Last night Gordon Ramsay hosted Cookalong Live on Fox, in which celebrities and viewers at home made a three-course dinner together in under one hour; at the end Ramsay announced a casting call for his next big project, MasterChef. This is a very popular series in England and Australia, and as a judge on a MasterChef show years ago with chef Gary Rhodes, I've seen what an amazing opportunity it is for home cooks to show off their chops. (I've also been a judge on several episodes of Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen - pictured - and yes, there is a softer side of the chef, for those who feel intimidated.) If you've watched Hell's Kitchen or Top Chef and fantasized about being a professional chef, this could be your moment to rise and shine. You can send in audition tapes or go to one of the open casting calls around the country to be held in January. Go to 3 Ball Productions or Fox Casting for more information.

I've always been fascinated by self-proclaimed pit masters. We're talking way beyond the dad who wears an "I'm Smokin'" apron and grills on weekends. These are people whose lives revolve around charred pieces of meat, whose weapons of choice are a sauce mop and tongs, and who spend their weekends driving to competitive barbecue contests, like Memphis in May. They have crazy nicknames like Sweet Swine O' Mine, Holy Sow, or Serial Grillers. For those who want to get a taste of this hot, smoky lifestyle, tune in tonight for the series premiere of the eight-part BBQ Pitmasters (10 p.m./9 CT) on TLC. The network has provided Epi users an exclusive clip of the show. Let us know what you think of tonight's premiere. Would you ever enter a bbq competition?

Gourmet Geometry: Do you cut your sandwiches into triangles or rectangles? NPR makes a surprisingly detailed argument for triangles.

Who Has Better Chefs: the East Coast or the West? The debate continues (rather nastily) in the New York Times.

Worst Drive-Thru Robbery Ever: A Michigan man goes to a Wendy's drive-thru with a sawed-off shotgun and demands the cash in the till. Guess who learns that you should never rob your own mother's restaurant?

More food news after the jump ...

I'm making stuffing recipes on the CBS' The Early Show this morning in the 8:30 half hour. Out of Epi's 582 stuffing recipes, we picked three of our most popular to demonstrate:

Chestnut, Bacon, Dried Apple, and Corn Bread Stuffing

Artichoke, Sausage, and Parmesan Cheese Stuffing

Leek and Wild Mushroom Stuffing

What stuffings are you making for Thanksgiving?

Food fight, anyone?

In a "Nightline" interview to air tonight, Martha Stewart talks less than flatteringly of Rachael Ray's skills in the kitchen, pretty much dismissing her as a "bubbly" "entertainer" who isn't worthy of the title of TV chef.

"Well, to me, she professed that she could not bake. She just did a new cookbook which is just a re-edit of a lot of her old recipes, and that's not good enough for me. I mean, I really want to write a book that is a unique and lasting thing. Something that will really fulfill a need in someone's library," Stewart says.

1. The FDA has pushed through a ban on raw oysters during warm months, effective in 2011, sparking restaurateurs' and consumers' complaints about a "nanny state." How many deaths does the FDA say bacteria from raw oysters causes each year?
a. 15
b. 50
c. 100
d. 150

2. Which of the following wasn't on the menu when Rachael Ray made a visit to a Cincinnati soup kitchen last weekend?
a. cheesy potato casserole
b. roast beef
c. ham
d. chicken soup

Twilight: The Restaurant (No, Seriously): Last year, a female friend who was gaga over Robert Pattinson dragged me kicking and screaming to the first Twilight movie. But I am not flying to Forks, Wash., to eat at the new Twilight-themed restaurant Volterra. (Steak and seafood.) Do you hear me, Marina?

Know Your Bread: Ever wonder how wheat in the field became the bread in your sandwich? Find out with this demo from the Wheat Foods Council.

Was It "Empire State of Mind"? Teens at a McDonald's drive-thru in Utah get in trouble with the cops after rapping their order.

Wrapped Candy This Halloween, Please: Swine flu, and all. (At the very bottom.)

More Food News after the jump.

Tonight at 8 p.m. EST is the season finale of Hell's Kitchen and I'm one of several judges helping chef Ramsay determine who wins the grand prize: Head Chef at Araxi Restaurant in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Tune in to watch the last nail-biting competitions and then comment here on whether you agree with the decision.

Padma Lakshmi Has a Bun in the Oven: The "Top Chef" host, who suffers from a reproductive ailment that made pregnancy difficult to achieve, is expecting her first child.

Sweet Tooth? Or Criminal Intent? A British study has found a link between eating candy as a kid an committing serious crimes as an adult. Wait a month or two before the candy companies fund a study that finds that kids who eats sweets are more likely to be musical geniuses or cure cancer.

The "Baby Back Ribs" Jingle Is Coming Back: Chili's is reviving the annoying, stick-in-your-head song in a new commercial. Yay. (Note the lack of an exclamation point.)

School Food From Scratch: The New York Times looks at how a New York City school tries to cook try to feed thousands of kids well with the limited means at hand. But hey, pizza Fridays!

More food news after the jump ...

News from our sister sites:

Gourmet has an in-depth interview with Debi Mazar. The actress ("Goodfellas," "Dancing with the Stars") has her own food site now, too, at Underthetuscangun.com. For videos, check out our tour of Mazar's kitchen. 

Bon Appetit interviews Ricky Gervais (the star of "The Office" in the UK and the just-released "The Invention of Lying"). Choice quote: " I'm not someone who likes deep-sea squid wrapped in pure gold."