Birthday at Gertrude's

We have had such a great week. To say the least. Last weekend at Keswick was dreamy. This past weekend we spent having cocktails at Wit & Wisdom on Friday, closing Woodberry Kitchen down with friends on Saturday and waking up to brunch with pals at Gertrude's on Sunday morning. 

I look like my mother in this photo. I love that. The restaurant had the jazz band play Happy Birthday and the table sang which is still wonderful. I still feel 7 when it's my birthday and love flowers, balloons and anything celebratory like stupid hats.

"My" gorgeous Johns welcomed our group with open arms. It's always a pleasure seeing them.

We were tucked away in a quite banquet.

The breakfast breads are fabulous boasting of biscuits and corn bread.

The Gertrude's Benedict has a crab cake of course.

I also enjoyed my first Dirty Gertie, I'm embarrassed to say. It is rimmed with Old Bay.

I snuck in to the kitchen to see my pal Doug, the pastry chef. He was prepping for high tea. Who knew they had high tea? I'm so excited to go back.

Macaroons. Have mercy.

Doug surprised me with a gluten free chocolate pecan birthday pie. The crust was made with almond flour and was perfectly flaky. When we first worked together John and Doug arranged for mini chocolate pecan tarts for our event. They were to die for. This pie was just as good or better. The almond flour was a great addition with the nutty pecans.

It was wonderful seeing my Charlie so relaxed this past week.

We were surrounded by great friends.

My dance around the island girls!

I was coveting Emily's neck scarf. She insisted I open my present the minute we arrived. She had knit me my very own Cowl Neck Warmer in my favorite colors!!! It deserves it's very own post so I won't gush too much here as much as I want to. 

It was wonderful having a small gathering with just a few friends so everyone could talk to each other.

Laughter ensued.

Deep conversation.

And photo shoots took place with my new camera. SDM is so Mad Men. He borrowed the cigarette from someone outside just for the shot! He also monogrammed the table for our place setting on the craft paper. He gave me the most fabulous coffee table book called Equestrian Style. We are preppy soul siblings!

Always so wonderful to see our friends who are the reason we moved to Baltimore! I knew we would be okay having just one set of great friends here before we moved from DC. We have lucked out meeting so many new friends in the last four years.

Instead of a goofy party hat I choose a hot pink pair of party shoes and my all time favorite new Lilly dress. I wanted to rock the hot pink and navy inspiration from this gorgeous Pin. I'm still beyond addicted to Pinterest.

Katiecakes, you look like an angel. Thank you for being such a dear friend and for organizing the wonderful brunch! You are the reason we know half the people in Baltimore that we do. John and John, you all are the BEST. I'm so tickled by the gift of sauerkraut. I feel like a real Baltimore gal now. I'll write more on Em's handmade gift as I said but am so thankful for the gift of knitting that you've given me. We couldn't be happier to be blessed by such dear friends. Thank you all for making my transition into the next decade most enjoyable for those who were with me in person and via Facebook. Feel very lucky to know so many incredible people on this journey called life! With tons of love, Nelle

Petite JUGS at Gertrude's

My godmother Mary T. came to visit one of her JUG'S, Gerry, last weekend and invited me to Gertrude's for dinner. JUGS stands for Just Us Girls. These are her closest pals and she travels around the world to play golf with them. Isn't that the coolest? They were on the back nine at St. Andrews during 9/11 and will always have an incredible story of trying to get back to states afterwards. This was the second  Petite JUGS party as Gerry's niece and I were both in tow. Liz had her baby shower last week hence the visit. She lives in Baltimore and we were giddy as school girls by the end of the night. It is always truly a pleasure to surprise John and John at the restaurant with a visit. My godmother is now their biggest fan after our Thanksgiving dinner. I had the Choptank oyster's from the Choptank River, an estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. People of the world be jealous. These oysters are the sweetest most wonderful oysters I've ever enjoyed. 

Mary T. and Gerry. 

 The crab cake special was Barbara's, Mikulski that is.

One of the girls ordered Gertie's Crab Cake. This is the first crab cake I have ever cooked myself and is so very perfect with the spice of Old Bay folded inside it's crispy outer layer.

Thank heavens Gerry shared a bite of her Salmon Alla Bella. This is an egg washed piece of salmon with a lemon caper beurre blanc sauce. Every bit as good as it sounds and so unusual. I would never think to dip fish in egg but it was fabulous and I guess a classic that I had never tried before.

The Mojo Candy Bar could quite possibly be my favorite dessert in the city, fighting closely with the chocolate pudding at Woodberry Kitchen. Doug is a master pastry chef and the layer of crunch on the bottom is the best part. The candied hazelnuts are luxurious.

The Mojo is made up of a spice similar to Old Bay but with a touch more fennel and secret stuff. Based on this candy bar recipe John created a spiked chocolate Mojo sauce to go over vanilla ice cream in our booth during one of our trade shows as a tool to bring clients to see us. It is always so much fun taste testing with John and John to make sure the Mojo Chocolate sauce is spicy enough. I dream of it and have to ask him if I can print his recipe on this blog. My mouth is watering just thinking of it.



