The San Antonio food truck scene rolls into Culinaria Thursday.

Culinaria, the city’s premier food and spirits festival, gets under way this week with a new event that showcases one of the fastest growing trends in dining today: food trucks.

On Thursday, a number of food trucks will pull into the parking lot in front of the H-E-B Alon Market, 8503 N.W. Military Hwy., for a gathering that runs from 6 to 9 p.m. or until the food and drinks run out.

For $10, guests can get into the gather and enjoy their drinks. Food from the trucks is sold separately.

It’s a causal evening of wine and beer with food that is sure to surprise by its variety, its great flavors and its sophistication.

The lineup of trucks includes KHILL BBQ Co, Guilty Pleasures, Say*She*Ate, Crepe Nation, Saweet Cupcakes, Toastie Buns, MARS Mobile Kitchen, Sabor Colombiano, Flour Power Cafe, 4110 Mobile Kitchen, Rickshaw Stop, Spice Runner, Bistro Six and The DUK Truck.

If you haven’t sampled the great diversity that the San Antonio food truck scene has to offer, this is your chance to catch up.

For a full list of Culinaria events, click here.

Leeks at the Pearl Farmers Market

Leeks are in season at the farmers markets in the area, but people still don’t know what to  do with this wonderful and versatile vegetable.

Sure, you can sauté them, but don’t stop there. I particularly love them in soups, though they are great in salads and as a side dish. Thomas Keller, considered to be the finest chef in America, uses them in a bread pudding.

Here are links to several leek recipes we’ve run in the past as well as new one for Creamy Leek Soup, which is perfect for those of us trying to cut back on carbs without losing any flavor.

The point is, don’t pass those leeks up the next time you’re at a farmers market. They are very low in saturated fat and cholesterol, according to NutritionData.self.com. “They are also  a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, folate, iron and magnesium, and a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese.”

And they taste great, with a sweetness that is comes out when you cook them. Look for smaller leeks. Cut only the white part, then peel back the thick, outer green leaves and cut only the tender part of the green beneath. Soak the cut pieces in water; the dirt will sink to the bottom while the leek stays on top.

• Potato Onion Soup
• Leeks with Cream and Mint
• Silky Leek Salad
• Leek Bread Pudding from Thomas Keller

Cream of Leek Soup

2 cups chicken stock  or vegetable stock
1 cup finely cut leeks
2 tablespoons butter
½ medium sized onion, minced or grated
Salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream

Cream of Leek Soup

Bring the stock to a boil. Add leeks and simmer. While they are cooking, melt butter in a saucepan with the onion. Then add to the leek-stock mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let cook for about 15 minutes or until the leeks soften and cook. Add chopped parsley. Pour mixture into a blender or food processor and purée.

Set up a double boiler over low heat. Whisk the egg yolks over the warm water. Slowly stir in heavy cream and whisk until fully incorporated. Slowly add the cream to the soup and stir it with a wooden spoon until it thickens. It is done when the mixture coats the spoon with a slight film. DO NOT let the mixture boil and do not overcook.

Makes 2-3 servings.

Adapted from apinchofhealth.com

Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard has been a long-time feature at the Pearl Farmers Market.

Cora Lamar helps a customer at her produce and flower booth.

As revitalization of the Pearl Brewery began several years ago, the owners of the property, Silver Ventures, knew that a farmers market would be a great way of bringing local people to the site while developing a greater sense of community. Three years ago this weekend, the Pearl Farmers Market began with vendors selling everything from fresh vegetables and meats to olive oil, baked goods, lavender products, and flowers.

The lineup of vendors has grown and changed somewhat in that time. Many of the vendors have become old friends over time — Beaune Farms, Biga on the Banks for their breads, Sandy Oaks Olive Orchards, Al’s Gourmet Nuts, Thunder Heart Bison and Peeler Farms chickens, to name a few — and new ones have been added, including Restaurant Gwendolyn, which offers handmade sausages and bacon. The market has also become more at home in its space at the back of the Pearl Brewery, with hundreds of people milling about and many a dog sniffing out the scene.

On Saturday, the spring harvest after the recent rains brought an abundance of items, including breakfast radishes, kale, arugula, cabbage, onions, spring garlic, fennel, green beans, herbs, leeks, brussels sprouts, new potatoes, beets, varieties of squashes, carrots, cucumbers, shallots, peppers, broccoli, mushrooms and more. Fredericksburg peaches were going quickly, as were blackberries and a few strawberries.

Chef John Brand serves marketgoers a savory treat.

Cora Lamar of Oak Hill Farm drew customers with the vivid lavender-colored artichoke blossoms that she had. She also had a few artichokes with her, but they sold quickly, she said.

