tmgrobyn

You may also want to look up a few people on the net and twitter. Two that come to mind is @wrightfood and @katedecamont. Matt also has a blog section on Charcuterie which is amazing. Kate is an American living in France and has butchering workshops that will teach you an amazing amount of information. Her classes are way out of my price range and possibly yours. However, following her on twitter will alert you to her workshops here in the states. I recommend Ruhlman and company's book on Charcuterie. It's available most everywhere. Another book is Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques, which has a good amount of techniques you may want to master. http://www.butcher-packer.com/ Is a website devoted to the butcher industry. Hope this helps!

I have a friend who owns a candy shop that specializes in Caramel apples. Her secret is to add Guittard Vanilla Appeals to the caramel. She swears it stops the caramel from sliding and has a huge following, so I'm thinking it is a good solution.

I too thought the show felt rushed. For some reason it seemed as if they had a 4 night special in PR and had to quickly get it done. Ted's blog was top notch. He pays an homage to Richard and gives Stephanie the kudos she deserves. The judging panel was a good mix of judges, however, that Zagat guy! Zagat is overrated in itself and the contrast of him on the panel with Ripert cracked me up. His comments (that were shown) were comments I would hear from a random diner at a random restaurant. I would much rather see a TC finalist judged by a Michelin judge. They are trying to be TopChef, judge them by the best.

I'm going to have to go to Atlanta to let Richard know how great I think he is. (I'm sure he cares ;-) Richard let his nerves get to him. He had a lot at stake and was off his game. Still, I wouldn't have turned his dishes away. He's a gentleman, and humble. I think all of Lisa's blathering on and on in the kitchen may have contributed to his being off his game. I know I yelled at the set a couple of times for her to just shut up! Stephanie owned this one. Even with telling Ripert how to fillet that fish! It was hilarious. She was right, it's her show and he was her sous. I love that she won. Her dessert didn't look all that great though. I'm a baker so I have a hard time understanding why dessert is so hard for everyone. I want some of that soup! Lisa, oh my goodness! I though she was going to get the prize there for a bit. However, that small echo of Tom saying her dish was pedestrian (3rd?) I knew he wouldn't give it to her. aaack. I would have never watched the show again if she had won. All in all I would have rather seen Dale compete in the third place. I think Richard may have been on his game with Dale in the competition.

This article talks about the dress. NY MagazinePretty funny. Especially the addition of Gail's response.

Okay a bit off topic but you have got to see these! It takes a bit of time to load, but once you do, it is so totally worth it! Richard and Jazmin's baby pics Oh my goodness, what an intimate moment they've shared with us!

Riley Maddox is a week old tonight: AJC Peach Buzz. Scroll down to "STORK REPORT." ← Wow! Congratulations to Richard and Jazmin! I am not up on the news in Atlanta, knew the baby was due in June, just hadn't kept up. Thanks Dave!

Awe Richard! He is the best. Stephanie is totally amazing too, but Richard just has caught my attention big time. I felt bad for Dale. He goofed up and knew it could cost Steph. Thank goodness she went with the chicharrones. I was hoping someone would do them and was surprised Richard didn't. It was quite good to hear Richard voice an opinion about some people this time. Then there's girl. She is something else. All I can say is always a bridesmaid... hear it echo for years girl! It's a toss up as far as a winner. Richard or Stephanie either one will be fine. The are both top notch people. I was worried when Richard won the car he'd give it to Spike. What a nice prize! Does anyone know is there going to be a reunion show prior to the final? And, is the final live this year? If it's live it should be interesting as Richard's wife is expecting a baby anytime now.

Not sexist at all. I'm a girl and I snarked at the other girls mostly because they have put themselves up as "professional icons". Yes, this is TopChef and not Project Runway but still, they have a budget and I expect more from the presenters. I guess if I'm honest, I have to say I may harbor just a bit of jealousy regarding their positions and would hope if I were in their position I'd try my best to look good. ;-) I haven't picked on the chefs other than the sour face Lisa usually has and that is because she has a sour face all the time. If one of the guys had a bad attitude and was angry like that all the time I'd have mentioned it. Well, and have in the past.

