- [Narrator] Tonight on "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories", discover the art of live event sketching.

Kingston artist Joanne Gervais shows you how to create masterpieces from the eyes to the easel, and we're back in the kitchen with Johnny Spezzano.

He joins forces with Jason Price of the Brew York Festival to make jerk chicken roadie tacos.

Your stories, your region, coming up right now on "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories".

(pensive music) - [Announcer] "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories" is brought to you by: (bright music) - [Announcer] When you're unable to see your primary care provider, the Carthage Walk-in Clinic is here for you.

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- [Announcer] North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports-related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next-day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us.

North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- [Announcer] We are the North Country, where protecting one another like family is who we are, and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the North Country strong at claxtonhepburn.org today.

- [Announcer] Additional support is provided by the Estate of Evelyn Peckham.

- Good Tuesday evening everyone, and welcome to this edition of "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories."

I'm Michael Riecke.

We begin tonight back in the kitchen of Johnny Spezzano, as he joins forces with the Brew York Festival's Jason Price.

Tonight he brings a Jamaican-inspired recipe, jerk chicken roadie tacos.

This is a recipe you don't wanna miss.

Take a look.

(bright music) (upbeat music) - Hey, come on.

Hello my friends.

Welcome to "Johnny on Fire".

I'm Johnny Spezzano, and today we've got a special guest, Jason Price, local restaurant professional chef and island boy today.

- Today we're bringing the island to you.

- What are we making?

- We're gonna do a little jerk chicken, and I figured we'd do jerk chicken tacos with some roti.

- We're also gonna be talking Brew York Fest, which is coming up, but let's get started.

Let's talk about some of our ingredients.

What kinda stuff are we putting in this recipe here?

- So what do we got for the marinade here, is we've got, we've got green onion, we've got white onion, we've got allspice, garlic, ginger, habanero.

Really, the magic is- - the Walkerswood?

- The Walkerswood.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- I can't replicate it.

I like the Walkerswood, but I like to add some fresh stuff too.

- Okay, let's go.

- So that's what we're doing.

So honestly it's just, it's grabbing it all and throwing into the blender.

- [Johnny] Okay, I like this.

It's always fun when you get to use power tools in the kitchen.

- Oh, I know.

- All right, big chunk of garlic.

So if you haven't had jerk chicken, it's a staple in Jamaican culture.

Of course, everyone loves it.

It was, it's basically a barbecue chicken, but it's a little spicy.

Now we're gonna be cooking in the wood fire oven.

They use pimento wood to cook it in Jamaica.

And a lotta times they cook it in these big barrels in the street, and you could go out for five bucks and get jerk chicken, just about everywhere.

- Yeah, I've always loved it.

So this is Miss Maggie's seasoning.

This is big in all Caribbean, Asian cuisines.

And then another one that I add is browning seasoning.

- [Johnny] Okay, I've seen browning seasoning before, but never used it.

- [Jason] Never used it?

It's delicious.

Lime juice as well.

- Fresh.

- A little bit of acidity.

- This is gonna be delish.

We're gonna have this at Brew York Fest this year?

- I wish.

If I was cooking, but I don't got time.

- I understand.

- I don't got time for that day.

- I understand, I understand.

- It's tough.

- All right.

All these wonderful ingredients in here.

And then finally some Walkerswood, which- - And then the Walkerswood.

- That makes it authentic.

(bottle rattling) There it goes.

Heck yeah.

It's funny, whenever I eat jerk chicken in Jamaica- - [Jason] Is this the go-to?

- [Johnny] It's the go-to, there's no doubt about it.

- [Jason] You just can't replicate it, I don't know why.

- It's the authentic island spice.

All right.

- Just get her going.

- Okay, here we go, get ready at home.

Three, two, one.

- There we go.

(blender whirring) - Now think about that, all those onions and allspice and crunchy goodness in there, now is in liquid form.

And you're gonna marinate your chicken breast with it.

How's that smell?

- How's that?

- Oh yeah, amazing.

Okay, so what we're gonna do- - Just add it to the other mix.

- Is we've got some chicken that's been marinating- - Overnight.

- So yeah.

- So you really wanna, you want to marinade at least 24 hours on that, 24 hours.

