Outer Banks Holiday Recipes

Honor the seafood and seasonal harvest of the Outer Banks of North Carolina with recipes that bring OBX flavors into your kitchen.

Cranberry Honey Mule

• 1.5 oz vodka
• .5 oz Fresh Ginger Root Juice
• 1.5 oz Honey Simply Syrup
• 3 oz Cranberry Juice
• 1 each Lime Slice
• Raw Cranberries
• Fraser Fir Sprig

Pack a copper mug with ice. Pour in the vodka, ginger juice, honey simple syrup, and cranberry juice. Press the lime slice into the mug, then add it. Finish with fresh cranberries and a fraser fir sprig.

Oyster Stuffing

• .5 lb Butter
• 1 tbsp Chopped Garlic
• 1 cup Chopped Onion
• 1 cup Chopped Celery
• 2 pt Shucked Oysters
• 6 cups Diced Dried Bread
• .5 cup Dry Sherry
• 2 cups Clam Juice
• Salt & Pepper
• Scarborough Fair Blend (Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley & Sage)

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Warm a pan or wok over a medium flame. Add the oysters and let them poach in dry sherry for approximately 2 minutes, just until the edges begin to curl. Lift the oysters out of the liquid and allow them to cool. Using that same pan, add butter, garlic, onion, and celery to the remaining liquid, then simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in clam juice, salt & pepper, and scarborough fair herbs, and bring everything to a boil. Add the bread cubes, toss until moistened, and adjust seasoning to taste. Gently fold in the cooled oysters, either whole or roughly chopped. Transfer the mixture into an oven-safe dish, cover it with foil, and bake for 25-30 minutes. To make the outside crisp, take off the foil during the last 2 minutes in the oven.

Pan-Seared Duck Breast

Pickled Shallots

• 1 lb Shallots
• 2 cups Rice Vinegar
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 tbsp Salt
• 3 sprigs Thyme

Cranberry Sauce

• .5 cup Water
• .25 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• .5 each Orange Zest
• 1 lb Fresh Cranberries
• 1 each Star Anise
• 1 each Cinnamon Stick
• .5 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1.5 cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 cup Red Wine

German Spaetzle

• 1 cup All Purp. Flour
• .25 cup Milk
• 2 each Egg
• .5 tsp Nutmeg
• .25 tsp White Pepper
• .5 tsp Kosher Salt
• 2 tbsp Unsltd Butter

Cut shallow scores into the fat on a boneless 8 oz duck breast. Place it fat side down in a pan over medium heat, rendering as much fat as possible without scorching the skin so it crisps properly.

Wash the brussel sprouts and mark the bottoms with an ‘X’ so they cook evenly. Par cook them in boiling water until the centers become tender. Drain, then coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme before roasting at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Slice the shallots lengthwise. If they are large, cut them into wedges; if small, quarter them. Pull the pieces apart into pedals. In a small saucepan, bring vinegar, sugar, and salt to a boil while stirring until the sugar and salt dissolve. Add the shallots and bring the liquid back to a boil. Move the shallots and hot liquid into a heatproof bowl or jar and let them cool.

Bring 1.5 gallons of water to a boil in a stock pot. Combine the flour, salt, pepper, & nutmeg. Beat the eggs, then add them to the dry ingredients in alternating additions with the milk. Stir until the batter is smooth. Set a colander or spatzle maker over the pot and slowly push the batter through the holes into the boiling water. Cook for around 5-7 minutes, or until the pieces rise to the surface. Drain through a sieve and rinse the noodles with cold water. Let them drain, then toss with canola oil.

In a medium sauce pot over medium high heat, add every cranberry sauce ingredient except the orange zest. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat. Scrape the bottom of the pot so the sauce cooks evenly. Reduce the sauce by 1/3. Taste for sweetness and season with salt. Stir in the orange zest, combine, and take the pot off the heat.

Linzer Cookies

• 3 oz Hazelnuts
• .5 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 2.5 cups All Purpose Flour
• .5 tsp Baking Powder
• 5 tsp Salt
• .5 tsp Cinnamon
• .5 lb Butter Softened
• 1 each Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Raspberry Jam (or flavor of your choice)
• Powdered Sugar

Toast the hazelnuts, then let them cool. Grind the nuts with the sugar until the mixture is fine. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until blended. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Lower the mixer speed and add the flour mixture, stopping once the dough just comes together. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic and chill it for 24 hours. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Roll the dough to .25 in. and cut the cookies with a linzer cookie cutter. Bake for 10 minutes on a parchment-lined sheet tray. Remove from the oven and cool. Spread .5 tsp. raspberry jam on the bottom cookie. Dust the top cookie with powdered sugar, then sandwich the two pieces together.