When you come ashore to provision on the Chesapeake Bay, a cornucopia of fresh produce and seafood awaits, just plucked from the land and sea. Vibrant vegetables might catch your eye -- ruby red tomatoes, golden squash and slim green cucumbers. But be sure to save room in your shopping basket for two elements that define summer on the Bay: corn and crabs.
Despite the royal moniker of Silver Queen, Maryland corn is often unceremoniously piled high in old wooden crates at farmers' markets, and local crabs are found kicking about in watermen's bushel baskets. Don't let the modest packaging fool you. Peel back the husk and take a whiff to experience the corn's sweet aroma and creamy kernels. And hold a feisty blue crab while avoiding his snapping claws to appreciate the magic of the Bay's waters.
"Our crabs and corn might be grown locally, but they are world-class delicacies," says Tom Green, chef and owner of Tilghman Island Inn on Maryland's Eastern Shore. "The same crab species is harvested in North Carolina and Louisiana, but they're just not as sweet as Chesapeake crustaceans. Our crabs grow plump around the same time as the corn ripens late in the season, so they're naturally connected and follow the core culinary philosophy of finding ingredients that go together well."
Sitting on the patio of Green's beautifully restored boutique inn is an idyllic location to get schooled on local crabs and corn. The view presents working boats chugging along Knapps Narrows as they head out to the Chesapeake Bay to pull up crab pots. Blue herons and egrets snatch aquatic creatures from seagrass and deliver a seafood dinner to hungry chicks in their nests.
A pair of bald eagles swirls in circles above the tree line as Green shares his culinary tricks of the trade. "In season, Maryland crabs and corn are the best on the planet, and nothing beats steamed crabs and sweet corn with Old Bay, butter or vinegar on a summer day, says Green. The key is finding them fresh and local to get top-quality ingredients."
Whether you're buying crabs at the docks from a waterman or at a fish market, don't hesitate to ask the fishmonger about the crabs' origin and arrival date to make sure they've just come out of the Bay. When preparing crab meat and corn, keep it simple, don't over-cook and avoid adding a lot of nonsense. To enhance their flavors, you can add a pinch of other seasonal elements such as onions, poblano peppers or sweet basil.
When asked if he were a contestant on Chopped, and fresh Maryland crabs and corn appeared in his basket, what would Green make for the judges? With little hesitation, he replied "For the appetizer, I'd make crab and corn fritters on top of greens or heirloom tomatoes, and for the main course, I'd wow them with crab and corn succotash."
Fortunately for Marinalife readers, Chef Green has graciously agreed to share his recipes for these classic Chesapeake dishes and encourages us to give them a try this summer.
Editor's Note: Tom Green's 30 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality business include chef positions at the Ronald Reagan Building, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and U.S. House of Representatives. After years of vacationing on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Tom and his wife Marlise purchased the Tilghman Island Inn, which they have meticulously restored to create a graceful getaway on the Chesapeake waterfront. For more, go to tilghmanislandinn.com
6 ounces fresh crabmeat
1 teaspoon baking powder
1¾ cup fresh corn
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ cup white onion, finely chopped
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
2/3 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1-2 heirloom tomatoes
Olive oil to taste
Chopped parsley to taste
In a medium 10-inch skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Cook until onion softens, 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the corn to the skillet and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and Old Bay. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, scallions and lemon juice. Gradually whisk flour mixture into milk mixture just until smooth. Stir in the corn and onion mixture and crabmeat. Cover and refrigerate 10 minutes.
Remove the corn crab batter from the refrigerator. Add enough oil to skillet so it reaches about 1/4 inch deep; heat over medium-high heat. Carefully drop 6-7 mounds of batter by tablespoon into hot oil. Cook until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer fritters to paper towels and repeat with remaining batter. Serve over fresh sliced heirloom tomatoes dressed with olive oil and chopped parsley. Sprinkle with chopped scallions.
Succotash
2 cups fresh corn
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup white onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt to taste
¼ cup Poblano pepper, finely chopped
Cracked black pepper to taste
Crab Salad
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons lemon vinaigrette
Kosher salt to taste
Cracked black pepper to taste
Old Bay seasoning to taste
Lemon Vinaigrette
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
1-2 small garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt to taste
Cracked black pepper to taste
For lemon vinaigrette, add all ingredients into bowl and whisk together. Put aside for the crab salad.
