Dude

Sometimes you can learn a lot by watching TV. We were just couch-potatoing in front of Jacques Pépin's Fast Food My Way program, and I took away so much from it that I think I would gladly have paid money for the experience. (I guess that would be called "supporting public television.")

He made a tomato gratin that was stunningly simple: Tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped, tossed in a hot skillet with olive oil and butter and then baked under a dry-breadcrumb and olive oil crust.

He also made a breakfast dish that I think I will have to replicate as soon as humanly possible. First he prepared butterfly pasta and tossed it with chives, a little butter and olive oil, shredded gruyére cheese, salt, pepper, and a little of the cooking water. Then he fried eggs sunny-side up and served them atop the pasta, cutting open the yolks so they melded with the sauce. Oh. My.

There was more, but those were the dishes that especially grabbed me.

Then, just when I thought things couldn't get any better, America's Test Kitchen came on and I figured out a lot of the things I've been doing wrong when I make pizza. (Mental note: Keep dough sticky.)

How long 'til dinner again?