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This week it's the provocative, the weird, and the laugh-out-loud on a dinner plate with England's Heston Blumenthal. He's a chef with the imagination of a child and the intellect of a scientist. Some say his food is bizarre, others say it's brilliant. We try to find out how his mind works. Chef Blumenthal's book is The Big Fat Duck Cookbook.

The Sterns are at Singleton's Seafood Shack in Mayport, Florida where even Jane - a non-fish eater - fell for the fabulous local catch.

We take a look at the wines we really like to sip - the cheap ones - when others aren't driving our opinions. Our guest is Robin Goldstein, co-author of The Wine Trials: 100 Everyday Wines Under $15 that Beat $50 to $150 Wines in Brown-Bag Blind Tasting.

Portland, Oregon chef Vitaly Paley tells the story of how he and his mom mark the anniversary of the day she brought him to the United States with a French fry debate. He is co-author of The Paley's Place Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from the Pacific Northwest.

There's a new way of eating out with a mystery angle to it. Jen Garbee, author of Secret Suppers reports, then Charles Perry, the recently retired food writer for the Los Angeles Times, claims that mesquite isn't just for cooking - we can eat it, too!

Turkey Confidential 2008

Have a question for Lynne about your Thanksgiving meal? Submit your question here, or leave us a message at 1-800 537-5252. We'll be on the air live Thanksgiving morning for our special Turkey Confidential and would love to know what's on your mind now as you prepare for friends and family.

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Recipes

Crisp Brick-Fried Chicken with Rosemary and Whole Garlic Cloves

There's a fast weeknight meal in this traditional Italian technique of cooking a whole chicken under a brick. Get the full recipe

American French Fries

The technique of frying potatoes twice gives perfect results: fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Get the full recipe

Features

Jane & Michael Stern, Singleton's Seafood Shack, Mayport, FL

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Mayport, a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida, is home port to the fishing fleet and shrimp boats working the north Florida coast. The catch here is as good as it gets - ultra fresh, ultra delicious. Then the cooks at Singleton's, a ramshackle seafood shack and market right on the water, really know how to prepare it so the thinnest veil of crispy crust encloses the juicy goodness of the seafood inside. Even Jane, an avowed non-eater of fish, fell for the fried oysters, calling them the "best in Florida." All orders come with a side of hushpuppies and vegetable of the day. Michael loved the excellent, porky collard greens with their garnish of hot peppers in vinegar. Take your order to a picnic table on the screened porch with its view of the docks and fleet.

Mr. Singleton, the owner, has created an annex nearby that's a museum of wooden model ships. Michael's favorite exhibit was 3 outboard motors (no explanation why these incongruous items were included along side the models).

Singleton's Seafood Shack
4728 Ocean Street
Mayport, FL
904-246-4442

The Wine Trials

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Robin Goldstein, wine critic and co-author with Alexis Herschkowitsch, of The Wine Trials, traveled the country, serving some 6,000 glasses of wine to everyday wine drinkers as well as wine professionals in blind tastings. Participants had no information regarding price, grape and producer of the wines they tasted, and were asked to focus only on taste then rate the wines as great, good, okay, or bad. The most surprising finding was that everyday, non-professional wine drinkers are wasting their money on expensive wines. They gave higher ratings to less expensive wines by a statistically significant margin. The book is a fascinating read and buying guide.

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