Chesapeake Bay Cooking with John Shields

This PBS-TV series companion gives a spirited look at the down-home food favored by folks living along the coastline and on nearby farmlands of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Expectedly, seafood grabs the spotlight. The blue crab is a local icon, and Shields provides seven recipes for crab cakes, from Senator Barb's Spicy Bay Crab Cakes (courtesy of Maryland's Sen. Mikulski), using soft white bread for binding instead of cracker crumbs, to Faidley's World Famous Crab Cakes served up in Baltimore's Lexington Market. Eight recipes for soft-shelled crabs range from Soft-Shell Crab Moutarde to the savory Pecan-Coated Soft-Shells with Whiskey-Lemon Butter. Eight oyster recipes are capped by the celebratory Oysters Poached in Champagne. Moving off the water, a full complement of other dishes includes Maryland Panfried Chicken, coated with a buttermilk-based marinade and dipped in Chesapeake seasonings, an ultra rich Smoked Country Ham and Roquefort Pie, and appealingly simple Succotash, beans and corn kernels sparked with butter and lemon juice. Salads, vegetables, sturdy breakfasts and desserts, the last ranging from Lady Baltimore Cake to Sweet Potato Pie, round out the banquet. Shields, who grew up in Baltimore, provides stories and anecdotes in homey sidebars, along with guidelines for cleaning soft-shelled crabs and cooking a muskrat. He's an infectiously enthusiastic guide to this appealing fare. Pictures not seen by PW. $25,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Apr.)