In this episode Susie and Jeff discuss their fantasy dinner dates, Sigmund Freud and Gisele Bündchen, respectively.

In this episode, Jeff lectures Susie on why some vegetables are bad for you and how salad is the "silent killer."

Eggs Benedict and Martin Short have very little in common. Eggs Benedict is made with Canadian bacon; Martin Short is hammy and Canadian. One is served on an English muffin with hollandaise sauce, the other co-starred in ¡Three Amigos! And the comparisons end there, except for the fact that Martin Short and eggs Benedict were two looming obstacles in my relationship with Craig, my boyfriend of nine months.

I can't remember precisely when or where it first happened, but my hunch is that we were at Balthazar enjoying one of New York City's best breakfast bargains (eating in a lustrous environment at diner prices). Craig ordered eggs Benedict, and when it came out, he tasted and said, "It's good but not as good as Glo's."

Glo's, he informed me, was a small homey diner in Seattle that served the best eggs Benedict anyone could ever fathom.

Related: The Amateur Gourmet visits Glo's, "that restaurant in Seattle where [he] had that delicious eggs Benedict."

George Weld says:

• Start with cold eggs—they hold together better.


• Use a fairly deep pot.


• Bring the water to just a simmer, and add a little vinegar—about a tablespoon. You can use any kind of vinegar, but you'll probably taste a little bit of it, so use a vinegar you like and that tastes good.


• Lower egg, in a cup, right to the surface of the water and gradually slide it in. The white will immediately set. If you're using a shallower pan, make sure to sweep under the egg with a spoon so it doesn't stick to the bottom.


• If you're cooking a lot of poached eggs, you can drop them into ice water to stop the cooking. When it's time to serve, simply drop them back in the simmering water before plating.

George Weld says:

• Use a nonstick pan over medium heat. The pan should be hot, but not too hot—the egg shouldn't sizzle when it hits the pan.
• Place egg gently into pan.
• The egg actually has two separate whites, outer and inner. The inner takes longer to set and is the part of the egg that you should judge doneness by. Once inner white is solid, then you flip.
• After initial flip, let egg sit 15 seconds to set outer white, then flip again.

Editor's note: When we thought of who we wanted to star in Serious Eats' first regular video series, Mario Batali's name kept coming up over and over again. Why? He's funny, passionate, generously spirited, smart as hell, and a great cook. So we hope you'll enjoy Unclogged, Mario Batali as you've never seen him before. —Ed Levine

The Takeaway

Mario says:

• "What you want to eat when you eat a bowl of pasta ... is pasta."


• "The way that they refer to their sauce in Italy is condimento—condiment—and when you think about a hot dog or hamburger, the condiment is something that kind of greases it up, but it never overtakes the main event of the hot dog or the hamburger."


• "Americans overdress their pasta 99.9 percent of the time. It should never be a bowl of soup. It should be noodles, with a little stuff."

About Mario: Mario Batali has created a thriving restaurant empire and has established himself as a top restaurateur. Together with his partner, Joe Bastianich, he operates seven New York City hotspots. Mario splits his time between New York City's Greenwich Village and northern Michigan with his wife, Susan Cahn, of Coach Dairy Goat Farm, and their two sons. More Mario: mariobatali.com.

About Mario: Mario Batali has created a thriving restaurant empire and has established himself as a top restaurateur. Together with his partner, Joe Bastianich, he operates seven New York City hotspots. Mario splits his time between New York City's Greenwich Village and northern Michigan with his wife, Susan Cahn, of Coach Dairy Goat Farm, and their two sons. More Mario: mariobatali.com.

About six months ago we decided that it would be fun to produce more original video segments for Serious Eats. When I made a list of interesting people I wanted to interview on camera for a series called Chewing the Fat, Alton Brown was at the top of the list. Why? Because whenever I have watched him on the Food Network or chatted with him (ever so briefly) when I was an Iron Chef judge, I have always found Alton to be interesting, provocative, smart, and funny.

So one day Alton came over to Serious Eats World Headquarters and sat down for an hour and a half, one-on-one interview, which was shot, directed, and edited by none other than Hamburger America director and author George Motz.. Nominally the subject was Feasting on Asphalt 2: The River Run, Alton's Food Network series and its companion book. Alton and I ended up chatting about everything from the pleasure derived from feeding people to the art of the doughnut, the subject of the webisode we're posting here. The series may have run its course on the Food Network, but the subjects we discussed are timeless.

So pull up a chair and watch as Serious Eats chews the fat (and the doughnuts) with Alton Brown. If you want to buy the DVD of Feasting on Asphalt 2 you may do so at amazon.com

This week's Chewing the Fat finds Alton discussing race, class, and food. In fact, as Alton himself notes, it's impossible to take a motorcycle eating trip down the length of the Mississippi River without discussing these issues. Ms.Clara Brantely, the extraordinary African-American woman Alton is conversing with, is the cook at Jim's Cafe in Greenville, Mississippi.

The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is available at Amazon.

On this week's Chewing the Fat webisode, our man Alton goes deep into the world of fried chicken. Southern fried chicken, to be exact. Alton and his crew show up at what is one of the world's great fried chicken joints. The crew eats all the available chicken, leaving Alton holding the bag—or should I say, his hog. Does he end up going fried chicken-less? Watch and find out.

The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is available at Amazon.

On this week's Chewing the Fat, Alton Brown talks about what he discovered about the whole notion of hospitality when he hit the road in Feasting on Asphalt. We figured hospitality is a worthy subject come holiday time. Alton says that regrettably hospitality has come to mean showmanship. That, he says, is not what eating food that's been cooked for us is all about.

The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is available at Amazon.

With the holiday season upon us, we thought it would be righteous to have Alton weighing in on one of our all time favorite Serious Eats subjects, pie. Needless to say, he shares our reverence for a great piece of pie and the piemakers behind them.

The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is available at Amazon.com.

This webisode finds Alton musing about what's it like when he's on the road shooting, talking, and eating with strangers. As he says, food connects all of us. Much food for thought, Alton.

The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is available at Amazon.com.

I'd never even heard of Luxembourg noodles until Alton Brown shared this story with us, but I sure do love the idea of noodles, crackers, and butter.

The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is available at Amazon.com.

Mario Batali and Tony Bourdain are a couple of champion fat chewers who know and like and respect each other a great deal, so we thought why not bring them together for the next set of Chewing the Fat episodes. Over a glass of wine and some tasty nibbles Mario and Tony discuss everything from the pleasures of fatherhood to what they would eat for their last supper. They truly enjoy each other's company, and their conversation turns out to be revealing, intimate, and surprisingly moving. The first webisode finds Mario getting Tony to admit that the birth of his daughter has forever changed him.

The new season of Tony's show No Reservations begins January 5th at 10 p.m. ET on the Travel Channel, so consider these Chewing the Fat episodes to be an appetizer for that. Mario's show, Spain...On the Road Again, co-starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Mark Bittman, continues on PBS.