Oh, yes, I’d forgotten all about eggs. We make Spanish tortilla almost every week around here. You’ll need a good non-stick skillet for this one. Just slice some taters (I’m partial to sweets) and cook them slowly with a lid in a little olive oil so they sort of poach/steam. Letting them go long enough to crisp up is optional. Throw in whatever add-ins you want* and stir it all around to heat through. Scramble a bunch of eggs, just how many will depend on the size of your eggs and your skillet. Pour them over your taters and other stuff. Let them cook undisturbed till pretty solid through the middle and wet but not entirely liquid on top. Slide out into a plate, then invert the skillet over the plate and flip the whole thing over so the wet side is against the skillet bottom now and cook for a few more minutes. Serve with a nice salad and some crusty bread. Bonus points if you happen to have some tomato jam or similar sweet-tart condiment handy.
There’s also all sorts of bean options. Lentils with ham and rosemary is very nice and should fit well with your tastes, judging by your rub recipe. Or beans with a little pasta and some potatoes put in toward the end. Some greens and cornbread with 'em…mmmm.
*Seriously, use anything. A little corn cut off the cob, some pickled banana peppers, onions, some bell peppers, roasted hard squash, fried green tomatoes, some cubed up meat from dinner last night, some leftover mustard greens, tofu if you’re into that sort of thing, whatever rings your bell. We’re specially fond of sweet corn with pickled peppers, especially when it’s corn season.
Is it a cast-iron dutch oven with a lid? That’s heavy enough I’d say your chuck steak recipe should work on the stovetop. I’m thinking about the timing*.
And you’ll have to keep an eye on it to be sure it’s not burning on the bottom - or add some liquid to the recipe. Better yet, put a flame-tamer under it. If you don’t have one of those, try a flower-pot saucer turned upside down.
*If you’re cooking it at 350, then you’re boiling the liquid produced by the veggies & such, rather than doing a low-temp braise. So cranking it up on the stovetop will produce a similar result. However, if it’s a heavy pan, it’s going to take longer to get the pan heated up than in the oven. But the veggies should break down into liquid faster, since they’ll have more concentrated heat, so the actual cooking will start sooner. All-in-all, I’d suspect the timing would be a bit longer on the stovetop, but I could be wrong. Your best bet would be to try it when you can keep an eye on it.
Speaking of egg dishes, I’ve been making frittatas lately, which I bake but you could do them in a skillet on the stovetop just as easily. My “secret” is frozen stir-fry vegetables. Just throw half a package of these veggies into buttered or oiled skillet or 8x8 baking dish, a layer of tater tots or quartered soft taco shells, add 6 or 7 eggs mixed with a little milk, cheese and seasonings and cook! Easy and yum. And hey, here’s some pictures of me grilling with my George Forman.
Last night the chuck went into the Dutch oven. Over a layer of onions. I put a little bit of oil on the bottom because I was afraid the onions would burn. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme and oregano on the steak. More onions on top and a half used carton of sliced mushrooms. Came out very good.
The way you describe it, it sounds like the ignitor needs to be replaced. If you google “gas oven ignitor”, you’ll get a lot of info describing how to diagnose and fix it yourself.
I’m a big fan of the giant pot o’ beans. A pound of dried black beans is a little over a buck where I live, and with a half-gallon of water, a bit of salt, and a chopped onion, simmered in a dutch oven for a couple hours, makes a helluva lot of food. We go through a pound every week or so, getting a lot of cheap meals out of it.
It does sound good. You can also use broth instead of oil, chicken broth works well with just about everything, and of course you can use beef broth with beef.
I like to put a rib or two of celery in my beans, too. We prefer pintos over black beans, and eat pintos more often, but sometimes I switch things up and get different kinds of beans. And I take Gas X, because even if I soak and rinse the beans, I’m gonna need it.