Host Alton Brown journeys from field to market to hardware store in search of the perfect steak and the perfect pan to sear it in

.

Recipes featured on episode: Pan Seared Rib Eye.

Alton Brown ponders the potato and its main ingredient: Starch. Baking, mashing and gratins are re-examined.

Recipes:

Mashers

Potato/Portobello Gratin

The Baked Potato

Exiled to bars, chopped and pre-packaged, drenched in noxious concoctions, the tossed salad deserves better. Alton Brown goes back to salad basics and pays homage to Caesar.

Recipes:

Hail Caesar Salad

Veni Vedi Vinaigrette

Why did the chicken cross the road? Probably to escape Alton Brown, who seems intent on defining the perfect broiled chicken that's out of the oven and bathed in sauce in under half an hour.

Recipes : Broiled, Butterflied Chicken

You scream, I scream, but Alton Brown would rather make his own ice cream...and sorbet and granita. Secrets the pros don't want you to know and how to find an ice cream machine that delivers the goods without breaking the bank.

Recipes:

Serious Vanilla Ice Cream

Coffee Granita

Key Lime Sorbet

Searching for the perfect southern-style biscuit, Alton Brown investigates flour and leaveners and turns to his Grandmother for a pointer or two...not to mention a few pointed comments.

Recipes:

Scones

Shortcake

Southern Biscuits

Host Alton Brown conquers ""rouxs"" and leads the way to lump free gravy.

Recipes:

Gravy from Roast Drippings

Sawmill Gravy

White Roux

Host Alton Brown journeys to the center of the onion. After rediscovering a kitchen classic, and debunking the mythology of tear-free onion cutting, he emerges with a darned fine bowl of soup.

Recipes: French Onion Soup

Alton Brown dives deep into the watery world of fish and finds that with just three cooking methods under your belt, you can cook just about all of the critters.

Recipes:

Grilled Salmon Steaks

Pan Fried Fish

Striped Bass in Salt Dome

Part one of an ongoing series looks at the king of pantry essentials: Dried pasta. Alton Brown explores pasta styles, the best cooking method (water is key), the tools you really need (big), and a different way of saucing.

Recipes: Pasta

Alton brown heads to LA for a sack of rice, evaluates rice cookers, unlocks saffron and rewrites the rules for the most versatile of all rice dishes: pilaf.

Recipes: Rice Pilaf

Alton Brown delves into the dark world of chocolate, picks a pod, roasts some beans, questions mysterious guests, visits his shrink, makes a mousse and hits upon the ultimate chocolate recipe.

Recipes :

Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Lava Muffins