Jerry Pellegrino

Back in the 40's when the old Howard Johnson's chain added pot pie to their standard menu, you know that it had become an American icon.  This classic example of comfort food is both simple and satisfying.  And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School can testify, as simple as pot may be, there are lots of little twists and turns you can explore as you make it.

November 29  #1508   International Dumplings

 I've read that there is one thing that all societies have in common when it comes to food:  if you have any kind of flour available in your kitchen, you make some sort of a dumpling.  And Chef JP of Schola Cooking School, has been pondering these tempting little bundles of goodness.

November 22, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Baked Apples

With Thanksgiving just a couple of days off, we thought we'd give you some ideas for last minute desserts.  You might want to serve something that is right at hand, easy to prepare and sure to please.  And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School suggests, one dish that fills all those criteria is baked apples.

November 15, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Taco Tool Kit

A lot of us spent a portion of summer's closing weeks putting up and preserving that great Maryland produce.  Now it's time to use it. A good tangy salsa is a great destination for, say preserved tomatoes, peppers and garlic, and what better way to enjoy a salsa than with a taco.  Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School, give us some tips on fixing homemade tacos.

November 8, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Liz Nuttle and Seasonings for Stews

This is the season of the big stew pot, of big hearty dishes that inevitably call for a big hot loaf of crusty bread on the side.  It's a pleasure to stroll up and down the aisles of the farmers markets in the Fall, mentally putting together recipes with the ingredients that are right there at hand. 

November 1, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Fall Squash

If you're checking out our farmers markets these days, you may be more than a little impressed with the abundance our display.  Among the champion vegetables of autumn are the wonderful squashes that come out.  And if you think that only means butternut, think again.  According to Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School, there's quite an amazing assortment out there.

October 25, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Berkshire is Best with Shane Hughes       

Welcome to Radio Kitchen, I'm Al Spoler.  We all know the story of heirloom tomatoes, and how easily they ended up fitting into our summer salads.  These long-lost varieties charmed us with their appearance, flavor and distinctly quaint names.  What not everyone realizes is that the same thing has happened with livestock. 

October 12, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Baking Bread

After spending a heat-stressed summer in Maryland I'm really in need of some restful, meditative therapy.  And as luck would have it, Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School has been practicing an ancient form of therapeutic baking.

Welcome to Radio Kitchen, I'm Al Spoler.  Sometimes we Americans think we're the only people in the world who understand barbecue.  Now I'm not saying we don't get it awesomely right... but there are other places that have pretty strong traditions of their own.

And Chef Jerry Pelligrino of Schola Cooking School, you've been looking into something totally new to me.

September 27, 2016 - Cherry Tomatoes - Radio Kitchen    

All this wonderful weather has been welcome in the farm fields of Maryland.  Much to our delight, tomatoes are still coming in, and that is very good news.  While full-sized tomatoes get most of our attention, we should not forget the little guys.  As Chef Jerry Pellegrino points out, the little guys will be around a lot longer than the full sized tomatoes, which are approaching the end of their season.

September 20, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Peaches

As the summer winds down we are still blessed with peaches, fresh from Maryland orchards.  This year's crop has been delicious, and I can't stop buying them.  And of course, the question is, what do I do with all these peaches.  And Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School has some good ideas.

September  13, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Homemade Pasta

To say that we are living under an avalanche of fresh Maryland tomatoes is quite an understatement.  They are everywhere, and each year we see more and more varieties. 

One way of storing away this abundance is to put up tomato sauce, something we have talked about on this show before. 

And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino, of Schola Cooking School has noted, if we're going to talk about home made tomato sauce, sooner or later we're going to have to talk about home made pasta.

September 6,2016 - Radio Kitchen - What To Do With All That Produce II

Last week we gave you a useful little show chock full of ideas for using all that summer produce that is piling up around us.  And this week we'll do it some more.  And Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School and I think people are probably a little overwhelmed with all the good things that are out there, courtesy of our great Maryland farmers.

August 30, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - What To Do With All That Produce:  Part 1

As the growing season reaches its crescendo in Maryland over the next few weeks, a lot of us will be prowling the markets with hungry eyes.

I for one will often buy now and worry later about how I'm going to use all that great Maryland produce that's out there.  So Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School and I are going to offer a two part series of shows called "What to do with all that produce".  So let's dig in.

First, the produce then the solution.

August 23, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Making Ice Cream

Although I do try to watch what I eat and then eat as healthy as I can, I find that at times during the summer I can't resist a big bowl of ice cream.  So it is with great, if slightly guilty, interest that I try to learn about making ice cream at home.  And Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School, has been studying this.

