Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 23

To me, nothing quite speaks of summer as much as a homemade BLT sandwich and Joanna’s recipe was most definitely a winner. Buttery toasted bread paired with Easy Herb Mayo (see review below), crispy bacon, vine fresh tomatoes and crunchy lettuce makes for a BLT sandwich that seemed fit to be found on any café summer lunch menu. This sandwich has a wonderful pair of flavors, and the Easy Herb Mayo provides a unique twist of freshness that I found unexpected but deliciously enjoyable. Similarly, I was so excited to be able to use our very own vine fresh tomatoes and lettuce from our raised garden bed (see how we made it HERE!), so if you happened to put in a garden earlier in the season, I hope you were able to use your own fresh produce as well.

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While BLT sandwiches may not rank among my favorite all time meals, this recipe was absolutely delicious and came in with an average rating of an 8! Honestly, there is nothing that I can think to improve upon this sandwich, other than pairing it with a fresh summer watermelon or pineapple and a good potato salad.

As an integral part of the BLT Sandwiches above, this Easy Herb Mayo recipe is a keeper. Despite the mayonnaise base, the fresh flavor of the herbs and seasonings overpower any lingering mayonnaise flavors to provide a wonderful herb spread. For those that do not typically enjoy mayonnaise, I would still highly recommend trying this sauce, as it might just change your mind for the better.

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Only one point behind the BLT Sandwiches, this Easy Herb Mayo recipe gained an average rating of a 7! As this recipe is for a sauce / condiment rather than an entire dish, I would find it hard to rate much higher than a 7, so I believe this rating speaks to how delicious this recipe is. While I do enjoy mayo on a sandwich, Charlie typically does not, but even he was converted when he mentioned that the BLT Sandwiches above would be lacking if you left off this wonderful spread.

As this was my first attempt at making any sort of angel food cake, I was slightly nervous on tasting the final result. To my happy surprise however, this Lemon Angel Food Cake was absolutely wonderful. As Joanna mentions, the subtle hint of lemon adds a freshness to the angel food cake that is quite nice, while the fresh homemade whipped cream and blueberry compote came together to provide a very cohesive yet diverse dish. I personally loved to alternate bites of each element individually and all pieces combined as I was able to explore the arrangement of flavors more thoroughly. Similarly, the recipe was quite straightforward to make, however I was surprised to learn that the cake cools upside down. As my angel good cake pan did not have clips/ feet to rest upon, I researched other options and found that you can use a long-necked bottle or other household items to keep the cake pan suspended upside down during the cooling process.  

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After being tested by my in-law’s bible study group, the Lemon Angel Food Cake with Fresh Blueberry Compote became our highest rated item of the week with an average rating of an 8.5!

• Red cabbage
• Mango
• Carrots
• Limes
• Olive oil
• Halibut, Mahi-mahi, Turbot or Striped Bass filets
• Hot sauce
• Smoked paprika

• Tortillas
• Cilantro sprigs
• Butter
• White pepper
• Black pepper
• Kosher salt
• Croissants
• Eggs
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract

• Fresh blueberries
• Heavy cream
• Buttermilk
• Turbinado sugar
• Avocados
• Tomato
• Red onion
• Jalapeno
• Tortilla chips
• Garlic salt