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Recipe for a village feast:

75 gallons of seafood chowder
1,000 hand-cut New York strip loin steaks
6 blistering hot charcoal grills
500 pounds local potatoes
30 local potato peelers
200 pounds rhubarb
250 quarts fresh local strawberries
100 pounds butter
100 litres cream
150 hay bales for crowd control
100 borrowed pots and pans
1,000 hungry guests
1 beautiful summer day
1 crazy chef

Mix everything together, pretend it's all under control and hope for the best.

Imagine trying to convince a gang of home cooks that they can prepare a steak dinner for 1,000 people. This past Saturday, my eastern Prince Edward Island community came together as we never had before. We pooled our resources, formed committees, schemed, begged and borrowed, and ran hard with a great idea. Then we watched as our first Village Feast exceeded everyone's wildest expectations.

Like many rural communities we have our share of challenges. But instead of letting them define us, we focused on the bounty of our local resources.

The idea was simple. Sell 1,000 tickets, create a feast with local ingredients and raise enough money to help our local food bank and an outstanding locally based charity, Farmers Helping Farmers. With the money raised, we would build a cookhouse in a Kenyan village that would feed 400 kids a day and we would also put meals on the table for needy families in our own community. Great motivation to tackle an outlandish task.

The menu was simple: A traditional seafood chowder packed with chunks of just about everything you can find in the waters around PEI. A thick steak grilled to order - which meant four grill stations, one each for rare, medium rare, medium and well done - and local (Alberta's not the only place in Canada that raises AAA beef). Potatoes mashed with browned butter. Gravy full of locally grown organic mushrooms. And to top it all off, strawberry rhubarb shortcake with real whipped cream and nutmeg biscuits.

It was a feast indeed - and hopefully a spark for years of successful community events to come. Sometimes the only thing holding us back is gumption - a motivated community can achieve just about anything. And everyone loves a grilled steak.

Grilled Steak with Shiitake Mushroom Gravy

In a fancy restaurant this would be called a sauce, but in a sunny field full of farmers and fishermen we know better. You can use any mushroom you like, but shiitakes have a rich meaty flavour that goes perfectly with grilled steak.

What you need
1 thinly sliced onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup red wine
1 cup rich beef or chicken stock
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

What you do

In a saucepot over medium heat gently brown the onions and garlic in the butter. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until heated through. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until it dissolves. Add the wine, beef stock and cream. Bring to a simmer. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Stir in the fresh thyme. Taste. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4 to 6.

Michael Smith is the award-winning host of the Food Network's Chef at Home, Chef at Large and The Inn Chef. He is based in Fortune, PEI.