I'd be crazy if I said I haven't benefitted from the resurgence of food and barbecue in the media. You can turn on any one of a dozen channels at any given point in time and learn the finer points of supreme sauces and magic marinades. My question then, is this: What happened to chicken?

Winter is coming... Oh wait, it's already here. Time to break out the puffy coat, the windshield scraper, your trusty shovel, and the stock pot. "Chef Ben, what is this stock pot you speak of? Everyone knows that delicious stock is born in boxes!" Incorrect!

Following the recent theme of simplicity, today, I'll bring you caramel. Caramel is simple, right? Sugar, water, cream, and butter. What could be easier? I'll tell you right now, if you're not into details and temperature control, this simplistic recipe will go south on you in a heartbeat, with potentially catastrophic results.

"OMG GRILLING SEAFOOD IS TERRIFYING!!!" If you ask most folks, next to big hairy spiders, creepy clowns, and fanged reptiles, grilling a piece of seafood can cause heart-pounding, palm-sweating panic. OK, that might be a little hyperbolic, but as a culinary instructor, my observation is that people would eat way more seafood if they were sure they weren't going to wreck it.

Why, you ask? It's the basicity, the simplicity, the elegance. The alchemic conversion of four mundane ingredients into sublime sustenance. Wow, you might be thinking that's awfully flowery language for a loaf of bread. I might counter that while it may seem pedestrian to some, the combination of water, flour, salt and yeast is daunting to many, even a lot of self proclaimed great cooks.

Can you smell it? That magic aroma of spring. An assertive breeze pushes around the last aromas of winter, and mixes in the fresh new smells of mulch and petrichor. Even the smell of lighter fluid burning off of a pile of Kingsford briquettes evokes memories of the taste of warm weather.

As long as I can remember, my family's Thanksgiving turkey has always been the same. How is it possible that a tradition in poultry can last 45 years? Because it's utterly perfect. Because once you've sampled this succulent, sweet, lightly smoky, rich, mahogany-colored Norman Rockwell styled flavor bomb, you need look no further.

In yet another follow up example of why stock is king, I'd like to whip up a batch of Pho-Ga. "Say what?" You heard me. Pho-Ga. A magical concoction originating from southeast Asia. And another example of a soup that can't be created properly without using real stock.

How often does it come about in your existence that a basic, logical tenet that you have held deeply to your heart your entire life turns out to be utter hogwash? Unfortunately, in the craft of cooking, it happens all the time. Remember that time someone told you that you needed to sear a piece of meat at blistering temperatures before roasting it? Poppycock. Remember the comfortable logic that searing meat "seals in the juices?" Piffle.

Gnocchi (pronounced nyo-kee) are the most overlooked of pastas. These delectable, light, yet hearty dumplings are the most primitive of pastas. They are so easy to make, in fact, that with a little practice you can make an entire batch from scratch before your water comes to a boil.

It would be impossible to count all of the times I have been asked for a "quick tip" on grilling. I think that folks automatically assume I'm being obtuse when I answer with things like: "preheat your grill", and "make sure your grates are clean". But it's these basics that often go overlooked that can turn a sublime grilling session into belabored frustration.