I was watching an episode of Martha Stewart featuring James Beard Award-winning chefs recently, and Martha asked each of them to share their favorite thing to make when they got home from their restaurants late at night. I always wonder what kinds of things chefs cook when they're not at work so it was cool to get some insight. There was truffle popcorn and scrambled eggs, fried veggie chips, mashed potatoes and more; frankly, it all looked pretty amazing, but one dish really caught my eye: the late night pasta. If my cooking skills had extended beyond grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese (from a box, of course) in college, this late night pasta is one of the dishes I know I'd have made time and time again. It is late night comfort food to the max! The chef who made this pasta was Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar and Grill, and he described it as a cross between cacio e pepe (pasta with cheese and black pepper) and pasta carbonara. You start by crisping up some bacon in a skillet, then add black pepper and onion, allowing the onion to soften in the rendered bacon fat before adding just a tiny bit of garlic for more flavor. To this mixture, butter, Parmesan cheese and reserved pasta cooking water are added to create a simple sauce, which is then tossed with spaghetti. Each dish of pasta is topped with a fried egg and a sprinkle of parsley to finish. It was so utterly satisfying to break the yolk and watch it run over the pasta. Not surprisingly, it was even better to eat! I haven't fried an egg in so long I'd forgotten how ridiculously good they can be. I reduced both the amount of cheese and butter in this recipe, and it was still plenty rich for us. I never know how a meal that doesn't involve a sizable piece of meat is going to be received by Shane, but he was still talking about this pasta hours after we ate, which to me is always the surest sign of a recipe worth repeating. Late Night Pasta adapted from Martha Stewart 6 oz spaghetti 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/4-1/2-inch pieces 3/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 cup chopped onion 1 small clove garlic, minced 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. While the pasta cooks, add the bacon to a large skillet set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and the bacon is crisp. Add the onion and pepper to the pan, and continue cooking until the onion softens. Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet set over medium-low heat. Crack the eggs into the pan and cook just until the whites are set (the yolks will still be runny). Remove the pan from the heat and keep warm. Add the garlic to the pan along with the bacon and onion and cook, stirring constantly, just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits. Reduce the heat to low, and add the drained pasta to the pan, followed by the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Once the butter has melted, turn off the heat under the pan. Gradually add the cheese, tossing the pasta with tongs to incorporate. After you've added all of the cheese, you can adjust the consistency of the dish with the remaining reserved pasta cooking water. Divide the pasta between two bowls, and top each serving with one of the fried eggs. Garnish with the chopped parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

2 tablespoons blood orange juice or 2 tablespoons tangerine juice 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil coarse salt fresh ground white pepper 1 Peel tangerines and set them aside. 2 Slice the ends off the blood oranges; working with 1 orange at a time, place it on a cutting board on one of the cut ends so that it sits squarely on the board. 3 Using a small, sharp knife, slice away the skin and white pith; repeat with the other orange. 4 Separate both the tangerines and oranges into sections. 5 Cut the red onion into very thin slices. 6 In a mixing bowl, toss together the frisee, watercress, and onion. 7 Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together, then drizzle over the greens. 8 Toss to mix. 9 Season with salt and pepper. 10 Pile the greens in the centers of 4 plates and arrange the tangerine and orange sections around them, alternating the tangerine and orange sections; serve immediately.

1/4 cup unsalted butter , softened 1 1/2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley , chopped 1 large garlic clove , peeled and minced 2 teaspoons shallots , minced 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 1/2 tablespoons prosciutto di Parma , minced 1 tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons lemon juice , freshly squeezed salt , to taste fresh ground black pepper , to taste 2 tablespoons canola oil 28 ounces skinless white fish fillets, boneless 1 Stir together first 10 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. 2 Heat oil in a wide, deep, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and cook 4 minutes. turn fillets over and cook 1 minute. 3 Spoon 1 tablespoon butter mixture over the top of each fillet; transfer skillet to oven and bake at 450 for 2 minutes or until fish is just cooked through and opaque in the cenhter. 4 Add any remaining butter to pan and let melt, stirring with juices in pan; spoon over fish and garnish, if desired. Serve immediately.

add to shopping list 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 pound Red Bliss potatoes, thinly sliced 1/4 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced 6 garlic cloves, sliced 4 sprigs thyme 4 small sprigs rosemary 4 red snapper fillets (6 ounces each) 12 thin slices lemon 1 cup dry white wine 3/4 cup bottled clam broth 3 canned Roma tomatoes, diced 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped 3 tablespoons chopped parsley Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons blood orange juice or 2 tablespoons tangerine juice 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil coarse salt fresh ground white pepper 1 Peel tangerines and set them aside. 2 Slice the ends off the blood oranges; working with 1 orange at a time, place it on a cutting board on one of the cut ends so that it sits squarely on the board. 3 Using a small, sharp knife, slice away the skin and white pith; repeat with the other orange. 4 Separate both the tangerines and oranges into sections. 5 Cut the red onion into very thin slices. 6 In a mixing bowl, toss together the frisee, watercress, and onion. 7 Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together, then drizzle over the greens. 8 Toss to mix. 9 Season with salt and pepper. 10 Pile the greens in the centers of 4 plates and arrange the tangerine and orange sections around them, alternating the tangerine and orange sections; serve immediately.

