Cape Cod robust russet chips, toasted crumpets, and of course Cafe Miranda foccacia toasted with butter washed down with a Corona.

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What were you like as a kid?

I didn’t play sports, instead I was into road motorcycles. My dad had English sports cars and growing up in the coal mining hills of (Eastern Central) Pennsylvania in the 1960s this was odd.  We would go for aimless rides. I do this now with my son. We take the Alpha Romeo out and drive down a road and he picks which way to go.

Typically in school I was a teacher’s pet, but I was also considered a wise ass or an unconventional thinker.  In Parochial school one was admired and despised for independent thinking.

To put you in the mood…

A beautiful film about the remains of shuttered coal operations across Appalachia  by Jim Lo Scalzo featuring the song “Sprinkle Coal Dust on My Grave” by Orville Jenks.

Ghosts in the Hollow from Jim Lo Scalzo on Vimeo.

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Welcome to the ride…

What people would want to know about you.

(as told by Chef Kerry)

I had just graduated from a parochial high school at age 17 and was getting ready to go to a Jesuit College. Must have been 1974, 1975. I took the money I received after graduation and went off, bought some motorcycles and a van and went Motocross for four years. Eventually I ended up in Allentown, PA selling motorcycles.

How did you end up in a kitchen?

In the wintertime, when not much was going on in terms of racing, I was the dishwasher at Bob and Dick Billinsky’s Hotel and Restaurant. Actually, it was a restaurant with a couple of rooms upstairs. A woman I knew was the cook there and needed someone to do dishes. One day the grill cook burned himself so the cook said hey can you cook. I was a vegetarian, cooked for myself, lot of ethnic food. I told her I knew how to cook a steak. So she gave me a shot and said I was better than the past line cook. I was hired. I liked the pace and the intensity of the kitchen. The metal. That winter I met Evelyn (Chef Kerry’s ex-wife) and wanted something more stable than racing. We got married, I liked the kitchen atmosphere, and that was it.

Check back later in the week for more from the road/in the kitchen with Chef Kerry.

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Winter in Maine giveth & taketh away. Giveth includes the great bounty of local produce, early teeny sweeeet strawberries, later season blueberries and the odd chance that our tomatoes will actually ripen before we make fried green tomatoes. There is fresh local fish, pleasurable boat rides, riding motorcycles and well, you get the idea. Taketh would be winter solitude and the feeling that we are all living in a sort of 1950’s small town.

But enough about all this, and on to the shrimp. Maine shrimp season is wrapping up, but it is never too late to learn a few facts on how these shrimpies differ in regard to preparation to your standard Gulf type shrimp.

First and foremost what not to do!  Toss away your Scampi or other sautéed pasta dish recipe, it just will not work with Maine’s little shrimp (remember, little but tasty). Ditto on seafood stews, soups and the like.  Certainly one of the best ways to eat these is deep fat fried, but really, what isn’t good deep fried? The key to cooking Maine shrimp is controlled cooking time. The challenge is to control how the heat is applied and to stop it in time before the shrimp 1. Become mush. 2. Turn into something that resembles the thing on the end of your # 2 Faber pencil.

Here are a couple of ideas, the second one is my personal fave…..

First suggestion…2 pounds peeled Maine shrimp, 4 quarts boiling water (you can flavor this with a bay leaf, garlic cloves, herbs of choice, salt & pepper), a strainer, and a similar 4 quart vessel with ice cubes & water. YOU CANNOT LEAVE WHILE DOING THIS! It is like riding a motorcycle, gander mindlessly at the scenery & you crash!  So, boil the water for a few minutes so the flavors of your herbs & etc. infuse the water. Plunge the morsels into water while stirring while multitasking counting to 30. QUICKLY grab the pot, strain and submerge the strainer into the ice bath. Pull them out and drain. They should be toothsome at first, and literally POP with a pleasing VERY delicate texture. What to do with them? Sure shrimp salad but let your mind wander, diced avocado with a quality homemade or commercial salsa. Add some taco shells and cilantro and greens for a kickin’ South of the Border style. Toss with some roasted peppers, fresh garlic, good olive oil, lemon and a load of parsley for dandy shrimp antipasto. If you must have them with pasta, make your dish and toss them in AT THE LAST MINUTE to just heat them thru.