- That's gonna make it good, right?

All right, so we're gonna add it right to our grill.

All right, now you may be saying, "Johnny, you can't cook on the counter," though we have tried many times.

Okay, we're gonna place these on, and then we're gonna add it to the wood fire oven.

How many years has Brew York Fest been going on?

- So Brew York, we're in our eighth year this year.

Amazingly enough, you know?

We started off, it's had a couple different names throughout the years, starting in Watertown.

But you know, we ended up with Brew York, and now settled in our home out there in Sackets on the polo fields, and it's been a great time.

- Sackets Harbor is the place to be, you wanna head out there.

All right, so we're gonna slide these into the oven, right on the grill.

(upbeat music) So the jerk chicken is doing its thing.

We're going to make the roti, we're gonna make like tacos and then use the flatbread, which is roti, which is... - It's a Caribbean flatbread used in a lotta Indian and Caribbean places, so it's very simple actually.

So in here we've got AP flour, salt, and sugar.

- Okay, boom.

- That goes in.

So then add- - Salt the flour?

- Yeah, so we use a lotta ghee in this recipe.

So it's just one tablespoon here- - [Johnny] Which is like a liquified butter.

- Clarified butter.

- Clarified butter.

- [Jason] Yeah.

So it raises its melting point a little bit.

And alls you're gonna do is kind of mix it together.

You really want it to kind of resemble like the beach in Jamaica.

- Ah, I like it.

- You want the sand.

- Have ever been?

- You want the sandy.

- I haven't.

I've been like 15 times.

- And this is, yeah I see you.

I see you every year.

- I love it.

- One of these years I'll come.

- People are so nice.

Yeah.

And you can come and make this for everybody.

Alright, so- - So really kind of mix it in and then once you get that pebbly sand like texture, alls you're gonna do is kind of just like a pasta, make your well and add your egg.

- [Johnny] So you gotta kind of keep it dry.

You can't over liquefy it because you want it to have that nice kind of flaky consistency a little bit.

- [Jason] You're gonna see that it is a little bit wetter than you think it is.

But then, you know, once the kneeding process starts and it all comes together, a little bit of warm water and that's all you're gonna do is just kind of whip it up, incorporate it.

- [Johnny] So whenever people talk about- - Just like pasta.

- J.

Price, they go, "Brilliant chef, super creative.

And he whipped this up just for us here on the "Johnny On Fire" episode.

I love it.

And you'll be able to find this recipe online at WPBStv.org Okay.

I love this.

- So you really just want to bring it together.

Once it starts to come together, all the flour, all the flour's going out of there.

- [Johnny] Are you gonna have to let it rest?

- So this is gonna have to rest.

So once we're done, once we bring it together here, we're gonna take it out with flour.

- We'll bring it to the counter?

- Generously flour.

It is a little wet dough, so.

- Boom.

- Take it out.

Little flour on it, then you're just gonna kneed it.

You're gonna kneed it like a regular dough.

- I kneed this.

- About 10 minutes, right?

- So we're gonna try make these like a taco?

- We are, we are.

- All right.

You're gonna see it.

It's all gonna come together.

- I like this.

- Yeah, so once we're at this point it's kinda coming together, we got a nice shiny shiny feel, we're gonna take it, we'll wrap it up and we'll let that rest for about 15 minutes or so until we come back for the next step.

Um So now after waiting the 15 minutes we've taken 'em, we've portioned 'em out to little dough balls, rubbed a little ghee on it.

Rested 'em overnight.

And this is where we're at.

- [Johnny] Okay.

- So we got a little dough ball and [Jason] alls you're gonna do, it's very pliable dough.

You wanna spread 'em out, I like using your hand just so you can feel it.

But you want it really thin, paper thin, almost like you're making a phyllo dough.

And if I was any better I could do it, slap it, slap it on the board.

But I'm not.

Go easy.

Go easy now.

Because this is live television or semi-live anyway.

Looks really good.

- So press it right down.

- Wow.

- It's pretty much see through.

You're just gonna take 'em from the sides and roll up one half, roll up the other half.

And what you're doing pretty much is creating layers.

And that's where we're gonna get the flaky.