August 16, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Summer Salsas

During these hot weeks of summer a lot of us pay more attention to the cooking traditions of people who know hot weather, and understand how to thrive in it.  The Latino world is wide and complex, and its influences on our cooking is indisputable.  And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School has learned, quite a few Latino staples have become our staples.  The classic example is salsa.

August 9, 2016 - Cynthia Glover and Spain - Radio Kitchen

When we travel abroad, inevitably we come back with new ideas about what we can do in the kitchen.  So when I learned that one of my friends was traveling on El Camino de Santiago de Campostella in Spain, I had to hear what she ate that impressed her.  Cynthia Glover is a good friend of ours, and one of the most knowledgeable food and travel writers we know.  She also owns Smart Works, a marketing  communications company that caters primarily to culinary clients.       

August 2, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Market Report

It's been a wild and crazy year so far, but we are at the highpoint of the local produce season.  To get an idea of how things have been going since that unexpectedly warm March, we went to my favorite market and talked tomy farmer buddies to get a sense of how things were going.  And we bet you can guess the gist of what we heard.

July 26,2016 - Radio Kitchen - The Seven Spices of Lebanon

A couple weeks ago we talked about the delicious cuisine of Morocco, so we thought we would sail to the other end of the Mediterranean and visit Lebanon.  While we here in Maryland are awash in fresh produce, it might pay to look at a culture that venerates vegetables and knows what to do with them.

July 19, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Rachel Armistead and Summer Sauerkraut

A few weeks ago, when I was in Paris, I checked out Brasserie Lipp, the celebrated Alsatian bistro in Saint Germaine de Pres.  And of course, front and center was their famous choucroute garni... which is French for fancy sauerkraut.  As it happens, we know a lady  from here in Maryland who is a sauerkraut maven:  Rachel Armistead, from a tiny place called The Sweet Farm in Frederick has started a cottage industry making the tangy stuff.

I don't know about you, but my grill is fired up and going like blazes.  Cooking on the grill can be as easy as you want it, or it can be an opportunity for creativity.  And Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School, who is a past master at grilling and a tremendously creative chef is planning to have a lot of fun this summer.

July 5, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Andrea Shreiner:  sushi and local ingredients

What started off as a quirky fad some thirty or so years ago has become a mainstay of how we eat here in Maryland.  Sushi, that captivating cuisine of rice, raw fish and fresh ingredients is here to stay.  We were happy to welcome back the Godmother of Baltimore sushi, her good friend Andrea Shreiner and her buddy, the Godfather of Sushi, Sushi Ed Heinz.

June 28, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - At Work in the Moroccan Kitchen

As the weather begins to heat up here in Baltimore, it might make sense to see how cooks in some other hot climates handle their chores.  One of my favorite cuisines is Moroccan cooking, and Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School, is very interested in this tasty approach to dealing with hot weather.

June 21, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Mulberries with Gwen Kokes

We are in prime time for berries here in Maryland. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, are all here or in the pipeline.  But there is one other berry that does well in Maryland that I have absolutely no cooking experience with, and that is the mulberry.  So we invited Gwen Kokes to school us on this big juicy berry.

June 14, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - French Café Food

Well I've gone and done it again.  I've dashed off to Paris, looking for a mighty fine time, and I found it.  Vickie and I just spent a week there and a lot of time was spent, very pleasantly, in the cafés of Paris.  Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School agrees, there are few more evocative locales than a French café.

May 31, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Cooking With Local Beer

As everybody knows Radio Kitchen is all about local ingredients, which is why it's about time we paid attention to one local product that is getting a lot of love.  And that would be our fine local beers. 

From Heavy Seas to Brewers Art to Stillwater to Union brewing Co. there are a lot of very good beer makers practicing their craft in and around town.

And as Chef Jerry Pelllegrino of Schola Cooking School points out, there are so many varieties of beer out there that a cook can have a field day working with them.

Here are a handful of ideas that have been brewing in Jerry's head.

May 24, 2015 - Radio Kitchen - Spring Lamb

Tradition is an obliging master; pay homage to tradition, and it will reward you with familiar pleasures.  The tradition of Spring Lamb is well-rooted here in Maryland, and with good reason.  By the month of May, the new crop of lamb is available, and ready for the table.  And Chef Jerry Pelligrino of Schola Cooking School, I'm sure that you would agree with me that the grill is a great place to go with lamb.