FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PBS NORTH CAROLINA PRESENTS SEASON 2 OF ‘THE KEY INGREDIENT WITH SHERI CASTLE’ 

 The Emmy® Award-winning food show premieres a new season of 8 episodes on May 4.

View the trailer. >

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, 4/24/2023 — PBS North Carolina announces season two of its Emmy® Award winningseries The Key Ingredient with Sheri Castle. In each episode, famed food writer and teacher Sheri Castle traces the journey of one cherished ingredient from source to kitchen to table through visits with food producers across North Carolina and the South, “cook-alongs” with renowned chefs as well as fresh recipes and tips. Season two premieres Thursday, May 4, at 8 PM, on PBS NC, as well as online and on the PBS App.

Digital shorts from the series will be available on PBS North Carolina’s website and YouTube. Recipes from each episode will also be on the website.

This season, Sheri highlights ingredients beloved by foodies and chefs everywhere: strawberries, trout, country ham, blueberries, rice, figs, eggs and tomatoes. Along the way, she meets local farmers, growers, fisherfolk and other food experts to learn their stories and the traditions behind the unique flavors. “No one takes more pride in a product than those who produce it,” declares Sheri.

Back in the kitchen, Sheri cooks alongside special guests—including James Beard Award-winning chef Ricky Moore, food culture preservationist Gabrielle E.W. Carter and Dominican American restaurateur Yordanys “Jay” Bastardo—to create delicious dishes that will make any meal feel special. According to Sheri, “Even when my cook-along guests have backgrounds and culinary repertoires quite different from mine, we share a passion for making great recipes for family and friends.”

In addition to her field trips and cook-alongs, Sheri will offer practical tips on how to select, store or prepare ingredients with her signature “Sheri Says” segments.

“Sheri Castle is one of the great storytellers of the culinary world,” says Heather Burgiss, the show’s executive producer/director and PBS North Carolina’s Director of Original Productions. “She follows ingredients right to the source, whether it means traveling to Tennessee to visit  the ‘King of Country Ham’ Allan Benton or getting her boots and waders wet at a family-owned trout farm in Waynesville. She respects the expertise that goes into making the best local ingredients and knows how to make their flavors shine in the kitchen. The stories she discovers and the recipes she shares connect and unify us in remarkable ways.”

“I’m fascinated by the ways people use food as a means of personal expression, tell family stories and build community,” says host Sheri Castle. “You don’t need to be a cook to enjoy The Key Ingredient—you need only an appetite for great stories. I hope this show inspires people to explore their own local food scenes and seek out the recipes and ingredients that make their communities feel like home.”

In February, The Key Ingredient with Sheri Castle received an Emmy® Award for best lifestyle program at the 37th Midsouth Regional Emmy Awards for the episode Cornmeal of the Castle. In the heartwarming episode, Sheri visits her parents’ home in Watauga County to use the family’s antique gristmill. Her father, Lynn, offers a history lesson while grinding the corn, and Sheri shares a recipe for skillet cornbread using her family’s stoneground cornmeal. Watch the entire first season here.

Season 2 Schedule
Visit pbsnc.org/schedule for the most up-to-date information on airdates and times.

Episode 1: Strawberry Fields Forever
Premieres Thursday, May 4, at 8 PM, on PBS NC
Sheri shows the freshest way to procure beautiful strawberries. She tours the McAdams Farm in Efland, North Carolina, and gets a visit from “Farmer Strawberry.” In the kitchen, she shares recipes for strawberry tiramisu trifles and an icebox salad, while baker Brian Noyes makes a charming, old-fashioned strawberry buckle. Sheri also shows how to keep strawberries fresh in storage.

Episode 2: Fishing for Trout Compliments
Premieres Thursday, May 11, at 8 PM, on PBS NC
Sheri learns how Sunburst Trout Company of Waynesville, North Carolina, gets their tasty fish from their farm to your table. She heads to the kitchen and makes a smoked trout and potato soup as well as cornmeal-crusted trout with a creamed corn and tomato relish. Rising chef Cleophus Hethington joins her to make a beautiful whole trout dish, and then Sheri shows how to safely store fresh fish at home.

