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Musings, meanderings, and messages from John Shields.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
September Highlights
It's off to the north coastal-lands this week to tape our Cape Cod episode for the Coastal Cooking series. I've been looking forward to filming this particular episode, as it is a homecoming of sorts for me. I lived on the Cape for a number of years and actually began my cooking career there. I'm expecting many memories, along with an ample supply of outstanding food. I'll be cooking with an old friend, Chef Clem Silva, owner of the ever-popular Provincetown eatery, Clem and Ursie's. http://www.clemandursies.com/ We'll be inside Clem's kitchen on Wednesday afternoon where he will show everyone the secret to making a satisfying pot-full of Portuguese Squid Stew. Along with the rest of America I've spent this past week watching in horror at the tragic images resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Our Coastal Cooking production crew was recently down in New Orleans where we taped a wonderful episode on the culture and cuisine of that legendary city. We spent an afternoon with well-known and well-loved local chef, Susan Spicer, at her Bayona restaurant in the French Quarter. Susan and her restaurant staff - as well as the rest of the people of coastal Louisiana and Mississippi - have been in our throughts and prayers this week. It's going to take a tremendous amount of energy, resources, and spirit to rebuild. We are planning a benefit for the Gulf Coast area at Gertrude's. Stay tuned for more info on that event. At the end of this week it's the Maryland Seafood Festival at Sandy Point State Park where I'll be MC-ing the 16th Annual Crab Soup Cook-Off on Saturday, September 10th from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. http://www.mdseafoodfestival.com/cookoff.html This is a great event where crowds of crab soup lovers make their way to this bayside park for some of the best crab soups to be found in the Chesapeake Bay region. Not only will you be well fed - you will be doing a good deed! All the proceeds from the Crab Soup ticket sales go to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's seafood restoration projects. CBF is an amazing organization that has been instrumental in protecting the health of the Chesapeake. For more information on CBF check out their website www.cbf.org - it's well worth the viewing. Saturday the 10th of September is not only a grand day for crab soup; it's also the long awaited (well...at least for me) national premiere of our new public television series, Coastal Cooking with John Shields. If you live in Maryland, Delaware, or the Washington, DC area you can watch Coastal Cooking on Maryland Public Television, Saturdays at 2:30 pm. www.mpt.org For other viewers around the country please call your local public television stations to find out when Coastal Cooking will air in your region. This series was an amazingly delicious culinary adventure with stops all around the coastal United States. The entire Coastal Cooking crew and myself hope you enjoy watching the series. Remember to live local...but cook coastal!
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Sauerkraut 101
Pre-winter winds are blowing and the last of the leaves have been blown from here-to-spring. I only have about one or two more “washings of the sauerkraut” before it’s totally ready for the season. Yes folks – I have a big old tub of kraut brewing in the basement. No self-respecting Baltimorean of generations past would be caught without the fragrance of souring cabbage wafting through their home. Legend has it the Germans who called Charm City home were the ones that firmly rooted kraut in Baltimore and the Chesapeake’s culinary landscape. People from other locales are often surprised that Thanksgiving turkey cannot be served on an honorable Baltimore table without sauerkraut. I’ve put a great sauerkraut recipe on the La Vida Coastal section that will be a welcome addition to just about any holiday table. My partner in kraut, Tom Niksic, is the chef at my restaurant, Gertrude’s, and this guy knows his sauerkraut. A native of Croatia, Tom was raised on sauerkraut. His grandmother who still resides in the Old Country has been in charge of her village’s yearly kraut and would single handedly put up thousands of pounds. To celebrate the release of this year’s batch we’re going to have a Kraut Party at Gertrude’s on Friday, January 7th from 6 to 8 P.M. We’ll provide the sauerkraut, a variety of grilled sausages, and potatoes at the bar – all you need to do is buy some beer – or martini’s – to wash down the feast. It will all happen at the Gertrude’s bar, so get there early to get a good spot - and the lowdown on authentic sauerkraut.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Fall Delights
Colorful late autumn leaves are blanketing the ground here in the Chesapeake Bay region and it’s one of my favorite times of the year. There’s just a bit of a chilly nip in the air and the fall colors are unbelievable. I also think that this is probably the best time of the year from a culinary standpoint as well. Harvest time equates into mega food with a plethora of vegetables, tender greens, lettuce and those wonderful fall fruits - of pears, apples and quince. I was strolling my neighborhood farmers market – the 32nd Street Farmers Market – http://www.32ndstreetmarket.org/ this week and ran into Joan Drew the energetic and enthusiastic farmer of One Straw Farm in White Hall, MD. She gave me the skinny on the upcoming array of vegetables: greens –collard and mustard; beets; several varieties of hard squash - delicatta, acorn, butternut, buttercup; sweet potatoes and arugula. Joan’s recipe tip is for sweet potato fries. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into either wedges or steak-fry shape. Place into a mixing bowl and drizzle with a little melted butter, olive oil, or a combination of the two. Toss fries to coat well. Place the sweet potatoes onto a baking tray, spreading them out so that they do not overlap – and season with S&P. Place into a preheated 400-degree oven and bake until just tender. Joan says that some members of her family that are not big fans of sweet potatoes - (would not eat them) - have been converted by these fries.
