Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

We have made this a number of times and it's a wonderful recipe. I have to echo what my late mother always said: "I'd rather watch Jacques Pepin cut an onion than watch any other TV cook fix an entire meal". It's so true! The man's mastery of "la technique" is phenomenal. If you haven't read his autobiography, you must do so.

I'm salting more now that I have been watching more cooking shows, but still try not to overdo it. I seldom if ever salt at the table. I was watching the movie "Spanglish" this last weekend and the DVD had a special feature with Thomas Keller, who was the culinary consultant for the movie. He told Adam Sandler that all chefs carry a "saltbox" with them because they have a high tolerance for salt. I hope that I would never need to do so but I'm finding that adding a little more salt than I used to does bring out more overall flavor. Still, I am amazed how salty food is some restaurants and how wonderful it is to have a good meal at a great restaurant and not have to reach for a salt or pepper shaker. And while we're at it: How come they only bring the pepper mill to the table during the salad course? Why can't we have the fresh ground pepper on the other courses. I would much rather add pepper to a plate than salt!

The best combo is take a bag of milk chocolate M & M's (or the dark if you prefer) and mix it in a bowl with Reeses' Pieces. A sharper peanut taste than just peanut butter M & M's (although there's nothing wrong with those either) and a good chocolate flavor.

My wife is part Italian, has made so many pasta dishes with so many variations-usually based upon what's in the fridge and pantry. Also, had a lot of different pasta dishes during our 2 trips to Italy. However, my favorite probably remains pasta with butter. My Hungarian grandmother & mother made this for us as kids and it is a special comfort food for me. My only variation is that I will add some sauteed mushrooms (they did not eat mushrooms as they had gotten hold of "bad ones" once) and some herbs. I didn't realize until a few years ago that this is a fairly common Northern Italian recipe and it makes sense that my grandmother would make it. After all, both the part of Hungary she was from (actually, a part of the Balkens now) and Northern Italy were once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Either way, it always makes me feel great. Just don't tell my doctor I eat it!