Episode 3: Country Ham Is King
Premieres Thursday, May 18, at 8 PM, on PBS NC
Sheri creates a country ham salad and a peach and lemony ricotta salad. She heads to Madisonville, Tennessee, to visit Allan Benton, the King of Country Ham, who shares the secrets behind his legendary Smoky Mountain hams and bacon. Allan and his wife, Sharon, make two-ingredient biscuits and red-eye gravy, and Sheri gives a tip on using all the parts of a country ham.

Episode 4: Finding Our Blueberry Thrill
Premieres Thursday, May 25, at 8 PM, on PBS NC
Sheri heads to Old Orchard Creek Farm in Lansing, North Carolina, to find fresh blueberries. She picks blue beauties with owners Walter Clark and Johnny Burleson and helps make a farmhouse blueberry pie. She shows us how to whip up blueberry parfaits with pistachio crumble and granola porridge with warm maple cream and offers a hint about washing and freezing fresh blueberries.

Episode 5: The Nice Thing About Rice
Premieres Thursday, June 1, at 8 PM, on PBS NC
Sheri Castle shares recipes for low-country–style red rice with shrimp and sausage as well as rice and garden peas in Parmesan broth. She visits Chue and Tou Lee of Marion at Lee’s One Fortune Farm in Morganton to see how they grow heirloom rice in the mountains of North Carolina, and then cooks with James Beard Award-winning chef Ricky Moore for his “church lady good” rice and summer-squash gratin. Sheri also shares a tip on how to select the perfect rice for a recipe.

Episode 6: Figs Galore
Premieres Thursday, June 8, at 8 PM, on PBS NC
Sheri Castle visits Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks to find one of the world’s greatest diversity of fig trees. She shares recipes for pan-seared chicken thighs with a fig pan sauce and a fresh fig, orange and bourbon crostata. On the island, Sheri learns the secrets to a prize-winning fig cake and shares a helpful hint to quickly roast figs.

Episode 7: The Egg Comes First
Premieres Thursday, June 15, at 8 PM, on PBS NC
Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? The egg clearly comes first in Sheri Castle’s lemon angel pie and deviled-egg salad. She rises early to gather fresh eggs with the Jackson family at Grass Grazed Farm in Bahama in Durham County, North Carolina, and cooks with food culture preservationist Gabrielle E.W. Carter, who makes Sheri swoon over gorgeous jewel-toned pickled eggs. Sheri also shares a helpful hint on how to quickly assess the freshness of an egg.

Episode 8: Let’s Talk Homegrown Tomatoes
Premieres Thursday, June 22, at 8 PM, on PBS NC
Food writer Sheri Castle admits her love affair with homegrown tomatoes and talks with the “Tomato Man,” heirloom tomato gardening expert Craig LeHoullier. She shares her recipes for a savory summertime tomato pie and a cherry tomato and black pepper cornbread panzanella. Sheri also cooks along with Yordanys “Jay” Bastardo to make his Dominican tomato and shellfish gumbo.

About the Host

An award-winning cookbook author and cooking teacher for more than twenty years, Sheri Castle is renowned for melding culinary knowledge, storytelling and humor. Her well-crafted recipes and practical advice inspire people of all cooking levels to craft delicious dishes with confidence and enthusiasm. She’s written a tall stack of cookbooks, and her essays and recipes have appeared in dozens of magazines. In 2019 the Southern Foodways Alliance named Sheri among Twenty Living Legends of Southern Food, dubbing her The Storyteller: “She has revealed herself to be our best advocate for the rich history of home cooking.”

About PBS North Carolina

As North Carolina’s statewide PBS network serving the country’s third largest public media market, PBS North Carolina educates, informs, entertains and inspires its audience on air, online and in person. Through its unique partnership of public investment and private support, the network includes in-person engagement, digital-first social and online content delivery and four over-the-air channels: PBS NC, the North Carolina Channel, Rootle 24/7 PBS KIDS channel and the Explorer Channel. Its transformational events and content spark curiosity and wonder for all North Carolinians. Additionally, PBS North Carolina serves as the backbone for North Carolina’s state emergency services. To learn more about PBS North Carolina, visit pbsnc.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

-PBS NC-

Media Contact
Laura Kieler, PBS North Carolina
press@pbsnc.org