Celebrate the freshness of summer with a salad featuring the bright flavors of apple, celeriac and fennel. It goes together easily, especially if you have a mandoline to cut the vegetables and the apple to a paper thinness.

At Il Sogno, Andrew Weissman’s Italian restaurant in the Pearl Brewery complex, 200 E. Grayson St., this dish is featured among the array of antipasti.

Fennel, Apple and Celery Root Salad

1 Granny Smith apple, sliced paper thin
Celery root, or celeriac, sliced thin, to taste (see note)
1 fennel bulb, sliced thin with fronds reserved
Olive oil, to taste
Salt, to taste
Trace amount of lemon juice, to taste

Note: When slicing the celery root, or celeriac, use about as much as you use apple.

Toss apple, celery root and fennel bulb together in a non-reactive bowl with a little olive oil, a pinch of salt, or more to taste, and a splash of lemon juice. Add some finely minced fennel frond. Serve immediately.

Source: Andrew Weissman/Il Sogno

Mixed Pickle Vegetables

Folks who have visited Cibolo Moon in the JW Marriott know they have a healthy array of mouthwatering side dishes to choose from, including Brazos Valley Mac and Cheese and fries topped with smoked salt and pepper. Then there’s the jar of house and local pickled vegetables that executive chef Ryan Littman has created. Bursting with flavor, this assortment of crispy, crunchy pickles is perfect alongside a slab of bison meatloaf or the bacon cheddar cheeseburger.

Mixed Pickled Vegetables

1/2 pound cauliflower, cut into small buds
1/4 pound cipollini onions
1/2 pound carrots, cut into thick slices
1/8 pound garlic cloves, whole
1/3 pound green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/8 cup salt
Crushed ice
2 cups vinegar
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Mix cauliflower, onions, carrots, garlic and green beans with salt and cover with crushed ice. Place in the cooler for 3-4 hours. Drain the vegetables and rinse. Bring the vinegar, turmeric, mustard seed, sugar and red pepper flakes to a boil. Add the vegetables and remove from heat, pouring in to shallow pans and allow to cool.

Source: Ryan Littman/Cibolo Moon at JW Marriott

Cibolo Moon at JW Marriott
23808 Resort Parkway off TPC Parkway
210-403-3434

Cajun Tamale

Mike Romano of Mike’s in the Village, 2355 Bulverde Road, Bulverde, made these Cajun-inspired tamales for the recent Tamalada Throw-Down at the Spire in Sunset Station. The dramatic presentation was matched by the flavors of rich corn masa, Cajun spices and succulent crawfish meat as well as the creamy sauce. The filling may not be traditional, but after a taste or two, these Cajun Tamales could become a tradition in your house.

Cajun Tamales

Masa Harina:

When preparing tamale dough, season the dough (make at least 2 pounds) with fresh ground chiles, such as mild ground red chile or pasilla chiles;  fresh herbs (such as thyme, parsley or a little oregano);  garlic, salt, pepper, house-made seafood and garlic butter and seafood stock .

You can either buy dry masa mix and follow the instructions on the package, or you can pick up fresh masa from a molina or H-E-B. To this dough you need to add some fat (seafood and garlic butter or your choice of shortening or lard) along with the seasonings. Then, use the seafood stock to moisten the masa into the correct consistency. Pliable but not wet —  so it will stick together inside the tamale. If you don’t have seafood stock, use a light chicken broth.

Tamale filling:
½ pound chopped Andouille sausage (Cajun pork sausage)
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup finely diced bell pepper
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound chopped crawfish tail meat (see note)
¼ cup of seafood stock
Pinch of kosher salt (see note)
Pinch of fresh ground pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of granulated garlic
Pinch of ground thyme

8 large dried corn husks, soaked in hot water until pliable, drained and patted dry
Eight boiled whole crawfish, for garnish  (optional)

Place Andouille sausage in a sauté pan and render for about 10 minutes. Add onion, pepper, celery and garlic, sautéing until translucent, then add crawfish tail meat and seafood stock and mix well. Add the spices and cook down for an additional 10 minutes.

Mike Romano plates his Cajun Tamale.

Let cool slightly. Divide masa and filling evenly between the corn husk: roll tamales, and steam for 30 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve with Goat Cheese and Roasted Corn Sauce (recipe below).

Note: You can purchase frozen crawfish tails, but the meat will need to be cleaned well with cool water to remove all fat. This will eliminate the fishiness that crawfish can produce when not cleaned properly. Also, my pinch tends to be a few pinches, but I like to season everything really well. You might start off with a pinch and adjust to your tasting. You can also use Cajun seasoning to substitute for all the seasoning listed; 2 tablespoons to start and season gradually to your taste.