So roll 'em up there and almost like a snail, you're just gonna tuck it into itself.

Tuck the end under.

- Look at that.

- You got your little, your little roti.

- [Johnny] This guy.

Look at that.

Do one more.

- Wanna give it a shot?

- I can try one.

(upbeat music) His.

Mine.

(both chuckle) All right, so we're gonna bake these in the oven.

- In the oven.

Yes.

- So that way we can have 'em with our jerk chicken.

- Yeah.

- We gotta go check it.

- We do.

(upbeat music) Bro, look at this roti!

You wanna grab it?

- Looking done.

- Oo, they're hot.

Okay, so we flattened out those pastries.

We wood fired 'em.

- Wood fired 'em up.

We'll crumple 'em up a little bit.

- [Johnny] Okay.

- Then we'll be good to go.

- All right.

These look really good.

So until then we gotta make some slaw and we gotta shred the jerk chicken, which came out amazing.

- Let's get on that.

I'll get chopping that up.

- Okay.

All right, so of course the reason we have Jay here today cooking in the kitchen is we're talking about the Brew York Fest.

And the Brew York Fest is an annual event in Sackets Harbor on August... - August 24th this year.

- All Right?

That's right.

And of course- - Always the weekend before Labor Day.

- It features a number of local craft, local and regional craft breweries.

Yeah.

One of our favorites here in town is Garland City.

They've got some great beers coming out.

This one's Larry Lime.

It's a kicked up Corona - With the lime in it.

- Oh, this thing is amazing.

You're gonna love it.

- Shout out to Nancy and Colleen over there.

I'll try it with you.

You keep working.

- Right.

(both laugh) Don't get breaks around here.

- Alright, I'm gonna shred some chicken right now 'cause you gotta have tacos with shredded chicken.

By the way jerk chicken is a spicy barbecued chicken from the Caribbean and it's gonna taste great in these tacos.

So we're gonna line it with what, a slaw?

- We are.

We're gonna have a slaw for it.

Little tropical slaw.

It's got some yellow pepper, red pepper, carrots, cabbage.

And then we're gonna throw some mango, mango and cilantro on there.

- Mango?

- Yeah.

- Such a wild man, Price.

- Why not?

- Wow, sounds so good.

So by the way, Brew York Fest is a family friendly festival.

Yes, there is beers there, but there's stuff for kids.

- We've got kids zones.

- Yeah, we got kids zones, we got bounce houses, some face paintings, all sorts of stuff for the kids.

So it is an all day event.

You can bring the family, check it out.

- And of course the beautiful village of Sackets Harbor can't be beat.

- No, I mean our backdrop for this festival right on Lake Ontario, it's just gorgeous.

- [Johnny] It's right on the water.

Right?

Okay.

- Absolutely gorgeous.

- Alright.

By the way, what was that you put on the chicken as we were getting ready to take it out, you slathered it with something.

- Oh, so I made, I made a little compound butter with Cattleman's Gold butter, the jerk marinade and some lime.

- Outstanding.

- Just worked out.

- [Johnny] So I'm thinking you're gonna do something like this.

- [Jason] Yeah, I'll grab a couple of these ones here.

- I'll let you pick, Chef.

- [Jason] I'll go with those there.

- So we're cutting up some cole slaw.

Give it that nice, fresh taste.

Carrots, cabbage.

- Carrots, cabbage, peppers.

Peppers.

- What else?

Mango?

- [Jason] Let's get the mango in there.

- Put that mango right there.

I'm gonna taste the beer while you're doing that real quick just to see.

Hmm.

Delicious.

This is a giant can by the way.

Right at the brewery that makes this, they'll, what's it called, a crowler?

- It's called a crowler.

Right in between that growler and the can.

- Okay.

Outstanding stuff.

Okay, so we've got our mango slaw.

- Now what's in the dressing?

What you do there?

- So in the dressing, there's apple cider vinegar, a little bit of water to thin it out.

Mayo, lime juice and the seasoning that we rub the chicken with.

So the seasoning that's on the chicken is you got cinnamon, you've got all spice, a little bit of seasoned salt.

And that's about it.

- Dude, I can't wait to eat.

Not trying to rush you here, but let's go.

- It should be good to go right here.

- This is great.