Friday, June 25, 2004
Rockin' Into Summer
We're rocking into the summer here on the Chesapeake Bay— mostly on porches or in hammocks— but rocking never the less. It's been a busy time in Coastal Cooking world with a full schedule of new shows being taped and a little time reserved to sweep away the last of the cicadas. I was delighted to have my friend. Nathalie Dupree— the first lady of southern cooking and living— join us as a guest on Coastal Cooking earlier this month. After a wild ride to the airport, and some plane delays in getting here, Nathalie bounced right back and was in fine form as she taught me how to prepare an authentic Frogmore Stew— a traditional Carolina one pot meal chock-full of jumbo shrimp. sausage, sweet corn, onions, and potatoes. Not only are all these ingredients delicious, the aromatic broth from the stew is fine all by itself, or even better when sopped up with one of Nathalie's amazing Angel Biscuits— heavenly. Summer would not really be summer here in Baltimore without the sweet sounds of jazz music wafting through the humid summer evening breezes. I'm talking about the Jazz in the Sculpture Garden Series at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which kicks off its 2004 season on July 3rd with the contemporary sounds of T. K. Blue. Yes, it's jazz under the stars and I'm planning a melodious menu that evening for our jazz concert guests who will be dining with us in the BMA's Wurtzburger Sculpture Garden, on the patio of my restaurant, Gertrude's. Speaking of the Baltimore Museum of Art, I'm excited about our new summer exhibit, which opened June 20th and runs through September 5th. Nationally acclaimed artist, Kerry James Marshall, a recipient of the coveted Mac Arthur "Genius" Award is featured in a remarkable show that features Marshall's large-scale paintings, sculpture, photography, installation and video. It's a summer must see! On the farmers market watch: sweet peas are at the end of their short season. Local strawberries are still looking beautiful. Stayed tuned because sweet summer corn, ruby red Maryland tomatoes, and fragrant peaches are up real soon. So... walk, jog, bike, or drive yourself over to your local farmers market for the best food money can buy, a little social time, and a great chance to support our local communities! I'll see you there.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Welcome!
Welcome to the world of coastal cooking! April is such a fun month in Coastal Country that we don't know whether we're coming or going. Besides launching our new Web site (you're reading it, hon!), we're in post-production for the first three episodes of our new television series, " Coastal Cooking with John Shields," the broadcast companion to my new book, due out August 3rd. The TV series will air on Public Broadcasting System stations around the country starting in October, so stay tuned! Early shows concentrate on the food and fun of New England, with Clambake Master of the Universe Ned Lightner from Maine; of the Pacific Northwest, with marvelous mussel farmers Ian Jeffards and Tim Jones, of Penn Cove Shellfish, Whidbey Island, Wash.; and of oh-so-sultry South Florida, with the lovely and talented Chef Michelle Bernstein, demonstrating her Miami mojo magic. There's also a trip to Baltimore's famous Lexington Market, where Bill Devine, fishmonger to the stars, presides at Faidley's. As you might imagine, putting together a TV show is a ton of work, but somehow it always turns into a big, happy party with lots of laughs. Actually, other people were laughing, but I wasn't, when we shot the opening and closing sequences on the waterside. Temperatures were in the 40s, so if my lips look blue, don't adjust your TV set, I'm just freezing out there! April is also a big month for the food crowd here in Baltimore because the city is playing host to hundreds of chefs, cookbook authors, TV personalities, corporations and all sorts of folks involved in the culinary world when the International Association of Culinary Professionals holds its 26th Annual International Convention here the 21st through the 24th. The theme this year is Culinary Trade Winds, exploring the migration of ingredients and ideas that are transforming culinary scenes around the world. We're especially happy because our own Gertrude's restaurant, at the beautiful Baltimore Museum of Art, will be the setting the 2004 IACP Foundation Dinner on Friday night. This benefit dinner helps support endangered culinary treasures, which includes people, cookbooks and ways of life. There will be a special exhibit of historic Maryland cookbooks, menus, and dinnerware. Look for those B&O Railroad dining car menus! Special guest will be the legendary chef Jacques Pepin, and an introductory program will be co-hosted by Baltimore public television personality Rhea Feiken. On Saturday there will be the Awards Gala and Dinner, with the presentation of the 2004 IACP Cookbook Awards, the Awards of Excellence, the Bert Greene Journalism Award, and, of course, the Cookbook of the Year Award. Maryland ingredients such as crab and rockfish star in a festive meal prepared by eight of the region's top chefs. All the excitement is great, but I'm looking forward to a somewhat quieter but still colorful and delectable time when the farmers and vendors return to my local farmers' market at 32nd Street in Waverly. The weather's been kind of cold and nasty lately, but pretty soon there will be stacks of early produce, asparagus and rhubarb, and jars of honey, preserves and chutney, not to mention fresh flowers and baked goods. I visit every Saturday. Someday soon I'll take you along!
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