Yummy eh?

Kerry’s Café Miranda fave Maine Shrimp: I buy them head off, shell on, later in the season after the females have dropped their eggs. You will need a wok or French style steel sauté pan, a pound of shrimp, ½ red, green banana or poblano pepper in strips, 2 ounces of sliced red onion, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and some sort of dipping sauce. I usually make a homemade aioli (garlic& lemon mayo). Heat the wok without the oil on high heat till it is ‘smokin’ hot. Quickly add the oil, and then the shrimp. Do not stir, you want to brown the shells, it ought to smell great, watch for flare ups as the moisture comes out of the shrimp, place the veg matter around the edges so it will start to cook as well. When they are brown, toss them. Effectively browning the veg matter as well. When the veg matter and shrimp look cooked, onions browned or at least translucent, peppers giving off that aroma of well, as my Mom used to say “”are you burning rope down there in the basement?” Now toss in the vinegar to glaze our teeny pals, turn out to a warm platter. Volia! Chef! Serve as a peel & eat warm or at room temp with dipping sauce of your choice.

SO there you have it, time to quit rambling and get off to the line at Café Miranda to cook the evening’s food with that WARM wood fired oven, and my GREAT crew!! See you at Miranda tonight or sometime this summer.. Kerry

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Saturdays 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Please note classes are limited to 12 participants.
Reservations & full payment required
$60 per person, includes two glasses wine or beer, or soft drinks of choice (depending on what is being paired) each.

Traditional Hand-Shaped Pasta Feb 27 **Chef Kerry will share his Italian Grandmother Nona Connie’s techniques for making from semolina and egg pasta from scratch. Chef Kerry and his assistant will discuss and demonstrate basic techniques in traditional “hand rolled “spaghetti, tagletelli, fettuccini.
The class will also include ravioli  &  “lasagna” styled dishes. Tips on drying, freezing and preparing fresh pasta with appropriate sauces will also be included.
Wines of Southern Italy, San Pellegrino water & of course espresso will be offered. SOLD OUT

Wood Fired Brick Oven March 6 **Chef Kerry and J. Patrick Manley of Brick Stove works will give you the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of cooking with a wood fired brick oven. Chef Kerry and Café Miranda pioneered the usage of these now very popular ovens in Maine.  Learn how to use the oven to make pizza, foccacia breads, and roasted meat, seafood, and vegetables.
Beers from Bar Harbor, Maine based Atlantic Brewing Company Bar Harbor will be featured.

Flavorful Vegetarian Food March 13 During this class, Chef Kerry will introduce the exciting (and delicious) world of vegetarian cuisine.  Discover intensely flavored menu items featuring European (pastas, roasted vegetables and greens) and Asian (noodle bowls with local tofu and spicy Thai coconut curry) dishes. Watch Chef Kerry demo how to make his “stealth” vegetarian dishes (won’t miss the meat) such as “Gnu Evans”  wilted greens with olive oil.
Featuring organic wines from Chartrand Imports. SOLD OUT

Shrimp March 20 **Chef Kerry and a representative from Port Clyde Fresh Catch (Maine’s first Community Supported Fishery) will demonstrate the philosophy of buying local feeds you and your neighbors. Dishes will include “perfect poaching” for chilled shrimp dishes, pan searing in the shell for a fun and messy meal, making a shrimp stock out of discarded shells and tips on what NOT to do with Maine Shrimp. We will also feature other products from PCFC.
D.L. Geary Brewing Co. of Maine will be the featured beverage.

Please contact 207-594-2034 to sign up.

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burger and fries

caesar

johnson’s crossing

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Already have dinner plans, join us in the new year. We promise our fun atmosphere, wood fired brick oven (hint, request a seat at the bar), and food will warm you up this winter.

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