Pick through crab meat to ensure that there is no shell. Place in a medium size bowl and add the parsley and scallions. Dress with lemon vinaigrette to lightly coat ingredients. Season with kosher salt, pepper and Old Bay to taste. Place in fridge until ready to plate.
In a medium 10-inch skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add onion and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add poblano and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add corn and saute for about 5 minutes. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Place succotash on the plate and top with the crab salad.
“What do we do with a drunken leprechaun? Early in the morning!”
The same way mysteries of mischievous leprechauns in Irish folklore have transcended through time, the original recipe for this drink is also a mystery. A few variations of this St. Patty’s-themed cocktail are served in local pubs, but most of them include its most important ingredient — good ol’ Irish whiskey. Like a fun twist on the Irish Screwdriver, check out our favorite version of this green concoction.
Ingredients:
2 oz Irish Whiskey
1 oz Blue Curaçao
3-4 oz orange juice
Orange wedge(s)
Instructions:
Fill a cocktail glass with ice and add whiskey, Blue Curaçao and orange juice. Stir well and garnish with a fresh orange wedge.
This drink is not Irish, but its green color makes for a perfect St. Patty’s Day drink to enjoy at sea. Using the same ingredients but replacing whiskey with tequila, try another easy twist on the classic recipe for a Tequila Sunrise. Sail off toward the horizon while enjoying this beachy beverage.
Ingredients:
2 oz Blanco Tequila
1 oz Blue Curaçao
3-4 oz orange juice
1 lime and 1 orange wedge
Instructions:
Fill a cocktail glass with ice and add tequila, Blue Curaçao and orange juice. Stir well and garnish with a fresh lime and orange wedge.
For the salty sailor who could use a sweet kick on V-day, this sweet yet tart drink is perfect for your anti-Valentine’s Day party. This ocean-inspired twist on the classic margarita also makes for a perfect waterside cocktail.
1 ½ oz blanco tequila
1 oz Blue Curaçao
¾ oz freshly squeezed lime juice
Splash of orange juice
Kosher salt
1 lime and 1 orange wedge
For a salted rim, fill a small plate with lime juice and swirl your glass rim in it, then dip it into a plate of margarita salt and fill your glass with ice. In a separate cocktail shaker with a light amount of ice, pour in tequila, Blue Curaçao, lime juice and a splash of orange juice. Shake thoroughly and strain into your glass and garnish with a lime or orange.
Also known as “The Isaac,” this romantic red drink was created by original Love Boat cast member Ted Lange, who played Isaac the bartender. Inspired by his signature bright red jacket mixed with the show’s sweet theme, the delicious libation is a perfect Valentine’s Day cocktail for boat lovers.
2 oz white rum
2 oz pomegranate syrup
½ oz fresh lime juice
Splash of club soda
Lime slice(s)
2 pineapple leaf spears
Fill highball glass with ice. In separate cocktail shaker, fill with ice, white rum, pomegranate syrup and lime juice. Shake and strain into highball glass and top it with a splash of club soda. Garnish with a fresh lime slice and two pineapple spears.
*Check out a special segment from Princess Cruises where actor Ted Lange gives a demo of the Love Boat cocktail that debuted on the cruise line in 2015.
In my quest for the best Caribbean Rum, I’ve sampled a few. From Appleton to Ron Zacapa rum, my tastebuds have celebrated the luscious flavors borne from fermenting sugarcane into smooth amber elixirs.
In the pursuit of rum perfection, I’ve noticed that a well-designed label can give clues about what awaits inside the bottle. Many simply present the distiller’s name and location where a rum derives its unique flavors. But it’s hard to resist the image of a crusty old captain, pirate ship or sassy sea wench when pouring a hefty splash into a tumbler.
Curious rum aficionados like myself are always eager to hear the back story behind the libation in our hand. Like a slice of pineapple or lime wedged upon the rim of a glass, the history of a rum’s journey from the Caribbean to our lips can make a cocktail taste even sweeter.
I recently stumbled upon the extraordinary tale that intertwines Jamaican rum, world- class musicians and James Bond. To fully appreciate this unique saga, follow my lead and shake up a GoldenEye Cocktail (see recipe below) to sip while the story unfolds.
Our story begins in 1939, when a London journalist named Ian Fleming joined the British Navy Intelligence Service. His unit specialized in military espionage and covert plans to thwart German aggression in Europe and the Caribbean.
