A Spring Soirée

from CH2 Magazine: April 2023

by CH2/ CB2 : Celebrate Hilton Head / Celebrate Bluffton

This & That

Preheat oven to 425F. Rinse small potatoes with water and drain. Place drained potatoes into an edged baking pan; add sliced sweet onion, ½ cup olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Mix well. Place in oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until potatoes are just done. Do not overbake. Place in a large bowl.

Blend in peppers, olives, capers, carrots, cucumbers, banana peppers and ½ cup olive oil. Season to taste. Serve hot or cold.

Optional: Sprinkle with nuts and/or vegan or regular cheese.

Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ cup kosher salt

Wedges of grapefruit

1 cup freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice

1 cup white tequila, preferably Casamigos

¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

*1 tablespoon sugar syrup

Combine ¼ cup sugar and ½ cup salt on a small plate. Run a wedge of grapefruit around the rim of 4 glasses to moisten the rims. Lightly dip the rims in the sugar mixture and set aside to dry.

Combine the grapefruit juice, tequila, lime juice, sugar syrup, and a pinch of salt together in a pitcher.

Fill a cocktail shaker ½ full of ice and pour in the drink mixture. Shake the cocktail shaker for 30 seconds to chill and dilute the drink. Pour into the 4 prepared glasses; add a few ice cubes, and a wedge of grapefruit and serve ice cold.

*To make sugar syrup, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until the mixture is clear. Cool and refrigerate indefinitely.

Lemon Angel Food Cake

Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten

2 cups sifted superfine sugar, divided

1-1/3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)

1½ cups egg whites, at room temperature (10 to 12 eggs)

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1½ teaspoons cream of tartar

¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1½ teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine ½ cup of sugar with the flour and sift together 4 times. Set aside.

Place the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the eggs make medium-firm peaks, about 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1½ cups of sugar by sprinkling it over the beaten egg whites. Whisk for a few minutes until thick and shiny. Whisk in the vanilla and lemon zest and continue to whisk until very thick, about 1 more minute. Sift about ¼ of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula. Continue adding the flour by fourths by sifting and folding until it’s all incorporated.

Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until it springs back to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan on a cooling rack until cool.

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