Artichoke blossoms

For those who bought an artichoke blossom for the first time, she explained that they should not be placed in water or they’ll rot. Instead, the flowering plant, which is in the same family as the thistle, should be set up without water. As the plant begins to dry, the green leaves should turn brown, but the flower would retain its color, Lamar said.

The morning sun drew a line to the handcrafted ice cream booth, where flavors included Strawberry Basil, Salty Caramel, Orange Lavender, Blackberry Lemon and Peach Pecan Amaretto.

Fennel bulbs

The anniversary celebration also brought out some of the city’s chefs who provided samples of dishes that used ingredients you could find in the market.

.Fresh-picked carrots

Chad Carey of the Monterey was there with his new chef, Coleman Foster, to hand out chicken meatballs with a peach kimchi. John Brand of Las Canarias and Ostra offered braised lamb’s neck, while Ocho chef Jason Garcia served a quinoa salad with seasonal vegetables  and a tamarind vinaigrette.

It’s always fun to stop by Melissa Guerra’s Tienda de Cocina in the neighboring Full Goods building on the brewery campus. In addition to the great kitchen items that the store always features, Guerra was offering a hula hoop demonstration and she was spinning right along to the DJ’s funkadelic sounds.

Customers shop the market for the freshest produce.

Nothing says San Antonio hospitality quite like a freshly made margarita.

San Antonio chef and caterer Johnny Hernandez is inviting people into his home.

Bistec tacos are one dish available at Casa Hernan.

Casa Hernán, just off Southtown at 411 Cevallos, is a catering venue that is now open to the public for private party rentals. The opulent space reflects the hacienda style of interior Mexico, from the koi pond at the front entrance to the colorful dining area with room for several food stations.

The dishes at Casa Hernan.

Hernandez, who also operates La Gloria Ice House at the Pearl Brewery,  has had the place decorated with an elegance mixed with a bold, traditional color scheme that is both energizing and tranquil and makes you feel far from the neighboring railroad tracks and right at home next to La Tuna Grill.

At the opening party, the chef and his catering company, True Flavors, put on a spread that included samples from the various menus clients can choose from. Dishes included fish in an hoja santa sauce, several ceviches, bistec tacos, sopes and cochinita pibil as well as tres leches cake  shooters for dessert.

You don’t have to wait for an invitation to a private party to see Casa Hernán. Come September, Hernandez is opening the space for a monthly Sunday brunch with each focusing on the regional foods of interior Mexico.

For more information, visit trueflavors.com.

The main dining area at Casa Hernan.

What's on tap for San Antonio Beer Week?

Editor’s note: Instead of a Beer of the Week, we offer news of San Antonio Beer Week, which begins Saturday.

The second annual San Antonio Beer Week gets under way Saturday with plenty of chances for beer lovers to try some new brews as well as an array of tasty pairings with food.

Brewers from Blue Star, the Faust and Freetail will be serving up an SA IPA in honor of the event.

Saturday is also the date that Luke, 125 E. Houston St., is hosting its monthly beer dinner. All of the beers will be from Texas breweries, including Ranger Creek, Real Ale, Alamo, 512, Independence, Franconia and No Label.

Steven McHugh’s menu includes first of the season heirloom tomatoes, crabmeat, basil and balsamic vinegar will be followed by BBQ Texas quail and smoked tasso spoonbread. Pork belly and fried pickles with summer succotash will be served before blackberry buckle and root “beer” float.

Grab icy brew or two during San Antonio Beer Week.

The dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $65 a person. For reservations, call (210) 227-5853 or email jsolomon@chefjohnbesh.com.

Ranger Creek’s Rob Landerman is partnering with Cruzan Catering at Bake, Boil and Brew, 1508 Guadalupe St., for a beer dinner at 7 p.m. May 19. The dinner will benefit Open The Taps, a grassroots, non-profit consumer advocacy group for craft beer enthusiasts.

The courses include La Bestia Aimable with sausage ravioli with basil pesto and Pecorino Romano;  Strawberry Milk Stout with Seared Salmon with Strawberry glaze;  SA IPA with Cranberry Goat Cheese Salad with an IPA-Orange Vinaigrette;  Lucky Ol’ Sun with Jalapeño Citrus Chicken with a pineapple salsa;  OPA with Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin Roulade;  and Mesquite Smoked Porter with Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake.  Extras include Ranger Creek .36 Texas Bourbon and Special .36 Bourbon Gelato from Brindles with Bourbon Truffle.

Cost is  $50. Click here for reservations.

Other Beer Week events include the Independence Brewing Brewluminati seventh anniversary and the tapping of their latest Brouwers Dubbel on May 17 and a Sierra Nevada party on May 18, both at the Friendly Spot Ice House, 943  S. Alamo St.

For more information on San Antonio Beer Week, click here.

Two San Antonio food truck parks are planning upcoming events to tempt your taste buds.

