Eggs and cheese are two of my favourite foods, and I spend a lot of time and brain power coming up with ways to combine them. Blending cheese into the eggs, cooking eggs in piles of cheese, and folding eggs around cheese are all cherished practices of mine, and this omelette utilises all three.

The versatility of the humble egg is almost mind-blowing. While eggs are perfectly delicious with nothing more than a sprinkle of salt, they also glow up remarkably easily, bringing rich, flavorful yolk and hunger-fighting substance to whatever dish you plop ‘em into. They are a breakfast workhorse, and we have gathered up all of our favourite ways to prepare them.

My love for eggplant is fierce, pure, and, according to a lot of people, not normal. I don’t get it. At its best, this gorgeous nightshade nothing short of edible silk — what’s not to love about that?

Jeffrey Morgenthaler has made a lot of drinks. Though I’m sure he hates the phrase “celebrity bartender”, there’s no denying that his methods and cocktails are famous, nor can you deny that they’re really, really good. In addition to being very good at alcohol, Jeff is also very good at food, and was nice enough to sit down with me and talk about mayonnaise, fast food, and why Instant Pot eggs suck.

Italian food is, for me, the final word in comfort. Even my foulest moods are no match for cheesy, red sauce-laden carbs, but I rarely have six hours to spend on a pot of Sunday gravy. Thankfully, I haven’t met a low-and-slow dish my Instant Pot couldn’t handle — so when a craving for spaghetti and meatballs hit, I knew just what to do.

I love the “in-a-hole” genre of egg cooking, be that hole in a simple piece of white bread, a grilled cheese sandwich, or even a bell pepper. (The only member of this family I hate is an egg cooked in an avocado; not all holes are meant to be filled.)

My new favourite is the delicata squash, specifically when pan fried in browned butter until soft throughout and caramelised on the edges.

Video: My love for mangoes is deep and eternal, but there is no denying that they are slippery little buggers, which makes them a pain to peel. Fortunately, there are two easy ways to peel the gorgeous, golden fruit, neither of which require any single-use, fruit-specific tools.

Similar to rollerblading, cooking is not something everyone has a knack for. Also like rollerblading, cooking is something that one can learn, and a big part of learning is practice. They say fortune favours the bold, and taking on intimidating challenges will make you a better cook. (This is where I find cooking and rollerblading to diverge, as I once bruised my tailbone severely with bold rollerblading.)

Happy weekend, everyone, and welcome back to 3-Ingredient Happy Hour, the weekly drink column featuring super simple yet delicious libations. This week we’re making a basic buck with a good amount of very strong bourbon.

You guys remember my BBF, horseradish vodka, right? (You should, twas only yesterday this was released unto the world.)

Well, in a move you probably saw coming, we are using her to make a bracing, slightly salty, sorta sinus-clearing martini.

Drink coasters are a smart thing to have, but a dumb thing to buy. One of life’s great ironies is that the most expensive coasters are usually made of rigid, hefty material that — instead of absorbing moisture - allows it to pool until it cannot be contained, spilling over onto your surfaces. The solution to this is clear: Do not buy coasters; instead, steal them from bars.

When making a cocktail, the shaker serves several functions. It mixes, aerates, and rapidly chills ingredients, and — as writer Chelsea Fagan pointed out on Twitter — there’s no need to limit the tool to an alcoholic happy hour.

As of two minutes ago, I have 17 different types of salt in my kitchen, including a Jacobsen sampler (which I am methodically working my way through) and a packet of THC-infused stuff (which I have not tried). I love all of my salty sons dearly, but the Diamond Crystal Kosher and flaky Maldon get far more use than anyone else—the DC is for cooking; Maldon is for finishing.

Now is the winter of our discontent and—due to something happening on Netflix—people seem to be managing this discontent by getting rid of all their shit. I’m into it. I have always been a fan of purging, and this extends to my fridge, freezer, and cabinets.

(I do a fridge re-organisation at least once a week, lest I lose my damn mind.)

As I have mentioned before, I am not an enthusiastic baker. As such, I appreciate a pie dough that forgives and forgets my foibles, especially if it can be thrown together in a food processor.

This cornmeal crust from Dolester Miles is all of those things, and it’s quite delicious.

By now, we should all be completely unafraid of monosodium glutamate, the umami-boosting molecule more commonly referred to as “MSG.” It will not give you headache, it will not make your arms numb, but it will inspire you to eat an entire head of roasted broccoli in one sitting.

Watermelon sprinkled with a little sea salt is one of my favourite summery flavour combinations -- and I thought I was super fancy when I paired it with feta - but this watermelon "pokeacute" from Bon Appetit takes the sweet + savoury factor to a whole new place.

Crunchy, salty things can improve almost any situation. The other evening, I was enjoying a fancy beverage at a fancy cocktail bar like a fancy lady, thinking about what a nice evening I was having, when the bartender set down a little ramekin of popped sorghum and fried capers, elevating the moment even further. The sorghum was good — it’s basically tiny popcorn! — but the capers were a revelation.

I love a roasted vegetable, and I love a pickled vegetable. But take a pickled vegetable and roast it? That, my friends, is a glorious snack, perfect for pairing with cheese, charcuterie, or a stiff cocktail.