SHOW & RECIPE FOR JULY 7

We’re broadcasting this week from San Antonio, focusing on interesting ways that the city’s Hispanic heritage in the New World constantly carries echoes of the Old.

RAMBLING AT LAS RAMBLAS
We’re predetermined top like any restaurant that reminds us of Las Ramblas, the lovely “Champs Elysees” of Spain’s Barcelona. Sunday strolls pasty cafes and through open-air flower markets are hard to forget. But we‘re particularly impressed by the VERY Spanish foods the Hotel Contessa on the Riverwalk has chosen to drive the point home in its lovely Las Ramblas restaurant. We sit down with the chef to talk about the business of serving true Spanish food in this hotbed of Tex-Mex.

GRILLING AND CHILLING
Proving that the Riverwalk is much more than a collection of frathouse bars and barbecue (though we have nothing against frathouse bars or barnecue), the Caleza Grill serves a stylish mix of Spanish and other cuisine just a few steps along from Las Ramblas. It’s a stretch of a few hundred feet any card-carrying foodlover should be proud to call home. We join the chef at Caleza Grill for a tasting of signature dishes and very interesting wines.

HOME TO LOS BARRIOS
Home is what the place feels like anyway. Los Barrios is the one mandatory stop we have on any and every visit to San Antonio, letting us revel not only in a great family-run success story but in all those foods that make Tex-Mex the national cuisine of Texas. Diana Barrios-Trevino, a cookbook author who has actually cooked alongside Emeril Lagasse on national television, joins us for a sampling of her family’s versions of San Antonio classics.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
BAKED RED SNAPPER WITH STEAMED FENNEL

1 whole red snapper (4-6 pound)
¼ cup butter (melted)
1 teaspoon salt
Juice of two lemons
2 cups dry white wine
½ cup chopped onion
1 medium size carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, washed and diced
¼ teaspoon thyme
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons Chinese oyster sauce
1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon flour
2 knobs fresh fennel
1 tablespoon salt
¼ cup olive oil

Cut off the stalks from the fennel, then cut the knobs in half, and slice very thin. In a 2 quart pot bring water to a boil; add the salt, olive and fennel. Cook for 5 minutes, drain the water and keep the fennel hot. Clean the whole snapper inside, leave the head on but trim off the fins and tail. Scale the fish and wash under running cold water. Score the skin with a sharp knife. Rub the salt inside and outside, and place the fish in a shallow baking pan and pour ¼ cup of melted butter over it. Combine the lemon juice, wine, carrots, celery, onions, thyme, oyster sauce and pour over the fish. Seal the dish tightly with cooking foil and bake at 375°F. for 35 minutes (depending on the size of the fish, you should be able to remove the meat from the bones easily).

Place the steamed fennel on a heated serving platter. Carefully remove the whole fish from the baking dish, and place on top of the fennel and keep warm. Strain the pan juices into a saucepan. Stir in the cream and over high heat bring to a boil to reduce to a bout 2 ½ cups. Combine 1 tablespoon of melted butter with one tablespoon of flour to make a paste. Wisk the mixture into the boiling liquid and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is smooth and thickens. Pour the sauce evenly over the fish and fennel, serve immediately. Serve with new boiled potatoes.