What a treat.

- We'll kinda dress this.

- [Johnny] Nothing like fresh cole slaw, man.

- Yeah.

- Not the stuff at the truck stop that sits in the little plastic cup.

- [Jason] I like a nice vinegar based slaw.

It's just refreshing.

It's nice, it's light.

- [Johnny] I'm gonna let you build these because you have the vision.

- [Jason] Yeah.

- Okay.

- What do you think?

So we got the slaw, we got the crema here, coconut crema.

So it's sour cream, coconut milk, little bit of the marinade and lime juice.

- And by the way, don't be fooled that it's a little crunchy on the outside.

That's how it's supposed to be.

- Yeah.

It's what really makes the jerk really, I mean, you know, a little bit of char.

- That char and caramelization, right?

- [Jason] Little bit of a slaw.

- I gotta take a picture and send that to your partner, Pat.

I gotta say hi to Pat Robbins also from Brew York Festival as well.

- He's missing out, unfortunately on these.

- Okay.

And the crema.

Creme de la crema.

So good.

- Maybe we'll throw some cilantro on there.

- You know... (Jason laughs) I don't think three's gonna be enough.

- Probably not.

- Alright.

I will try one.

- How's that look?

- Listen, I'm gonna try.

Dude, beautiful, gorgeous, fresh, delicious on a summer day, and I'm excited for the Brew York Festival.

All the fun, all the hard work that you guys put into it every year, a great local event.

The village of Sackets Harbor loves it.

So I know we're gonna see you there.

If you want to get the recipe, you can get it online WPBStv.org All of our recipes, all of our shows are right there.

So if you liked this one, it's your first time watching, go check out the rest.

Got a lot of very interesting people on these "Johnny on Fire" shows.

Jason, thanks man.

- Oh, thank you.

- Should we take a bite?

- Let's get it.

- Okay.

All right.

Look at this.

(upbeat music) Woo.

Oh yeah.

I love it.

Delicious.

By the way, you can check out the "Dinner at Johnny's" podcast.

- [Jason] Mm.

- Oh, best I've ever had.

Delicious.

So fresh, so good.

Thanks for watching.

We're gonna be eating and enjoying some craft brew, Brew York baby.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- This year's Brew York Festival is held on August 24th in Sackets Harbor.

For more information, visit brew-york.com Also, if you're looking for more great fire grilled recipes from Johnny, visit WPBStv.org and scroll through our library.

And if you'd like to be a guest on the segment, just drop us an email WPBSweekly@WPBStv.org Make sure you include your name and of course your fire grilled recipe idea.

Well, you've heard of event photography and event videography, but have you heard about live event sketch art?

Kingston artist, Joanne Gervais has created thousands of pieces of art currently specializing in live event sketch artistry.

We had the chance to step into her studio to learn more about the art form as she teaches others to create masterpieces from the eyes to the easel.

(peppy music) - We don't reproduce paintings that are quick to paint.

You just paint a new original.

- [Reporter] Joanne Gervais, a visual artist based in Kingston, Ontario, loves to capture the moment.

She does this with a brush and an easel, painting countless works as a live event sketch artist.

- Live event sketch artist is where a professional artist, usually with a lot of training, will go on site.

Most typically a courtroom, which is what most people will remember.

But I also work at music festivals, conferences, summits, guest speaker events.

The sketch artist will bring a full size easel if it's going to be at a music festival and they want the people behind to see it.

Live sketching, you're working while people are doing whatever they're supposed to be doing.

They're giving a talk, they're playing music, they're doing the trial, the lawyers are discussing.

Nothing is holding still for you.

- [Reporter] But this talent doesn't just come overnight.

Here at Joanne's studio, she gives artists from across the region a chance to practice and learn the art form.

- The classes that are offered in my studio, it's only once a week.

The training is to develop the skill to paint and draw the portrait well.

When you get after about 10, 15 years and you're getting pretty fluent at that, then we train you to do the same work quickly.

- I enjoy the group because it's a variety of art that we do.

Joanne does not tell us what we are to do with a medium.

We bring our mediums that we wanna work in and we work with that.

If we're stuck doing something, Joanne is very generous in her knowledge and will help us get through whatever our problem is.

