Island Free Press ...Local News

Island Cooking....Some favorite recipes for Christmas on the coast

By LYNNE FOSTER



The voyage from Hatteras Island to Harkers Island involves two relaxing ferry rides, a journey along the length of Ocracoke Island and finally from Cedar Island, a most beautiful drive through acres and acres and acres of unspoiled marshland. It is a lovely trip at any time, especially in December when Down East bursts into light as houses in the villages all along the road are elaborately decorated, often with unique crab pot Christmas trees, officially named Core Sound Christmas trees, made in Davis. The little village of Davis is, of course, exceptionally brilliant. The trees are everywhere you look, even on the utility poles. Harvey and Sons has created a special holiday niche and it all began when they were looking for ways to use left-over materials from their crab pot business and to keep their family business viable in difficult times for commercial fishermen. It is a fine example of ingenuity and success. You will be inspired by their story at www.harveyandsons.com/trees Our destination the first weekend of December was the Christmas wonderland that the board, staff, and a swarm of dedicated volunteers had created at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center at the end of the road on Harkers Island. Waterfowl Weekend is the traditional kick-off to the holiday season and friends from Ocracoke also came to celebrate, not just the festive season, but also our shared island heritage and traditions with folks from Harkers Island, Marshallberg, Gloucester, and the other little fishing villages along Core Sound. The museum sparkled with numerous brightly lit trees, including a large collection of crab pot trees, and exuded the comforting aroma of fresh cut cedar formed into swags and wreaths that adorned both exterior and interior. We were serenaded throughout the weekend with live music from Bland Simpson, Connie Mason, Barbara Garrity-Blake and her new band, Lost Girls, and Ocracoke’s own Gary Mitchell, Lou Castro, and Fiddler Dave Tweedie, members of Molasses Creek. There were decoys and boat models galore and there were even two little reindeer that looked suspiciously like ponies sporting felt antlers! The explanation given for the broken antler on one was simply, “He’s a boy!” But the most memorable element is the food. Those Core Sounders really like to eat! Volunteer cooks work for days to produce local seafood treats. When you think that you couldn’t possibly eat one more bite during the Friday night reception that features the famous “Seafood Extravaganza,” you are invited into the museum itself for a preview of the Saturday and Sunday activities, and there are tables everywhere set with their equally renowned fancy desserts – all homemade. Near the entrance, volunteers in tuxedos stir up generous cups of Irish coffee and offer champagne. Festive indeed! I skipped the sweets (Ernie ate my share – and more!), but I did indulge in an Irish coffee. Everything was wonderful, but the highlight of the weekend for me was a personal favorite that was demonstrated here on Hatteras at Day at the Docks two years ago and that epitomizes island comfort food -- stewed shrimp. Stewed shrimp is a warming winter supper. Potatoes and onions, used so often in island recipes, form the base. Shrimpers are still catching pretty shrimp off the islands, so as soon as we got back home I made a great big pot. It is as good warmed over as fresh off the stove, so we got several meals out of it. It is so easy and, like all good comfort food, one never tires of eating it, and it made a perfect post–Hatteras Christmas parade supper. CORE SOUND STEWED SHRIMP 4 white potatoes, cubed 1 large onion, diced 1/4 cup unflavored cooking oil, such as Canola oil 2 cups water 1 1/2 pounds shrimp, cleaned and deveined Salt and pepper to taste (You will need more salt than you’d expect so taste as you cook.) Add potatoes and onion to oil and water in a 2-3 quart pot. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes. Add shrimp, salt, and pepper. Cook for another 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Mixture should be thick, not soupy. Add finely chopped fresh parsley as you serve. Here in Hatteras village it feels like Christmas when the “big tree” of lights goes up in the triangle. We are never really sure when that will happen, since it more often than not gets up just before a big blow that necessitates a reworking! So, Damon Junior (Gray) and family and friends try to time it according to the weather forecasts. It is along the parade route so they attempt to have it lit by then. The Christmas parade is always a celebratory time and a chance for us all to see friends from neighboring villages and the tree is an important element. The parade is followed by a Christmas party and parade awards ceremony at the beautifully decorated Hatteras Civic Center. Hot chocolate is on hand, as are batches of homemade cookies from a variety of volunteers. This year my contribution was one of our old favorites, chewy peanut butter blossoms. By the way, both parade and party are the results of the shared genius and dedication of Karla Jarvis and Dennis Robinson. CHEWY PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS About 48 Hershey’s Kisses 1 can (14 oz.) Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter 2 cups all-purpose biscuit mix 1 teaspoon vanilla extract About 1/4 cup granulated sugar Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove wrappers from Kisses. Beat sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter together in large bowl until mixture is smooth. Add biscuit mix and vanilla and blend well. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6-8 minutes or until very lightly browned. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and immediately press a Kiss into the center of each ball. