A wonderful and creamy rice dish that works well as a main course or as an appetizer, it's equally tasty with just scampi or just asparagus.

Go to the recipe for Asparagus and Scampi Risotto.

Here is a delicious and visually stunning dish that works well as a salad or as the main course. Roasted pears with baked gnocchi, Gorgonzola cheese and prosciutto create a very hearty and flavorful meal.

Go to the recipe for Semolina Gnocchi with Roasted Peppered Pears, Gorgonzola and Prosciutto.

Dauphinoise is the French method of baking potatoes in milk, cream and cheese. In the French region of Dauphiné, every home cook has her own formula for preparing this gratin. This particular recipe is fairly simple but is full of flavor. Comfort food at its best.

Go to the recipe for Potato Gratin Dauphinoise.

Here is a collection of Fall Soup Recipes: hearty and comforting, perfect for warming you up on those brisk fall days. Farmhouse Corn Chowder, Gingered Pumpkin Soup, Apple Brie Soup and lots more.

It's a sad day in the foodie world. Publisher Condé Nast has decided to cease publication of the beautiful Gourmet magazine with the November issue. Condé Nast pointed to declining Ad sales for its reason to end the 68-year-old Gourmet. Not just a bunch of recipes, Gourmet, edited by the wonderful food writer and critic Ruth Reichl, was a treasure of in-depth food articles and mouth-watering photography. It will be greatly missed.

Ten chefs, at the top of their game, will compete in various locations from Los Angeles to Japan to New York. The final two contestants will battle it out in the Food Network's Kitchen Stadium to be declared an Iron Chef and join the ranks of Iron Chefs Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon. Hosted by Alton Brown, The Next Iron Chef premieres October 4th at 9pm ET/PT on the Food Network.

Find out who the 10 chef contestants are in The Next Iron Chef Photo Gallery.

Photo courtesy the Food Network.

Pasta and meatballs is classic comfort food. Here is a great recipe for rigatoni pasta with meatballs that has a wonderful meaty flavor and lots of herbs. The rigatoni, which is larger than penne pasta, really stands up to the heartiness of meatballs.

Go to the recipe for Rigatoni with Meatballs.

Fresh baked pretzels are the perfect snack food, great for a football game or party or just a treat for the family. Here is a simple recipe for great tasting pretzels that skips the traditional method of boiling the shaped pretzels. These are best baked and eaten the same day.

Go to the recipe for Fresh Baked Pretzels.

All salts are not created equal! Using sea salt rather than iodized or kosher salt adds more flavor to a dish. Sea salts, however, come in a huge variety of flavors and colors: apricot colored Murray River salt from Austalia, red Hawaiian sea salt, Fleur de Sel from France...

Experiment with different salts in your recipes and see what happens. For best results, many of these salts should be sprinkled lastly on a dish like a garnish. Sea salt is a product of the minerals found in the seawater where it is harvested. Most coastal countries produce sea salt of some kind and there are dozens of varieties waiting to be tasted. Here are my favorite places to buy gourmet salts.

Check out the Top Ten Places to Buy Gourmet Salts.

Photo © Steven Errico/Getty Images.

The Primetime Emmy Award Show airs Sunday, September 20th on CBS. Some of the food related primetime shows nominated this year for an Emmy include: Top Chef (5 Nominations), Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (3 nominations) and Hell's Kitchen (1 Nomination).

Here is a sneak peak of the food and wine of the official afterparty of the Emmy Awards, The Governors Ball, directed by L.A. Master Chef Joachim Splichal of the Patina Restaurant Group.

Check out the photo gallery of the Sneak Peak of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards Governors Ball.

Photo: Chef Joachim Splichal © Kristian Dowling/Getty Images.