I thought I was the only one who was looking at those and asking myself, with all the money she has she's chosen to wear those??!!? aaack. I guess it's not America's Top Model or Project Runway though. And then that horrible outfit of Gail's. Can we please get a stylist for these gals? Spike won the quickfire, that should have kept him in the finals. Lisa, what a tool. Aack. I cannot stand the sight of her. Her saying she's going to bring it in the finals. Yes, Lisa, you're a legend in your own mind. Not even close to Richard or Stephanie. I am now looking forward to seeing her getting the ax just as she steps off the plane!

Yep.

Using the logic that because Dale was Exec Chef he had to be the goat is wrong headed. Antonia should have gotten the trip to Spain if you use that parameter. Yes, Dale screwed up big time. His dish was bleh and Tony had to be hard on him. However, do any of you really believe his asking/telling Lisa to re-make the Laksa that would have happened? Yes, they had time. She would have spent it arguing with him about doing it over. Tony said he needed to take her out. He has rules as a contestant and can only "lead" so far. There is a small disclaimer on the show that says the producers can push the judges to make specific decisions. After Tony's comment about how Lisa was obviously not going to back down or take criticism from anyone, I thought for certain she was going to be gone. Not so. The producers prevail. What a huge disappointment. Either Spike or Lisa being in the top four is going to inflate their "legend in their own mind" status. I would not want to work with either of them. Ever. Never!

What a total disappointment. I cannot believe they sent home who they did (keeping in mind PST viewers) and allowed the one person who should have gone home to stay and actually help them believe they are worthy of the TC title. Aaaaack! My head just may explode.

What happened? After all that hard work to win the show, why did they walk away from such a sweet set-up? ← Found this recent article:Scattergoods What a disappointment, however it does seem to be the real way things go in this industry.

Oh my goodness Lisa. I am almost at the point of pity for her. I can only imagine what a person has had to endure in order to become that angry and filled with vitriol. Hopefully when she is done with this gig she'll take a break and re-examine her place in life and make some positive changes to find happiness. Either that or sue the producers of TC for making her look like a really mean person. I would hate to believe she really is like that in real life. If she is, she'll be perfect as a mid-level supervisor the rest of her life. I loved the back shots in this episode. Richard just watching the theatrics. Dale smirking through the diatribe between Spike and Lisa and Andrew. Antonia unsure of whether or not Andrew would really do something scary. Hilarious. They all looked way tired. I am sure that element is taking its toll. Oh and Steph plucking her eyebrows in her chef's coat, yeah nice. She is probably very appreciative of that one. Top Richard, Dale, Steph and Antonia. I think Dale is getting a bad rap as far as the Asian thing goes. He seems to be able to do a lot of things quite well. Just needs to be in better check of his emotions, slow down a bit and he'll develop into a fine chef. How thankful is everyone that they are on this season with Richard? They should all be really thankful and really learning from his example. He has taken the high road for the entire season. His example is one to emulate. Professional, a good leader and humble. I'd love to work in his kitchens.

I watched the show again this morning. Did anyone else noticed Stephanie's mentioning that maybe they should split the gift. I wonder if it will be split among the whole team or just her and Richard?

Also need to chime in and say how much I am lurrving Richard! He is such a class act. The value of a true leader shows in their team and Richard is such a great leader. I was impressed with his ability to step up and choose the bride's side, knowing it would be the most difficult. Still they soldiered through, finish well, and Richard giving his win to Steph was impressive. No tthe best cake I've seen, but the best done in less than 24 hours. Accck. I don't even want to think about doing that ever! Dale took it in the short with the knife draw and he sulked his way through the challenge. Not the best way to go, but he did survive. Thank goodness. Nikki deserved to go home. She took the lead with her statement "we are so on the same page Mr. groom." or something to that effect. I think she was somewhat set-up by the "Italian" choice of her groom, and her team let her have it. Dale's line "why are some people still here?" was for her and Lisa. Richard's choice of brisket was brilliant. But then again, we're southerners and knew that would win this challenge. It is easy to goof up, but their menu looked pretty good. Except Andrew's chicken choice, when will they learn? I thought the corn dog experiment would have taught them all that lesson!

