This week, we chat with Nigella Lawson about recipe writing as literature, the sublime art of eating chocolate in bed and how the simplest meals can become the basis for our most cherished memories. Plus, we get a barbecue lesson from pitmaster Rodney Scott, Dan Pashman orders takeout through the mail, and we cook polenta with shrimp and tomatoes.

Questions in this Episode:

"I’ve been making a lot of scones recently and I was wondering: How can I get the best texture?"

"As I’ve been cooking at home and experimenting with flavors in my cooking and baking, I’m wondering if there is a certain order that our mouths perceive taste. Is there a sequence or do we taste all flavors at the same time? And how should this influence my cooking and baking?"

"I have fallen in deep, dark love with the Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Cake. I’ve made it probably a dozen times. Instead of making a layer cake every time, can I make the cake in snacking sizes that I can freeze?"

"Is it possible to make homemade panko breadcrumbs?"

"I have been having trouble making cannoli and achieving the quintessential bubbles. Either they don’t bubble at all, bubble in one or two places or the entire cannoli shell has one large bubble which puffs up and comes off the tube. Any advice?"