The food truck parks in San Antonio area are getting ready for some fun in the next few weeks:

• The Point Park & Eats,24188  Scenic Loop Road, is having a crawfish boil on May 19.

From noon until 11 p.m., crawfish will be served up every two hours or until the little crustaceans run out.

Fat Bellies and Crepe Nation are  the presenters of the feast with Kitchen Fusionz, Takoryia and the Frigid Frog adding support. Abita beer is sponsoring the event.

Live music and beer are on tap for the day.

Call (210) 251-3380 for details.

• Boardwalk on Bulverde, 14832 Bulverde Road, is hosting a three-day Kitchens 4 Cancer fundraiser May 25-27.

The  event benefits Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation that helps people with cancer.

Trucks include Rickshaw Stop, Toastie Buns, KC’s Cones, Guilty Pleasures, Spice Runner, Taco King, Lagniappe Today, Sabor Colombiano, Alex’s BBQ, R&R Chicken Wings, Skinny Cat, Peachwave, Society Bakery and Winner Winner Chicken Dinner are among the participating trucks.

The event begins at noon May 25 and runs through 8 p.m. May 27.

For more information, call (210) 402-2829.

Clams with Spicy Ginger Sauce.

If you know someone who has not tried Vietnamese food because it seems too exotic, then take him or her to Le Bistro Saigon  on TPC Parkway.

Crispy Vietnamese Eggrolls

The ambience of the place is cool and inviting, with granite tabletops and chairs easy to relax in. The food is so visually attractive it will make your mouth water. With each succeeding dish that our waiter brought out of the kitchen, your appetite will grow because everything looks so good.

The flavors are all quite accessible, too, with garlic and chiles (serranos and jalapeños used most) mixing with citrus-y lemon grass and basil in dishes. Plus, who can resist the comfort of noodles mixed with anything?

But the folks at Le Bistro Saigon appear to be content with limiting themselves to be a Vietnamese 101 kind of place. And that timidity is not what we’ve come to expect from many of the other Vietnamese places in town. Nothing we sampled in seven dishes was bad, but nothing was all that bright, bold or, ultimately, memorable, either. Dishes marked with a red chile were rarely hotter than those not marked. Too many sauces were perfunctory, a little on the dull side even. And sugar was a little too prevalent.

Vietnamese Fried Calamari

We started our meal with Vietnamese Fried Calamari ($7.50), which did not have enough seafood flavor so the breading, light as it was, tended  to dominate. But an accompanying carrot sauce, with a good balance of sweet and tart, was so good we kept it to use with other dishes.

Crispy Vietnamese Eggrolls ($4.99) were not as greasy as you’ll find elsewhere, and that’s not a good thing. The pork, vegetables and even the rice paper were all wan, even after dousing them with a touch of fish sauce that we had to ask for (the accompanying dipping sauce was far too sweet and did little but make the eggrolls soggy).

A Thai-influenced Beef with Garlic Lime Sauce ($8.99) was not quite as it was advertised on the menu. The beef was raw, not rare, but it was tossed with a lively combination of basil, onion and serrano peppers. The texture of the meat was both mealy and slick from the oil in the dressing, and it almost seemed unnecessary when compared with the freshness of what surrounded it.

Lemongrass Baby Back Ribs

For our entrées, we shared an order of Lemon Grass Baby Back Ribs ($14.99) and all agreed that there was little lemon grass flavor to be had. The rib bites, breaded and deep-fried, had the right amount of salt, but that was about all they had to recommend.

Charbroiled pork ($8.99) with noodles, carrots, cucumber, peanuts, fried shallots and herbs held a lot of promise, until we tasted the pork. Candied might have been a better description than charbroiled, for sugar seems to have been the dominant characteristic of the marinade. Still, a little fish sauce, some sriracha and salt helped matters quite a bit.

We also ordered Buddha Delight ($8.99), one of the vegetarian entrées, so we would have plenty of vegetables to share. A stir-fry of broccoli, carrots, green bell pepper, snow peas, bamboo, water chestnuts, baby corn and not enough  mushrooms was well prepared, but a gloppy and not terribly flavorful brown sauce detracted rather  than added to the vegetables’ effectiveness.

Buddha Delight

The Clams with Spicy Ginger Sauce ($13.99) should have been the highlight of the meal. It arrived in a clay pot straight from the oven, and a cloud of steam arose dramatically when the lid was removed with a flourish. But the clams didn’t seem to cook with the sauce, which tasted more of garlic than ginger.  The little crustaceans appeared on top and, as a result, were on the dry side. Spooning up the sauce did not help.

There weren’t many patrons eating in while we were there, but takeout business was fairly brisk. The wine list was not worth pursuing, so we opted for a pair of refreshing Singha and Kirin Ichiban beers, which are made for both Asian food and days as hot as we get in Texas.