- [Reporter] To help these artists practice their skills, Joanne invites a variety of performers to her studio.

From actors to musicians, they put on a show while the artists captured their performance.

- I really like the idea of having an artist like Joanne or anyone sketching a show while you're playing.

It's cool as an artist, 'cause you know, you always see the photographers out front and we get a lot of cool band photos and they're super usable on social media and all that and it's great.

But this art that you get, there's so much more of a personal connection.

- I'm used to models staying perfectly still, and in Joanne's studio they move, they talk, they interact with the artists.

My favorite models are musicians because they give us a whole evening at the nightclub while we're painting.

So I really like that, the music is very energizing and we share that experience of art and music together.

- [Reporter] What's most special about live event sketching is not just the ability to capture the event, but how the artist captures it.

- You have to capture the motion at the event, otherwise you might as well just take your phone out and click.

We are there to not just take a photo of what the event is, but add that feeling, the drama.

A court, a lotta drama, a lotta tears, a lot of anguish.

It'll be completely opposite to doing a sketching at a comedy festival.

There you're adding a lot of humor and bright reds and pinks and all these wild colors will be in there.

The court drawings, very subdued.

2, 3, 4 colors.

Very, very subdued.

So wherever the sketch artist is at, at a live event, it's really important, not just to record keep, but to make sure that emotion of what happened that day at that event is in there.

- The artwork that I get from here is also really inspirational to look back on all the different pieces I've got.

There's when I had my long hair and when I've had my hair dyed pink and yellow and all different colors.

So looking back is getting this really cool, not just a photo album, but a really cool look back at the different eras of my looks as a musician and artist.

So it's really cool to see.

- Working with Joanne is, I guess the main word I'd use would be stimulating.

She can use oils or acrylics or watercolor or pastels or ink, charcoal.

She does all the different media and so you really see the various approaches.

She encourages others in their artwork, in their conversation.

- [Reporter] For artists curious about live event sketching, the group says, go for it.

Whether it's to learn the art form or just to fine tune their skills.

- If I bumped into an artist that was interested in learning things and they seem to be really focused on developing their skills, then I would say Joanne is a great mentor.

There's so many things that she offers that not only inspires you, but you can take and develop your own skills with what she shows you as well.

- I think to try out live event sketch art, you can do it anywhere.

You can always have a sketchbook and try to to sketch in a coffee shop or sketch at a concert.

You just have to get over your inhibition and that thought that somebody's looking over your shoulder, they're usually not.

They're engrossed in the event.

So you can pretty much sketch while they're busy watching the event.

- Live sketching gave me the great luxury of painting with people behind me watching, motivating me.

The people I'm sketching, which might be musicians on stage and they're smiling at you and they're anxious to see what you're doing.

And I listen to the sound, the noise, so you're not just sketching an event.

You're part of that event.

- [Reporter] In Kingston for "WPBS Weekly", I'm Luke Smith.

- Before we wrap things up tonight, here's a look at what's happening in your community on both sides of the border for the month of August.

(peppy music) (upbeat music) That does it for this Tuesday night.

Join us next time for a fresh look inside the stories.

Get to know the team restoring the Lakeview Wildlife Management area, a project that will create an environmentally safe ecosystem for wildlife and people.

And we visit local beekeepers to discover the journey from a bustling beehive to the jar of honey in your pantry.

Also, family operated for more than 200 years, Horns Ferry has been transporting residents and visitors between Cape Vincent and Wolf Island.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, we'd love to learn more.

Drop us an email at WPBSweekly@wpbstv.org and let's share it with the region.

That's it for tonight, everyone.

We hope to see you soon.

Have a great night.

Take care.

- "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories" is brought to you by: - [Announcer] When you're unable to see your primary care provider, the Carthage Walk-in Clinic is here for you, located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and healing close to home when you need it most.

- [Announcer] North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us.

North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- [Announcer] We are the North Country.

We're protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the North Country strong at claxtonhepburn.org today.

- [Announcer] Additional support is provided by the estate of Evelyn Peckham.

- [Johnny] Two, one.

- Okay, so we might have to make sure we have power.

- But at least you know at one you can hit the blender whenever it goes.

(men laugh) (bright music)