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Peach Gazpacho by Chef Kelly Vogelheim
Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2021/07 – July
For Chef Kelly Vogelheim, the creative force at the heart of Skyline Lodge’s new Oak Steakhouse, the challenge and the joy of the job comes from concocting a recipe that truly reflects the richness and palate-pleasing generosity of local ingredients.
Executive Chef Kelly Vogelheim
While working in South Carolina, Chef Kelly Vogelheim became so enamored with the state’s fragrant, juicy peaches that she decided that they should go in everything.
So she added them to Gazpacho. Poured into a thermos and brought along to a picnic in the mountains, perhaps by a waterfall, it’s the perfect refreshment on a sultry summer day.
Kelly, who heads up the kitchen at the newly opened Oak Steakhouse at the Skyline Lodge, only recently arrived in the South. Born in Michigan to a lineage of extraordinary female cooks, she knew from an early age that she was born to cook.
After culinary school, she landed the Chef gig at Interlake Steamship Company. The experience “was a turning point. It gave me the freedom to experiment.”
Hungry to return to land, she moved to Charleston in 2016, assuming the Chef de Cuisine position at Lowcountry Bistro. In 2018, Vogelheim joined the Indigo Road Hospitality Group (they also own Skyline Lodge) at their Florence, South Carolina, farm-to-table restaurant, Town Hall.
With a pedigree that includes being named 2019 South Carolina Chef Ambassador and features in Southern Living and Rachel Ray magazines, Vogelheim has earned a reputation for her passionate and inventive use of local and sustainable products.
Vogelheim shared with me her vision for Oak Steakhouse; “I want my menu to reflect the riches of mountain ingredients.”
Peach Gazpacho
Ingredients
3 Cups Fresh Peaches, peeled and chopped
3 Tomatoes, Chopped
1 Cucumber, Diced Small
½ Cup Red onion, Diced Small
1 teaspoon Fresh Garlic, Minced
1/3-Cup Fresh Lime Juice
¼ Cup Rice Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dash of Hot Sauce
1-3 teaspoons sugar
Directions
1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a food processor and pulse until just blended.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth
3. Chill for 3-4 hours in the refrigerator.
*Chef’s notes: to add texture to this dish, reserve some extra chopped peaches, tomatoes, & cucumber and add into the Gazpacho after it has been blended.
*Garnish with fresh cilantro or crème Fraiche for a nice presentation.