Le Bistro Saigon
3111 TPC Parkway
(210) 481-7400
Open daily for lunch and dinner
www.le-bistrosaigon.com

Red Cabbage Salad with Anchovies

This refreshing salad needs to pickle in a vinegar solution for 24 hours before you add the dressing. The end result is tangy with a rich mouthfeel. It has a very Mediterranean flavor.

It should come as no surprise then that the recipe is from Clifford A. Wright’s wonderful collection “Little Foods of the Mediterranean,” which is sadly out of print though used copies can be found on the Internet.

Wright offers a short history of the salad: “This Catalan recipe, called amanida de col llombarda amb seitons, literally means ‘salad of Lombardy cabbage with anchovies.’ Lombardy cabbage refers to red cabbage. I’ve adapted this recipe from Marimar Torres’ ‘The Catalan Country Kitchen,’ published in 1992. It is best served at room temperature.”

In my haste to get a number of dishes out for a recent party, I forgot the parsley. It didn’t seem to be needed. Leftovers also keep well, though you should bring it up to room temperature after removing it from the refrigerator.

Red Cabbage Salad with Anchovies

1 pound red cabbage, cored and finely shredded
3 tablespoons fine sherry wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
6 salted anchovy fillets, rinsed
1/4 cup extra-virgin  olive oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped freshly parsley leaves
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan, combine the cabbage, vinegar, salt and water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until a lavender color, about 15 minutes. Let stand, covered, at room temperature for 24 hours.

Place the anchovies and olive oil in a small food processor or blender and process until smooth. Drain the cabbage and squeeze out the excess moisture. In a large mixing bowl, toss the cabbage with the anchovy mixture and parsley. Correct the seasonings and toss again with black pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 6 servings.

From “Little Foods of the Mediterranean” by Clifford  A. Wright

Fredericksburg peaches are in season now.

Fredericksburg peaches are starting to show up in farmers markets. This recipe, from the new “Gordon Ramsey’s Healthy Appetite” (Sterling Epicure, $24.95), uses no sugar and only a little honey to sweeten it. But the end result will please even the sweetest tooth.

Roasted Peaches with Vanilla, Spice and Honey

4-5 ripe but firm peaches
2 cinnamon sticks
2  star anise
1vanilla bean, split
3-4 teaspoons  runny honey
Generous splash of peach liqueur  or peach  schnapps or brandy (see note)
Plain yogurt, to serve

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the peaches in half and prise out the pits. Slice the peach halves into wedges and arrange on a nonstick baking  sheet. Add the spicesand vanilla bean, then drizzle over the honey and peach liqueur.

Bake the peaches for 10 to 20 minutes until they are just tender and slightly caramelized around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Serve with a generous spoonful of yogurt.

Note: Use apple juice to keep alcohol free.

Makes 4 servings.

From “Gordon Ramsey’s Healthy Appetite”

Derby day calls for mint juleps.

Shortly after I moved into my home, I planted a single mint plant next to the fence. It has since grown into a patch at least 10 feet by 4 feet and is now threatening to surround the roses and come into the rest of the yard.

It’s a good thing, because I love mint.

It’s great to make tea with, to add to green peas and other vegetables, or just to snip so it perfumes the air. But, in my humble opinion, mint is best when served in a julep, the classic cocktail that all of us born in Kentucky know is served on derby day.

The Run for the Roses, as the great race is also called, wouldn’t be the same without this sweet Southern confection. And the following recipe comes from “Cordon Bluegrass,” the cookbook from the Junior League of Louisville, Ky.

So, no matter who wins the race, you’ll be a winner if you serve these. And you’ll keep serving them for as long as the mint lasts.

The Mint Julep

Water
Mint leaves
Bourbon
5-inch silver mint julep cup
Shaved ice
Straw, cut  1/2-inch above the top of the serving glass
Powdered sugar
Mint spring

Prepare  a simple syrup by boiling together 2 parts sugar to 1 part water for 5 minutes.

Prepare a bourbon-mint extract, made by piling mint leaves in a clean white handkerchief, gathering the ends around mint and dipping the leaf end in a small bowl of 3 to 4 ounces of bourbon  and wringing it into the bourbon. Mix the extract, bit by bit,  with the syrup until the first “ping” of bitterness is reached (from the mint, not the bourbon).

Prepare mint julep mix by combining 1 part syrup with 6 1/2 parts bourbon.

Store mint julep mix in glass bottles in refrigerator. (Keeps forever!)

Pack julep cup (at Churchill Downs, chilled souvenir Collins glasses are used) with shaved ice. Pour in 2 1/2-3 ounces of chilled julep mix.

Add straw, a tiny bit of powdered sugar and mint sprig.

From “Cordon Bluegrass” from the Louisville, Ky., Junior League