1/4 cup unsalted butter , softened 1 1/2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley , chopped 1 large garlic clove , peeled and minced 2 teaspoons shallots , minced 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 1/2 tablespoons prosciutto di Parma , minced 1 tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons lemon juice , freshly squeezed salt , to taste fresh ground black pepper , to taste 2 tablespoons canola oil 28 ounces skinless white fish fillets, boneless 1 Stir together first 10 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. 2 Heat oil in a wide, deep, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and cook 4 minutes. turn fillets over and cook 1 minute. 3 Spoon 1 tablespoon butter mixture over the top of each fillet; transfer skillet to oven and bake at 450 for 2 minutes or until fish is just cooked through and opaque in the cenhter. 4 Add any remaining butter to pan and let melt, stirring with juices in pan; spoon over fish and garnish, if desired. Serve immediately.

Since you last knew me, I’ve developed a few food-related obsessions. The first one is plates. I collect vintage plates now on Ebay and Etsy and I have quite a collection (OK, here’s a peek on Instagram). I’m also obsessed with old cookbooks, usually ones that have historic value (The Lutece Cookbook, for example) but sometimes I purchase cookbooks that are pretty campy and semi-historic (The Uta Hagen Cookbook, The Liberace Cookbook, The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Cookbook). Those collectible cookbooks held the highest position on my old cookbook shelf, a shelf that was beginning to look like a real mess. Here’s what I’m talking about… Even Mr. Lolita was scandalized. So this past weekend, I took it all apart. Every book came out and I laid them out on various tables and chairs, though I didn’t do the whole “spark joy” thing. I made that mistake once before and accidentally gave away half my not-food-book collection. But that’s a story for another time. Looking at all my cookbooks spread out, and then at the empty shelf (which Craig purchased at H.D. Buttercup and which he gladly AHEM reluctantly donated to my kitchen back in 2013) I decided that it was time to shake things up. The former organization prioritized the vintage/collectible/campy stuff on the top shelf, the things I hoped people would enjoy rifling through at dinner parties. That never really happened. Then there were the staples on the second shelf, spilling down to the third shelf. On the bottom shelf, dessert books. This time, though, I decided to map things out differently: That’s right, no more vintage/collectibles at the top… from now on, the top two shelves would be VIPs! Meaning: the books I’m most excited to cook from RIGHT NOW. Not sure if that’s obvious to everyone–to put the books you’re most excited to cook from at the top of your cookbook shelf–but to me, it’s a definite game changer. Now when I mosey into my kitchen, I see the books that I’m most psyched to see at the very top. Let’s take a closer look: These are truly my top-tier cookbooks right now, the ones I’m most likely to cook from if you’re coming over for a dinner party. You might spy Ottolenghi’s new dessert book, Sweet, in the mix; yup, that’s a VIP! But there are some unexpected ones, too: Donald Link’s Down South, Alfred Portale’s Simple Pleasures (where I got the recipe for the best soup I’ve ever made), The Food of Campanile (which Nancy Silverton wrote with Mark Peel, back when they were married and owned a restaurant together). But the book I’m happiest to own right now is this one… Margot Henderson is married to Fergus Henderson, the British chef famous for cooking all the parts of the animal (I ate at his restaurant St. John when I was in London) and who wrote a book called Nose To Tail. Well as wonderful as that book is (it’s also in my collection), I have to say I’m a bigger fan of Margot’s book. It’s bright and funny and does something that no other cookbook does that I’m aware of: it scales its recipes to various sizes depending on how many people you’re feeding. More than anything else, it’s the book I’m most excited to pull off the shelf these days just to spend time with it. One tier down, you have the other VIP books. Please don’t judge them unfairly for not making the top tier; it’s like getting a silver medal at the Olympics. These books are still at the Olympics. Give them a break. These are all solid books, with some novelties mixed in (Ottolenghi’s first book, for example, a gift that my friend Lauren gave me years ago, before Ottolenghi was a name, and I was like: “Umm, thanks!” Little did I know it’d be a SECOND TIER COOKBOOK someday). I’m particularly excited about cooking from Every Grain of Rice (which, weirdly, I keep putting off), The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook, and My Two Souths (already made the fried chicken from it; it was pretty special). Now let’s talk about the third tier. Things changed from my original plan: dessert books moved up a shelf and now share space with the warhorses. These are the books that’ve been with me the longest, in a way… the Inas, the Marios, the Lidias. These books are still stalwarts in the kitchen. I’ll pull down an Ina anytime I want to make a solid meal without too much fanfare. And Mario’s always a good resource for authentic Italian, as is Lidia. The dessert books–the ones that SURVIVED–are on the right. And finally, we have the classics. These are now on the bottom shelf because I’m thinking of the bottom shelf more as a library, rather than the place I’ll go to first when I have people coming over. I think that makes sense. Gone are the novelties–Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous AND The Two Fat Ladies Cookbook are now in our living room (hope Craig doesn’t notice)–and Uta’s in my nightstand. There are some real treasures on this bottom shelf… Come into the Kitchen by Mary and Vincent Price, The Cooking of Southwest France by Paula Wolfert, The Graham Kerr Cookbook (he was The Galloping Gourmet long before I was The Amateur Gourmet), Veal Cookery by Craig Claiborne, When French Women Cook by Madeleine Kamman (that’s one of my favorites), Simple French Food by Richard Olney, The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, and The Breakfast Book / The Supper Book both by Marion Cummingham. They may be bottom-tier books geographically speaking, but these are top-tier cookbooks by all other measures. And I’m glad they’re all down there for me to peruse on lazy Sundays of the future. So behold: my newly organized cookbook collection! And to all of the cookbooks that didn’t survive the reshuffling, please know that you’ll always hold a special place in my heart. Just not on my shelf.