The basics: cutlery

I'm not going to preach about how important it is to cook with top notch (i.e. pricey) equipment. It's more than possible to make great food using mediocre cookware. My parents, for example, use mostly s**t hardware to make delicious food. I will implore you, however, to buy a good chef's knife. A good, sharp chef's knife will make cooking more fun - a lot more fun. It'll be the most important tool in your kitchen and if you're like me, your favorite. I love my Shun knife so much I want to take it behind a middle school and get it pregnant.

Besides Shun, Global and MAC are other easy to find, good Japanese brands. The big name German brands are Wüsthof and Henckels. Beware that both companies makes cheaper lines (Signature & International for Henckels; Gourmet & Emeril for Wüsthof) that are poor imitations of their nicer stuff (Twin Cuisine & Four Star; Classic & Ikon). If you see a Henckels chef's knife for $35, that's not the one you want. If you want something in that price range, get yourself a Victorinox knife, the darling of America's Test Kitchen. Oh, and pass on the 12-piece knife set. Don't be that guy (or girl, er young woman). Besides a chef's knife, you really only need a paring knife and a serrated knife.

The basics: seasoning

If there's one thing I've learned from the Food Network (back when it had real chefs cooking real food rather than such culinary luminaries as Sandra Lee), it's that you need to season your food. Also, how often do contestants on Top Chef get blasted by Tom Colicchio for not seasoning their food properly?

Salt and Pepper

While lots of people use basic iodized salt, it tastes like s**t. One of the easiest things you can do to make your food taste better is to use kosher salt or sea salt instead. I use kosher salt (Morton coarse Kosher salt, specifically) because its coarse size allows you to sprinkle it from about a foot above your food and feel like a celebrity chef. Actually, the size does make it easier to distribute over food. And, it's not that much pricier than plain iodized salt and tastes much better.

Next, use fresh cracked black pepper instead of pre-ground. Pre-ground pepper is flavorless and sad. The pungent, biting taste of freshly cracked pepper is what you want for your food. Starting with whole peppercorns, use a pepper mill or crush them manually by putting them in a ziplock and pounding them with a rolling pin or heavy pan for a coarser texture. A mortar and pestle also works. I use a Unicorn Magnum Pepper Mill (an unfortunate name) that churns out a ridiculous amount of ground pepper with every twist.

In summary, amaze your friends and loved ones by using nicer s+p (I heart you, Rachel Ray).

P.S. I definitely do not heart Rachel Ray.