They are so cool to cook with! I love that you can set the temp instead of just guess at high or low.

Double dipping seems to be the order of the day. I saw Richard and Dale do it, in front of Colocchio!

We're spending our's going to a farm in Northern Arizona to learn how to live off the grid and make goat cheese. Basically we're not looking to learn the cheese operation, just basic farm operation overall. That will get us closer to our overall goals of being self sufficient. What I'd really like is a new induction range, but that would really be self indulgent.

It was so obvious in the beginning of the show that Steph was going to be in the bottom. Then when I saw the Quantas commercial near the end, I knew it was going to be Mark!. Uncle Ben's Blech. If I was going to choose a boxed rice, this product would never make it to the checkout line for me. I can't stand the stuff. What was that dish Lisa made? The winners were exactly who they should have been. They wanted a home style meal. Yep they got the home style meals cooks to win. Not a hard challenge at all for them. I could've competed and won this one. I think Steph's explanation of why she came in at the bottom was a good one. If you don't eat a lot of common familystyle meals you're not going to bring it in the category. Mark struggled for the same reasons. However, his and Lisa's obvious ranking in both challenges probably made it a bit more difficult for the judges. Then the backstory thing of Antonia's. I guess the answer is for everyone in the future is to have a homey story to tell when doing this type of challenge. Best line of the night: Richard's going to go home and make some little Blais'. And he's kept his word!

Antonia and Lisa deserved each other. And one of them should have gone home. However, as the judges said, they're nitpicking at this time and Jen got nitpicked to death. The phallic imagery was poorly done, and then sopping it up with the huge piece of bread just was too much for Tom. Whoa Lisa, take it down a notch, either that or go to an anger management class. Part of being a really good chef is taking criticism. Criticism means someone cares enough to let you know how you can improve. If they don't say anything, they don't care if you fail. And, you don't learn anything. I was thinking in the polish sausage thing, drunken pineapple chutney with the sausage would have been really good. I know it was just done last week, but a poached pear for the magenta could have worked with them. Then to improv the sausage into a dessert flan could have worked. Somehow Voges au Chocolat keeps coming to mind for me. I don't care how Richard wears his hair. Just as long as he keeps cooking up a storm. The guy is brilliant and then teaming with Dale is just adding to the genius.

OH man! I wish I could've been there to see Dale meet Gale Sayers. You can see what a professional he is when Sayers walks up and he chats, but never stops cooking. Consumate professional. Then The Refrigerator shows up and Richard Dent!!!! and he continues to work. Wow. Big day for Dale. Then Spike. Oh Spike. Can you see how the editors/director set you up to look stupid. They left in the line "When was the last time the Bears won a Superbowl?" You could almost hear the call to the hit man being made. Then Nikki and Ryan. I pegged it last week (maybe no here) but said Ryan or Nikki would be the next to go. They didn't disappoint. However, before the announcement was made, I almost wished they'd just have said, "we're going to cut this one short and all three of you are going home!" Next week, Nikki. Aack if I hear her say one more time "I don't eat or drink ..." This isn't about what you eat. It's about what you serve to the public! And did we really need to know she almost crapped herself? No. What was Gail wearing at the tasting? Leggings over jeans? Ryan got to go home because he wasn't teachable.

I am more than jealous David!!!

Smoke and caviar! I know Richard has more up his sleeve and I think that's why he got a by from the judges. They say that it is not a cumulative scoring system, but I do think it must come into play at some point. Zoi's interview says it all. She doesn't think it was her. She thinks it was all an agenda by the judges. Wow. Serve unseasoned food day in and day out, don't listen to anyone who offers critical advice, and then blame your failures on a hidden agenda to keep you from being the best. Wow. She said they ate her food without really knowing who she is. hmmmm. I don't know about the rest of you, but I rarely know the chef's, whose food I eat, very well. All in all a good episode, but man scales whoa. Ick. And then Dale. He was pissed. He doesn't like Lisa, and he's not going to let her bring him down. Looks like she succeeded in altering his perception for a bit, well, and alcohol played a part it would seem. I would like to try that dish, it looked awesome!