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Travel Logs August 2012

Food Ventures

Flavors of St. Simons Island, Georgia

By Ann Hattes

During World War II the property served as a training and coast-watching facility for the Navy after German U-boats were sighted off the Georgia coast during the winter of 1942.

v_hattes08aSt. Simons Island, one of Georgia’s Golden Isles, welcomes visitors with live oak canopies draped with Spanish moss, a rich heritage, beaches, golf courses and gracious Southern hospitality. Here you can do a lot, or choose to do nothing at all but let the ocean waves relax you, lulling you to sleep. Be forewarned. You may well become addicted and return to live here after a visit as many have done.

With magnificent ocean views, the historic Mediterranean-style King and Prince Beach & Golf Club Resort has been welcoming guests for over 75 years. During World War II the property served as a training and coast-watching facility for the Navy after German U-boats were sighted off the Georgia coast during the winter of 1942. Today’s accommodations offer pampered seaside vacationing for all ages in modern guest rooms, cabanas, beach villas and luxurious houses. The new three-pool complex positioned on the Atlantic Ocean tempts swimmers, readers and water spectators from toddlers to the young at heart of all ages.

After a day of water sports, cycling the island’s bike paths, touring the Maritime Museum
and Lighthouse, or a challenging round of golf, delight in Southern coastal cuisine at one of the King and Prince Resort’s oceanfront settings. Here Southern culinary traditions come to life under Executive Chef Jeff Kaplan and Food & Beverage Director Vinny D’Agostino, with dishes and drinks that include Georgia products from shrimp, peaches and Vidalia onions to pecans, honey, and Muscadine wines. Kaplan embraces the Farm to Table Movement cooking “fresh” and “seasonal.” He likes to follow his food “from the kitchen to the guest.” “Food is very powerful and is at the forefront of life’s important events” he says, “thus flavors and scents are intertwined with generations of memories.”

Large, sweet, buttery tasting Georgia shrimp gain their unique flavor from the nutrient-rich marshlands and estuaries along the state’s 100 miles of coastline, the richest ecosystem east of the Mississippi. On the restaurant menus at the King and Prince Resort you’ll have a wide choice of wild Georgia shrimp – from salad, shrimp and crab bisque, shrimp grilled or blackened, or dusted with cornmeal and deep fried, to seafood quiche with shrimp, bay scallops and snow crab; shrimp and crab lasagna; or seafood fettuccine alfredo with shrimp and bay scallops. The traditional seasonal shrimper’s breakfast of shrimp cooked with bacon grease and poured over grits is varied at the King and Prince by a tasso cream sauce. Ham from New Orleans, plus cream and asiago cheese make a rich sauce for the shrimp sautéed with cajun spice. (see accompanying recipe).

With the proliferation of farm raised shrimp around the world, shrimp boats off the Georgia coast have declined from 400 in the 1970s to about 60 now. However visitors to St. Simons Isle can go shrimpin’ by participating in a trawling experience aboard the “Lady Jane” (www.shrimpcruise.com) on the protected inland waters of coastal Georgia.

The captain and crew empty the catch, identifying the many species of underwater life from flounder to baby shark to puffer fish to horseshoe crab. Shrimp are boiled Low Country style and served aboard for the freshest shrimp you’ll ever experience. At Halyard’s (www.halyardsrestaurant.com), one of many outstanding dining options on St. Simons Island, everything is fresh and prepared from scratch. Southern Distinction Magazine awarded it 2012 “Best of the Best” for Best Seafood. There is beef and pork on the menu but guests love the “Catch of the Day,” whether triple tail from the beach, snapper and grouper from the reefs or tuna from the Gulf Stream. You can even learn how to grill, bake, sauté and fry fresh fish and make accompanying sides from Chef Dave Snyder in his one-day cooking classes. For a start, try his recipe for Deviled Crab at home.

The natural beauty, recreational opportunities and fresh flavors of Southern culinary traditions served up on St. Simons Island and the King and Prince Resort at ocean’s edge linger in the memory, enticing visitors to return again and again.

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Recipes:

King and Prince Shrimp & Grits in a Tasso Cream Sauce

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup tasso ham
¼ cup kernel corn
¼ cup diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
½ cup wild Georgia shrimp
1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
¼ cup asiago cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

In one saucepan, sauté the Georgia shrimp with cajun seasoning using olive oil. In another pan, sauté tasso ham, corn, tomatoes, and green onions; add heavy cream and asiago cheese; let simmer two minutes. Add shrimp and serve over stoneground grits of your choice.

 

Halyard’s (of St. Simons Island) Deviled Crab

2 pounds lump blue crab meat
2 Tablespoons bacon fat
½ yellow onion, minced
1 red pepper, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
½ pasilla pepper, reconstituted and minced
2 cups diced tomatoes and juice
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon sour cream
1 lemon, juiced
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire
Breadcrumbs as needed

Saute onions, peppers, celery, and pasilla in bacon fat over medium heat for 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and paste and cook until almost dry. Cool.

Mix all but breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper. Add breadcrumbs to bind. Stuff into shells and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Serve with remoulade.

 


SIDEBAR:

St. Simons Island and the King and Prince Resort, a member of Historic Hotels of America, is located about mid-way between Jacksonville, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia. It’s about 15 minutes from I-95 to the five-mile, no-toll causeway to the island.

www.kingandprince.com
http://www.facebook.com/TheKingandPrince
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrMXaEWTKXE
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingandprinceresort/

201 Arnold Rd., St. Simons Island 31522
800-340-0212; 912-638-3631

 

Ann Hattes has over 25 years experience writing about both travel and food for publications both in the US and internationally. A senior living in Wisconsin, she’s a member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association and the Midwest Travel Writers Association.

Meet Ann