Book excerpt: John Shields, author of "Chesapeake Bay Cooking and host of the public television series "Coastal Cooking in America with John Shields, traveled from Maine to Miami and Big Sur to Baja to bring back the best of America's coastal cuisine. The recipes encompass much more than seafood and include all of the ingredients--meat, poultry, game, fruits and vegetables in abundance--that have made the coastal parts of America particularly rich in culinary traditions. Come along with John Shields to a New England clambake (complete with instructions on how to make an authentic one on a beach), dig into Cheese and Garlic Grits with Shrimp and Tasso Gravy in Baton Rouge, sample Savannah She-Crab Soup, savor California Cobb Salad or Big Apple Clam Chowder, and finish off with a luscious Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding. This treasury of the very best recipes from professional chefs and local folks alike will expand your culinary horizons. His voyage of discovery led John Shields to the heart of Miami, both Little Haiti and Little Havana, where he learned the secrets of Haitian-Style flounder from Miss Liliane Nerette Louis, a vibrant neighborhood personality, as well as the Arroz con Pollo a la Cubano from chef Tony Piedra at the renowned Versailles restaurant. In Oregon, John visited Tillamook County, where the cows outnumber the people, and sampled their famous cheddar in Tillamook Cheddar Cheese and Lager Soup, then ventured north to Blake Island, across the bay from Seattle, where he took part in the native American tradition that celebrates the wild Pacific salmon with an annual roast. He re-creates the experience for home cooks with a planked salmon recipe from Portland's acclaimedWildwood restaurant. On the Louisiana bayou, he uncovered the trick to a proper Crawdaddy Boil, then hopped a plane to Hawaii, where he found a recipe for a succulent stew using oxtails or lamb shanks and just three other ingredients that has become a part of his personal repertoire. Along the way, he collected beloved recipes for hometown favorites across the country--Boston-Style Baked Beans, South of the Mason-Dixon Line Cornbread, Bayou Seafood Gumbo, and many, many more. The companion volume to the television series, "Coastal Cooking with John Shields will give you everything you need to bring the bountiful flavors found along America's coastline into your own kitchen.