Just when I think I've died and gone to heaven in chocolate, the toasted coconut cream pie arrives. Those are slivers of the most fresh pineapple on the side. This dessert is so light and perfect. The custard has just the right amount of everything and not too rich. The crust was flaky and fabulous and I felt like I was back on Oahu for a moment. Thank you Douglas.

I have a thing for coconut. The bistro on the 17th floor of the 100 Light Street building makes the most incredible coconut cake and gave me a slice last Monday for my birthday. I felt like a lucky lady. Thank goodness the gym is just one floor above this place. I run so I can eat and this is just one of those treats I have to spoil myself with on occasion along with chocolate pudding and Mojo candy bars.

Mary T. thanks for letting me join you and half of the JUGS. It is always such a treat to see you and with E's busy schedule it was a lovely break to a lonely weekend. John and John, thanks for the champagne sent to the table. You spoil the heck out of us and we love you for it. Can wait to see you in a next week.

Crab Cakes

What took me so long to break down and finally make a crab cake? I've lived in Baltimore for close to three years and last night was my first ever made from scratch. I bought the crab meat a few days ago. I had been keeping it on an ice bath in the fridge. The expiration date said use by 9/4 so I had three whole days left. The meat smelled fresh and sea like too. Not fishy, which is always a bad sign. Sadly, I didn't notice the crab was from North Cacalacky until today. I'd much rather buy local Chesapeake Bay crab meat.  This is one pound of back fin crab. It was around $12.00. Lump is much more expensive.

I have had the great honor of getting to know one of Baltimore's most beloved chefs, John Shields over the last two and a half years. We've had countless "meetings" at his restaurant Gertrude's. I've traveled with him and his partner twice. We hosted book club at his restaurant. And yet this is the very first time I've made his crab cake, or any crab cake for that matter. 

John just did an event for my company where he taught our guests how to make a crab cake from the crab to the cake. We literally picked crabs at the table and watched John do a great demonstration. It was such a blast and he is such a sweetheart in person. But frankly, I was more nervous about the guests, the details of buses, hotels and other event planner stresses. I   was checking the door for an important dignitary and honestly didn't pay attention to the demo.

John was in LA with me at a trade show and made crab cakes in our booth promoting Baltimore. John Gilligan, his adorable partner was his sous chef and helper extraordinaire. They are such a great team.  I have observed John cooking crab cakes for the past two summers and once on a bus to DC.  And finally, today I pulled out my signed copy of his Chesapeake Bay Cooking cookbook and went to town. I'm so embarrassed it took me this long.

 

John named his restaurant after his grandmother Gertrude Cleary who "hailed from Greenmount Avenue." This is the Gertie Crab Cake with a few changes, based on another one of his recipes and what I had in the kitchen.

1 egg

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (I forgot this actually)

1 teaspoon Chesapeake seasoning (I used Old Bay, and I think John adds extra fennel in his mojo spice)

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Dash of Tabasco-I used the green guy since that is all we had and I added 4 dashes

Whip this all together until frothy. I love that I actually got this action shot. A bit of a challenge as I am right handed. 

Gently fold together with the pound of crab meat.

I added 6 Ritz crackers. His recipe called for saltine crackers but we had Ritz.

Mash them up.

Fold together. I also added a teaspoon of fresh, flat leaf parsley.

John gives two options of cooking in the book. Butter is always better! This is a mixture of about 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.

He suggests that you chill the mixture for an hour after forming the cakes. I put the mixture in the freezer for 15 minutes, then formed the cakes, and sauteed them. Worked perfectly!

I added a little more Old Bay while cooking.

I should have picked through the crab meat for shells. You can see a few white pieces in this shot. I should have known better. When I was working at the Reagan Building in DC in 1998 I was a Catering Manager. As part of my cross training I picked through pounds of lump crab meat searching for shells during a morning in the kitchen. I forgot how many shells are in these containers. That is why it is so expensive to order them in restaurants. The labor is crazy!

Instead of Tartar Sauce I came up with something crazy brilliant, in my opinion. I added Momma's Ripe Tomato Pickle to Mayo. For my deep south friends, you may call Ripe Ta-may-ta Pickle Chow Chow. I wish I could tape Momma saying it. She has the best accent. It was such a cool combo and great with the crab cake. Ripe Tomato Remoulade is now born!

I sauteed the cakes on each side on a low heat for approximately 7 minutes each. It took that long for them to brown, and you want to make sure they are hot through because of the egg.

So E finally got a cake from me this week.

Thanks to John and John for constantly being rays of sunshine in my work life. I'm blessed to call you all friends and dish about the Real Housewives during our "meetings". Look forward to helping you set up your own blog John so we can hear all about your new cookbook.