang it up) and a candle that was burning on a wall sconce all through the meal dripped a huge amount of wax all over the inside of the coat. It''s a relatively expensive and unique coat, so I was freaked out. Because we were on vacation, the restaurant manager, after trying fruitlessly to clean it himself, told me to have the hotel owner call him to arrange a solution. When I told the hotel owner, she said "wow, the same thing happened to me there not too long ago." The restaurant offered to pay for the cleaning, but since it only cost 9 Euros I didn't even bother to send them the bill. However, the fact that they let this same accident happen to at least two customers really made me wonder how I should have reacted. The coat's fine now, and we won't be going back there in any case since it was a tourist destination only. It still bugs me, though.

If you read French, here's a recipe for veal neck braised with lots of vegetables, bacon, and white wine. It looks really good to me, but I haven't tried it. Let me know if youre interested but have trouble figuring it out.

You Know, a duck confit mousse might fill the bill, since confit is so pronouncedly salty. I'd describe it as more of a challenge than a dare, so I really want to come up with something good. I you can find moose meat in France, you deserve some sort of prize!

I used to love the brand that has a rooster on the tin, whose name escapes me at the moment. How I wish pimenton were available in France, it's so hard to live without!

Thanks so much for the suggestions, and I hope there will be lots more. I've already made a brandade de morue for that class, so that one's out this time. And that cazuela thing looks delicious, but is very much like a brandade. It's funny how when we think of salty, fishy comes immediately to mind. I never would have thought of char siu bao, which I adore, but I don't think I'll be able to make them here. I did think of a fougasse, but at least the one I make doesn't really qualify as mousseux. And no, it doesn't have to be a protein.

I have an assignment to make a tasting dish for a wine class, something that is salty and "mousseux" which means, fluffy, as in mousse-textured. Someone else is already making a fish terrine, so I'm trying to think of something different. It needs to be easy to serve, and has to be good at room temperature. For once, I'm not having a lot of ideas. I guess it's because fluffy food isn't normally my style. Who can help?

Here's a pork roast rolled around fresh herbs that I think definitely qualifies. My favorite thing about it is that the herb stuffing includes a heap of fresh arugula leaves. It's easy, beautiful, delicious hot or cold, and inexpensive.

Thanks for the report as usual, manton. Let me know if you'd like help on adding photos through eG. It's complicated, but once you get it, it's not hard, and the pictures really add a lot to your story. I'm kind of surprised that the gratin dauphinois didn't have you simmer the potatoes in milk before putting them in the oven. That seems to be a pretty usual technique here.

If it were me I would totally make Prune and Armagnac Ice Cream.

I already do edit photos quite a bit (you can see them here, but if the initial light is sub-optimal, there's only so much one can do in post-process.

Thanks for that link, isomer. I've been wanting a light box, and now I'm going to have one.

Spring is here, time to eat rabbit! I made a really delicious dish of mustard-roasted rabbit legs on a bed of parsnips and carrots with a splash of white wine. The recipe details and a picture are here.