During World War II, Fleming was engaged in Operation GoldenEye, and in 1942 he was sent to investigate suspicions about Nazi submarines in the Caribbean. During this deployment, he became enamored with Jamaica and vowed to live there some day.
When the war was over, Fleming returned to Jamaica and bought 15 acres of plush land that was once used as a donkey racetrack. In 1945, he built a house not far from the banana port town of Oracabessa Bay, and the seaside property became Fleming’s tropical sanctuary where he could focus on writing and the discrete task of taking previously tight-held secrets into a public, fictional genre.
He named the estate GoldenEye as a tribute to his Navy service and began working on a book that evolved around the dashing spy and Special Agent 007, James Bond. This protagonist would emerge as the amalgamation of agents he’d met during his maritime service. As an avid birdwatcher, Fleming took the name for his lead character from American ornithologist James Bond, an expert on Caribbean birds, who wrote the definitive field guide, Birds of the West Indies.
Fleming’s first spy novel, Casino Royale, was published in 1952. This book and all 13 in the James Bond series were written in his bedroom at GoldenEye. Three of them — Dr. No, Live and Let Die, and The Man with the Golden Gun — take place in Jamaica.
Not only did the breezy island life at GoldenEye inspire Fleming’s novels, but so did his fetching neighbor, Blanche Blackwell. She was the muse who helped spark his creative drive. The Blackwell family had lived in Jamaica since 1625, exporting bananas and coconuts and crafting a distinctive brand of rum.
Blanche’s son Chris Blackwell grew up between England and Jamaica, and in his childhood spent a good amount of time with Fleming. In 1954, after Blackwell got booted from an elite British school for rebellious behavior, he came back to the island to get involved in the family rum business. Contrary to plan, he followed his instincts and made a career choice that would dramatically alter the global music scene.
For a while, he kicked around working as the aide-de-camp to the governor and as a waterskiing instructor. But after hearing the blind pianist Lance Heywood play at the Half Moon Resort, Blackwell recorded the musician, and in 1959 he launched a music studio called Island Records. In sync with his unconventional style, it became known for discovering and nurturing innovative performers who had been shrugged off or overlooked by bigger record labels.
Island Records introduced the world outside of the Caribbean to Bob Marley and the Wailers and Jamaican reggae music, showcasing island culture and universal struggles of indigenous people. It launched British bands such as Traffic, Bad Company, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Roxy Music, King Crimson and Fairport Convention. It also cultivated artists such as Cat Stevens, Brian Eno, Grace Jones, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Waits and the Irish band, U2.
Throughout his success in the music industry, Blackwell remained in contact with Fleming and his projects. When the first Bond movie, Dr. No, was filmed in Jamaica in 1962, Blackwell was hired as a location scout and consulted on the soundtrack. Sir Sean Connery, whom Blackwell had met during the filming of Dr. No, remained a friend until his passing in 2020. Using a family recipe, Blackwell launched his boutique rum in 2008 that is distributed around the globe.
Live and Let Die was filmed in 1973 on the Blackwell Estate, which now includes The Fleming Villa. Scenes from the movie were shot near GoldenEye, Blackwell’s luxury hotel in Jamaica. The latest Bond flick, No Time to Die, returns to the exquisite Jamaican backdrop of GoldenEye, and the production team was treated to a supply of Blackwell Rum for inspiration while filming.
TO CELEBRATE 60 YEARS OF JAMES BOND, a special bottle of Blackwell Rum has been released, along with a new memoir by Chris Blackwell, The Islander: My Life in Music and Beyond. If you’re cruising around Jamaica this winter, cue up some Bob Marley tunes, open a bottle of Blackwell’s 007 Rum, and shake it (don’t stir) with pineapple juice and ice to create the GoldenEye Cocktail. And if you’re nestled in at home in a colder climate and dreaming about the Caribbean, we suggest watching a Bond flick and warming up with the Toasted Toddy.
INGREDIENTS:
-1 part Blackwell Rum
-1 part pineapple juice
-Lime or pineapple wedge
INSTRUCTIONS:
Shake together and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime or pineapple wedge
INGREDIENTS:
-3 parts Blackwell Rum
-2 teaspoons brown sugar
-1 1⁄2 parts fresh lemon juice
-6 parts boiling water
INSTRUCTIONS:
Add all ingredients to a mug, except for the water. Pour in the boiling water, Stir well to blend
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