Goat Cheese and Roasted Corn Sauce:

1 shallot, finely chopped
1 minced garlic
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
½ cup white wine
3 cups heavy cream
Seafood base
1 ear roasted sweet white corn, kernels cut from cob
1/4 cup goat cheese

Sauté shallots and garlic for 4 minutes. Add thyme leaves and cook for an additional 4 minutes. Add white wine to deglaze the pan. Add heavy cream and bring to a soft boil. Add seafood stock, white corn and goat cheese, and reduce the sauce at medium low heat for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until you reach a thick, rich consistency.

To plate, open tamale but leave in husk. Top with cream sauce and garnish with a boiled crawfish.

Makes 8 servings.

From Mike Romano/Mike’s in the Village

This shrimp dish from chef Michael H. Flores comes together quickly and requires only one pan, so cleanup is easy. Serve it as a main course or as an appetizer.

Shrimp With Garlic and Vegetables

1/2 cup olive oil
15 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon crushed red chile flakes
1 zucchini, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup fish stock or clam juice
1 pound raw Texas shrimp, peeled, tails off
Juice of 2 limes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves, packed
2 teaspoons salt

In the olive oil, sauté the garlic and chile flakes for 5 minutes over low heat. Add the zucchini and bell pepper and continue sautéing for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 more minutes. Pour in the wine and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the stock or clam juice and bring to a boil. Once it has boiled, add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Squeeze in the lime juice and add the cilantro and salt.

Serve immediately with crusty French bread for dipping.

Makes 6 entrée or at least 8 hearty appetizer servings.

From Michael H. Flores.

Photo and recipe supplied by Texas Department of Agriculture (www.GoTexan.org).

The pancetta, smoky ham and herbs bring a taste of Italy to this hearty white bean soup.  The sun-dried tomatoes add color and a lively acidity. This mellow, nourishing soup recipe is from personal chef Sarah Penrod, owner of the local Chef for Life. Contact chef Penrod at (210) 264-8988.

Tuscan Bean Soup
1 ounce pancetta OR 1 slice bacon, cut in small dice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces smoked ham (1 thick slice from the deli), cut into small dice
¼ cup diced onions (cut in small dice)
¼ cup diced carrots (cut in small dice)
¼ cup diced celery (cut in small dice)
¼ cup thinly sliced leek
4 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
1 bay leaf
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon leaf thyme
1 tablespoon chopped basil
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¾ pound dry white beans, cooked according to package directions OR 2 3/4 cups cooked beans
40 ounces chicken stock
¼ cup minced sun-dried tomatoes
½ cup tomatoes, crushed, with juice
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Place the pancetta or bacon in a heavy saucepan over medium heat with olive oil blend. Render fat, but do not cook meat until crisp. Add onions, carrots, celery and leek and sauté until almost tender.

Add roasted garlic, bay leaf, pinch red pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, cooked beans and stock. Stir ingredients together gently. Bring just to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer over low heat until beans are very tender.

Add sun-dried tomatoes and crushed tomatoes and simmer another 15 minutes. Using a hand blender, purée approximately ¼ of the soup.   (Or, transfer 1 cup of soup to regular blender, blend, then pour purée back into pot.)  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Makes 6-8 servings.

From Sarah Penrod, chef, Chef for Life

This is a special-event dish with real autumn appeal, as it pairs a game bird with tender, simmered apples and a buttery apple sauce. The pâté is the surprise in the middle. The recipe comes from Byron Bergeron at Fig Tree Restaurant.

Pâté-stuffed Quail

1 quart (4 cups) apple cider
4 Granny Smith apples (peeled and cored, but kept whole)
5 tablespoons butter, divided use
10 (4-5-ounce) boned quail
Sea salt, for seasoning
1 pound black truffle mousse pâté

For sauce:  In a saucepan large enough to hold a quart of liquid and 4 apples, put the apple cider and bring to a simmer. Add apples. Cover pan and poach over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until apples are done but still firm. Remove apples and reduce liquid to syrup (about a cup). Whisk 3 tablespoons of the butter into reduced liquid 1 tablespoon at the time.  Reduce heat and keep sauce warm.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place quail on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with oil and season birds with salt. Insert a portion of the pâté into the cavity of each quail. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and brush the quail with it. Roast the quail for 10-12 minutes or until done at 160 degrees internal temperature. Lightly cover with foil and set aside to rest.

Slice cooked apples  into thin rings. Place 3 or 4 rings in the middle of each plate. Place the roasted quail on top of apples and drizzle sauce around the plate and over the quail.

Makes 5-10 servings.

From Byron Bergeron/Fig Tree, 515 Villita St.

Biga Crunch Granola

Fans of the farmers market each Saturday at the Pearl Brewery will likely have discovered Lilla Bernals’ granola from Bruce Auden’s Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St. Mary’s. If you want to make your own version of this treat at home, you can adapt it at will. Use whatever you have at home and shape it to your family’s tastes.