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container. You won’t store them for too long! Putting up our tree at home is a big deal. I select the enormous Christmas playlist on the iPod, pour us a glass of bubbly with a splash of a fruity nectar such as Jumex apricot or mango, and set out a bowl of something snackable that doesn’t require plates and forks – just lickable fingers. These easy spiced nuts are just one of many variations, so be sure to experiment with other flavors and other varieties of nuts. Packaged in those pretty holiday cello bags that you can order through the Hatteras United Methodist Church’s annual wrapping paper sale, they are ideal gifts and something festive to take along to holiday gatherings. . SPICED NUTS 1 pound nuts (this year I used pecan halves) 1/2 cup flaked coconut 2 teaspoons Balti seasoning (or curry powder) 1 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper 1 egg white Combine all the ingredients except egg and nuts in a large bowl. Whisk egg white in another bowl until it is foamy. Stir the nuts into the egg white and then stir in the coconut. Spread in a single layer on a half-sheet or jelly roll pan (15-by-10 inches).
Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. They will crisp as they cool. Store in airtight container for up to two weeks. We are fortunate to be able to spend Christmas with our family. It is a large gathering, and we all contribute to Christmas Eve supper and Christmas dinner. It has become a Hoffman family tradition to enjoy local North Carolina seafood at both meals. Smoked king mackerel spread (See article on “Wild Mushrooms add bold flavors to fall dishes”) is an absolute necessity. The girls have loved it since they were babes and would be horribly disappointed if we didn’t bring it. Now that they are older, I bring the ingredients and they enjoy helping me make the spread. It tastes better when they do! We also cut some smoked mackerel into chunks and serve it on pieces of Manchego cheese. It is an unexpected pairing and a surprising alternative to cheese and crackers. Serve to adults with a Fine Tawny Port. After church on Christmas Eve, we fire up the grill and load it with salty North Carolina oysters. The children practically hug the grill in anticipation, and there is much merriment as they search for pearls, or rather the little “crabbies” that they consider more precious than pearls. They love them even more than oysters. We slice huge lemons fresh from my father’s extremely productive front yard tree, but usually everyone simply slurps the oysters. The main course on Christmas Eve is what I have come to know as “Christmas fish” because of the timing of its arrival in our waters and because it is always brought to me as a gift. We all look forward to stripers, or rockfish, with our fresh pasta, homemade marinara and huge salad before we indulge in a variety of Christmas cookies from the girls’ exchange party. Striped bass is a firm and flavorful fish that’s not very oily, so while it has a clean fishy taste, it isn’t “strong.” Hatteras and Ocracoke are just about the southernmost range for the wild stripers, and locals treasure the fun of catching them as much as the pleasure of consuming them. The stripers begin their migration in the cooler waters off our coast during the wintertime as they search for ideal water temperatures from 55-68 degrees and for turbulent water that stirs up the bottom, revealing their favorite food -- clams, crabs, sand fleas, and other crustaceans. They also like to feed on the tides when the currents bring the baitfish right to them, which conserves their tremendous power for easy maneuvering in rough and moving water. I am getting nervous, since not many stripers are being caught yet. The boats have been stuck at the docks because of weather, and so I don’t know if they are even here. As I write this afternoon, the weather forecast should allow the boats to get out for the rest of the week, so maybe there will be some stripers for Christmas after all. BAKED CHRISTMAS FISH 4 medium striped bass fillets 3 tablespoons butter, melted 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Fresh flat leaf parsley to taste Place the fillets in a large shallow greased baking pan or casserole dish. Brush with the melted butter. Sprinkle with lemon juice and salt and pepper. Bake at 450 degrees, basting once, until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 10 minutes. Finely chop the fresh herbs and spread over the cooked fish before serving. Garnish with whole parsley sprigs. On Christmas Day we are more conventional with our menu, but we do start the meal with piles and piles of steamed shrimp. We will vacuum pack and freeze this wonderful shrimp, and it will taste fresh-caught on Dec. 25. My technique for steaming is in an earlier column. (See “Shrimp Boats is a Comin”) But let me give you a tip for freezing shrimp. We have tried many techniques and this works. With scissors, snip off the sharp tail fins so they do not pierce the bag. Using masses of white kitchen towels (white so you can bleach them if necessary), dry off the shrimp still in their shells. Place them on top of a double layer of towels and then cover them with another and pat them dry. Load them into the freezing bag and then – here’s the trick – place a folded paper towel at the top so it absorbs any excess water when you vacuum pack it. Smoked kings, oysters, shrimp, rockfish – does it get any better? We wish only that we will be allowed this year to catch some of the massive quantity of beautiful bay scallops that surround us. We are doubtful. Happy Holidays and best wishes for a very peaceful and productive new year.

Don't forget the 3rd Annual Oyster Roast and Steamed Shrimp Fundraiser
at the Ocracoke Fish House on Saturday, Dec. 27, from 2 until 5 p.m.

All seafood is locally caught and proceeds benefit Ocracoke Working Watermen's Association. Enjoy seafood caught,
cooked, and served by working watermen as you listen to live music and visit with friends and neighbors.


(Lynne Foster lives in Hatteras village with her husband, Ernie. Together they operate The Albatross Fleet of charter boats. They actively support the sustainable practices of the island’s commercial fishermen and the preservation of Hatteras Island’s working waterfront. Both love to cook seafood and entertain friends, and Lynne loves to experiment with recipes for locally caught seafood.)