Is it hot in here, or is it just the peppercorns? We asked José Andrés, Michel Nischan, Gail Simmons, Michael Chiarello, Sang Yoon, John Besh, Richard Blais and Andrew Zimmern to deliver some serious sweet talk to their favorite ingredients and kitchen tools in the video above.

Hungry for more?
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It may not have been pretty, but it sure was delicious and four days after the fact, I'm still dreaming about this meal. We do an awful lot of asking people to finish the sentence, "It's not Thanksgiving without..." but I suppose I've never answered the question here myself.

That'd be the plate above, laden with turkey, my husband's squash casserole, and sweet potatoes, barbecue and collard greens made with skill, practice and a whole of love by my friend Eric. He's a talented cook to be sure, but I happen to believe he's got a certain amount of divine guidance on his side in the form of our friend Mama Diva, with whom we used to gather and eat this very meal each year.
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

If you're sick of plunging your knife into a glass ketchup bottle to avoid French fry oversaturation, or merely just concerned about recent reports of excessive sodium lurking in your favorite burger accoutrement, try dressing up your dishes the old-fashioned way with DIY condiments.

Here to help you ditch the bottle is "Top Chef All Stars" winner, chef/owner of Flip Burger Boutique and HD1 and overall liquid nitrogen enthusiast, Richard Blais.

Five Easy and Creative Condiments You Can Make at Home: Richard Blais
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The best meals aren't just about Michelin stars and vintage Champagne. No matter where these celebrity chefs' careers have taken them, they're always hungry for the flavors of home.

Chefs John Besh, George Mendes, Andrew Zimmern, Marcus Samuelsson, Michael Chiarello, Angelo Sosa, Richard Blais and Sang Yoon talk about the influences their families and cultural ties have had on the way they cook today.
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Per our pals at This Just In:

50,000 jobs: McDonald's is looking to hire as many as 50,000 people today as part of its National Hiring Day promotion.

Jobs are available at both the corporate and restaurant levels. Job-seekers can go to the company's website or check at local franchises to find positions.

Some might turn up their nose at the notion of getting down with the clown, but manning the fish station at his local franchise was what inspired newly-crowned Top Chef Richard Blais to pursue a cooking career.
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It wasn't just rotovap tricks and mastery of the sous vide machine that cinched the elusive Top Chef All-Stars win for Richard Blais. Plain ol' butter, salt and classic cookery shared the spotlight - along with some on-the-job experience he acquired under the Golden Arches.

See his recipes for romance, game day snacks and some very festive - if unconventional - holiday entertaining

Nope, not gonna spoil it here for all you DVR-ing, social media avoiding fans who might have missed last night's Top Chef final showdown between Richard Blais and Mike Isabella. Our Marquee Blog has all the spoilers you can eat.

Chocolate? Champagne? That's soooooo last century. Our favorite (shhhh!) Top Chef All Stars contestant Richard Blais is working his wizardry on V-Day. In the second installment of his weekly segment on our Senior Junk Food Correspondent Ali Velshi's show - hosted today by the always dapper Don Lemon, he shared his method for maximum romance.

Here's a cheat sheet with the recipes which, in the words of a colleague who shall remain nameless, "Serving that on Valentine's Day would likely get a guy laid."

FYI – this is what he means by iSi.

Beet Champagne

3 cups bottled red beet juice
1 oz grenadine
2 CO2 charges

Method

1. Combine beet juice and grenadine and charge with CO2 in an iSi Twist and Sparkle
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Our favorite (shhhh!) Top Chef All Stars contestant Richard Blais thinks standard Super Bowl snacks are a tad tame. In the debut of his weekly segment on our Senior Junk Food Correspondent Ali Velshi's show, he amps up sweetbreads, cocktails and so much more for a game day feast that's out of this world.

Ali's blog has the recipe for Buffalo Sweetbreads with Blue Cheese Foam and much more munchable magic

Previously – Blais Off! The innovative chef talks TV and tweaking traditional holiday eats

Chef Richard Blais burst onto the national dining scene in 2008 when his stint on Top Chef allowed him to highlight the innovative cooking style that had earned him a devoted following at BLAIS restaurant in Atlanta. He finished as runner-up, but returned home to open Flip Burger Boutique with his creative culinary company Trail Blais and works with corporations to develop new products and kitchen tools.

As a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with stints under food world luminaries like chefs Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud and Ferran Adria, Blais honed his classical skills and now continually seeks to marry them with innovative techniques that borrow heavily from the chemistry lab. He's currently taking shot at the title as a cheftestant on Bravo's Top Chef All-Stars, and his new show Blais Off premieres tonight at 10 ET on the Science Channel.

Blais spoke with Eatocracy about the balance between tradition and technique, the power of nostalgia and his place in culinary history. Oh yeah - and he carries nutmeg in his pocket.
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