Woot woot!

And congrats to George Graham, our 1st runner up and Sonali Ruder, our 2nd runner up!

Thanks to all of our participants this year! Here’s to another great BBB!!!

The votes are in!

I am pleased to annouce that Susan Scarborough is $10,000 richer!!!

Special congrats to our 1st runner up: Sharyn Hill from region 5 and our 2nd runner up: Lisa Huff from region 3!

The audience weighed in in our Great Burger Debate of 2008 and the results are in.

Hooray for People’s Choice Beef Burger winner:

Kristine Snyder and the Hawaii Da Kine Burgers with Sweet-Chili Glaze, Ginger-Goat Cheese Spread, and Hot Watercress Salad!

And we have the results of the People’s Choice for the Alternative Category!

Congrats go out to:

Valerie Szlatenyi for her Ocean State Swordfish Burgers with Tangy Apple Tartar Sauce!

Um. So much for me being sneaky. I got booted out. But not before I got this pic.

Kristine Snyder is rounding out hte beef finalists with her recipe and all of the judges were absolutely wow-ed by it.

The number of ingredients was also a hot topic today and since Kristine used the same ingredients mulitple times, I’m sure she’ll get bonus points for that.

The ingredients are all in balance and it brought a little taste of the Islands to the NV!

The sweet onions, the soy sauces…all of the judges loved the way the flavors melded together.

Now they are off to the judging room to finish up their scoring and I’m off to weasle my way into the tally room to find out results!

This year, I volunteered to collect the People’s Choice Ballots (did I mention our audience gets to vote for their favorites and the winner in each category gets a check for $2500?? Um, yea. Pretty sweet.)

Now I can get in the inside and technically I’m supposed to be there. I’m so sneaky.

Region 4 beef finalist, George Graham, the sole male in this year’s contest, is bringing up his Bluesiana Burger and the judges are agreeing that his use of region ingredients (root beer glaze, Mardi Gras slaw) is rockin’ the burger world.

The judges are all very interested in his mix of regional ingredients and were curious as to why he used rootbeer instead of cola, but George knows that sassafras is a staple around Louisiana so there you go!

And with an component called Mardi Gras slaw, the judges are in fair agreement that it is a party in your mouth!

And George is very eloquent in describing his burger:
A dash of mystery. A pinch of history. If you want to learn the language of Cajun food, you have to immerse yourself in the Louisiana culture. It is our rich heritage of extraordinary cooking, foot-stomping music and fun-filled Mardi Gras that inspired this unique burger. It’s spicy, saucy, crunchy, colorful, exotic, hypnotic and dripping with the rhythm of a bayou beat.

Judge Nathalie Dupree kinda wishes he’d use words like that to describe her. I giggled.

I know many of you may not think of using apples in a beef burger contest but Jamie Miller did it up right with her apple slaw!

They were a little unsure of her use of celery but once they tasted it, the judges like the crunch!

And not to quote rapper Nelly, but “It’s Hot in Herre.” We have brought in extra towels so our poor finalists can towel off before presenting to the judges.

Check out Judge Rick Rodgers get after this burger. I heart this pic.

Mary Thompson has presented her Palmetto Pride Pimetno Cheese Burger and the judges have all commented on the use of pimento (pronouced “pimenna”, if you’re LuLu Buffet!) cheese, something that we can all get on board with! Judge Art Smith has dubbed this a “burger that you can imagine at a tailgate” and I heart tailgating season so I’m all for it!

And this burger has bacon. I think we can all appreciate the use of bacon in a burger.

Our beef finalists are putting the finishing touches on their burgers! Sonali Ruder from NYC is up first.

(After a short pause for the Wine Train to go by–that horn is loud! It makes the Food Network audio crew’s job a little more difficult)

The judges love the use of frizzled onions. (I heart onion rings, so no wonder this burger is near and dear to my heart) but the judges are very impressed with how Sonali has fried onions on the grill. Sonali explains her talent because she lives in an apartment in Manhattan (no open flame there!)

Mixing in some strip steak is also adding some serious flavor, along with tarragon. A tasty burger spin on a steakhouse creation!