Secret Recipes from Little St. Simons Island's Kitchen, Just in Time for the Holidays!

Little St. Simons Island’s Gingerbread Bread Pudding

Gingerbread:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup whole milk

Custard:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly coat the bottom of a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with canola oil and line with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat brown sugar, molasses, eggs, and canola oil on medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a separate bowl.
4. Add flour mixture to egg mixture. Stir with a spoon to combine.
5. Add milk and mix until all ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over paper in prepared pan.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. In a medium saucepan, combine milk, sugar, and vanilla on medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly.
8. Crack eggs for pudding in a separate bowl and beat with a wire whisk. Slowly whisk in warm milk mixture. Strain through a fine mesh strainer if mixture is lumpy.
9. Remove gingerbread from sheet pan and lift off parchment paper.
10. Cut into 1/4-inch squares and evenly divide among 12 ramekins.
11. Pour 1/4 cup custard over gingerbread in each ramekin. Place ramekins in a large baking dish and add enough hot water to meet the level of the filling in the cups.
12. Bake for 45 minutes in a 325° oven until custard is set. Serve warm.


Coastal Georgia Oyster Bisque
Serves 4
For bisque:
2 cups shucked Coastal Georgia oysters, with juice, chopped fine
½ cup Vidalia Onions, chopped fine
½ cup celery, chopped fine
½ cup carrots, chopped fine
2 large russet potatoes, diced small
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoon Cognac
3 ½ cups fish stock or clam broth
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper
½ cup chives, chopped fine

For Oyster Garnish:
8 Coastal Georgia oysters
2 cups rice flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups Panko bread crumbs

For Bisque:
1. Melt butter in a medium size saucepan.
2. Add onions, celery and carrots.
3. Sauté on medium-low heat, until vegetables soften ( about 5 minutes).
4. Add flour to vegetables and stir until flour is well incorporated.
5. Cook mixture and stir for 1 minute.
6. Carefully add cognac as it will ignite if added too quickly.
7. Let cognac simmer until evaporated.
8. Add broth, cream, and diced potatoes.
9. Simmer on medium heat until potatoes are cooked through, stirring occasionally.
10. Add chopped oysters and stir over medium heat until they are just cooked through.
11. Remove 2 cups of the bisque and puree in a blender until smooth.
12. Return pureed mixture to saucepan and gently stir.
13. Season with salt and pepper.
14. Ladle soup into soup bowls and top with a fried oyster and sprinkle with chopped fresh chives.

Fried Oyster Garnish:
1. Place rice flour in a large plastic bag.
2. Add oysters to flour and toss to coat well.
3. Shake off oysters one at a time and add to the egg mixture.
4. Add Panko bread crumbs to a large plastic bag.
5. Remove oysters one at time, add to bread crumbs and toss to coat well.
6. Place oysters on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and place in freezer for 20 minutes.
7. Heat oil in deep fryer to 375°.
8. Remove oysters from freezer and fry for approximately 2 minutes until light brown and oysters are just cooked through.
9. Remove oysters from fryer and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

About Little St. Simons Island:
Virtually untouched for centuries, Little St. Simons Island is a barrier island off Georgia’s coast that features seven miles of pristine beaches, cottages for just 32 overnight guests, ancient maritime forests, tidal creeks and shimmering marshes. The island offers a rare combination of complete privacy in an unspoiled wilderness with the genuine Southern hospitality of the island’s attentive and knowledgeable staff. Accessible only by boat, Little St. Simons Island retains that charm and unhurried pace of coastal living where time is measured only by the rise and fall of the tides and the ringing of the gong at meal times. www.littlessi.com