2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Big pinch of salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup dried currants
1/3 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a bowl combine oats, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl combine the oil, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir with a whisk until combined, pour on top of dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add coconut, almonds, currants and cherries, and mix until all the fruit and nuts are lightly, evenly coated with the honey mixture. Spread the mix onto a lightly oiled, or parchment lined sheet tray. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola, return to the oven and continue baking about 15 more minutes, remove from the oven and break up any big clumps. Cool completely. Granola can be stored in an air tight container for 7 days.

For Tropical Crunch Granola substitute macadamia nuts for almonds and banana chips for dried cherries.

For Totally Nuts Granola try using only nuts and leaving out the dried fruit; pistachios and hazelnuts are a good combo.

From Biga on the Banks

The first dish I remember having at Checkers Diner, 13835 Nacogdoches Road, was owner Rasol Osoli’s hummus. It was an unexpected dish to find on a menu that celebrates American fare with its burgers, chicken dishes and fried seafood. And it was wonderful.

I’ve had it many times on repeat visits and enjoy how creamy it is, with its slices of black olives on top and crispy pita slices on the side.

It was great to learn that Osoli’s recipe is as easy as it is tasty. His version is also flexible in that you can adjust it to your tastes. “Play with it,” he says.

So, add a little extra garlic, if that’s what you like. Or adjust the amount of tahini, a sesame seed paste that you can find in the Middle Eastern Market, Ali Baba International Food Market, 9307 Wurzbach Road, as well as many H-E-B’s (it’s stocked near the jams and jellies). Osoli also gets his pita from Ali Baba International Food Market, 9307 Wurzbach Road.

Checkers’ Hummus

1 (16-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
2-3 tablespoons tahini
2 large or 3 small cloves garlic, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste
Up to 1/8 cup water
Up to 1/8 cup olive oil
Pinch of salt, or more to taste

In a food processor (not a blender), add garbanzo beans and tahini. Process. Add garlic. Process. Add lemon juice, water and olive oil while processing until desired texture is reached. You can add more lemon, water or oil to make it smoother. Add salt to taste. Serve with toasted pita pieces.

From Rasol Osoli/Checkers Diner

Mike Behrend’s Green Vegetarian Cuisine has vegan options plain and simple. Or, a little bit fancier. This dish is a sweet-hot treat enhanced by the fresh flavors of yeasty focaccia, creamy tofu and crunchy walnuts. Green is at 1017 N. Flores St.

Garlic Glazed Tofu on Walnut Focaccia

Focaccia:
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
4 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup oil
1 ½ cups bread or all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

Glazed Tofu:
2 (12-ounce) packages of extra-firm tofu
½ onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 bell pepper, finely diced
1 serrano, finely diced
10 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup water
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon corn starch
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Alfalfa sprouts
1 avocado, sliced

To make focaccia: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the water, yeast, sugar, salt, herbs, nuts, oil and flours in large bowl and knead for 3 minutes. Add additional flour if needed. Let dough rest for 5 minutes, then roll out to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Place on well-oiled sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes. Take bread out. After it cools, cut it into 4 rectangular pieces, then slice in half.

For the tofu: Drain the tofu and cut in half to make 4 (½-inch thick) sheets of tofu.  Place on a well-oiled pan and bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees. For the sauce: Sauté onion, carrot, bell pepper and serrano with the garlic in the sesame oil until slightly browned. In a small bowl combine the water, soy sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch to form a slurry. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the slurry to the sautéed vegetables.  When the sauce thickens, add the baked tofu and reduce to a simmer. Thoroughly coat the tofu with the glaze and simmer for two minutes.

Place 1 slice of tofu with a little glaze on top of the foccaccia and garnish with sprouts and sliced avocado.

Makes 4 servings.

From Mike Behrend at Green Vegetarian Cuisine

With two popular downtown  San Antonio restaurants to her credit, Lisa Wong continues to reign among the city’s top restaurateurs.  Rosario’s Mexican Cafe y Cantina, 910 S. Alamo St., and Acenar, 146 E. Houston St., are popular with tourists, but also bring plenty of San Antonio locals downtown.

Rosario’s Shrimp Nachos are perennial favorites.  The warmed pico de gallo makes a flavorful sauce and the combination of shrimp and melted cheese can’t go wrong.

Rosario’s Shrimp Nachos

To make pico de gallo: Place tomato, onion, cilantro, minced and seeded jalapeño and lime juice in one bowl. Mix well, then set aside.

To make nachos: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice shrimp in half lengthwise for 12 pieces.  Over low-to-medium heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon minced garlic. Add shrimp and sauté about 1 minute per side or until cooked through. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.

Sauté pico de gallo in same pan with remaining butter-garlic mixture for 1-2 minutes till cooked through.  Set aside.

Take 12 nacho chips (triangular corn chips, homemade preferred) and place on cookie sheet. Place a shrimp half on each chip and top with pico de gallo and grated Monterey Jack cheese. Place in oven until the cheese is melted and the nachos are hot.

After you take them out of the oven top each nacho with guacamole and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

From Lisa Wong of Rosario’s.

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