About a year and a half ago, I had the immense pleasure of working with the Lee Brothers for a week while they did the food photography for their new cookbook- Charleston Kitchen.  Well, the book has finally come out, and we went to a small launch party last night where I got to see it for the first time.  It is spectacular!  I think I am probably the reason behind the amazingness of it, what with my excellent dish washing skills and being a superb errand girl.   But really, the book is beautiful, the recipes are amazing, and the history and storytelling make it wonderful even if you don’t like to cook.  Here is a sample recipe for an amazing salad.  This is a must-have for all kitchens!

A New Ambrosia

Ambrosia is the name of a cold, sweet, chunky salad found in most southern cafeterias. We’ve reinvented it from top to bottom.

The original ambrosia calls for canned tangerine segments, canned pineapple chunks, mini-marshmallows, shredded coconut, and mayonnaise. It is bracingly sweet, but we often find it served, bizarrely enough, as a side dish with the main course, which seems out of whack – a salad created for someone who’d rather eat dessert first. But the idea of “a food for the gods” – a cool, creamy salad that isn’t coleslaw – appeals greatly to us, so we fiddled with the elements and came up with something new.

Here we substitute fresh grapefruit and orange for the canned tangerines and crisp cucumber and celery for the pineapple. Chopped avocado provides the soft creaminess of the marshmallows in the original. There is no mayo here, but instead a brisk dressing of buttermilk, lime juice, tarragon, and garlic, with the gentle sweetness of shredded coconut (a direct carryover from the original). It’s a salad with beautiful contrasting textures, pretty colors, and bright flavors. This ambrosia is as crunchy and cool as coleslaw but with herbal notes instead of vinegary ones. Like coleslaw, it’s brilliant paired with anything fried or spicy. Sometimes we serve a scoop of New Ambrosia over a small bed of arugula as the salad course in a larger meal.

Ingredients:

For the Salad

1 large grapefruit, supremed
1 large navel orange, supremed
3/4 chopped celery (about 2 stalks)
1 1/4 cups finely dices Haas avocado (about 1 avocado)
1 1/2 cups seeded and chopped cucumber (about 1 large cucumber)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

For the Dressing

2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, mashed to a puree
1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut (or 1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp sweetened shredded coconut)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all the salad ingredients.

In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, lime juice, and olive oil until blended.  Whisk in the garlic puree, tarragon, coconut, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.

If you wish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 hour to cool the salad and allow the flavors to meld.  Toss again before serving, and serve with a slotted spoon.