Recipes

East Indian cuisine seems so exotic that many cooks fear approaching this flavorful style of cooking, but Del Rio’s well-known, British-born sandwich-and-soup maven, Helen Bomar, owner of Subs & Clubs, urges readers to give her curry a try. It’s not difficult, and the results are pleasing to guests and family alike.

Del Rio businessman/outdoorsman Kurt Lemp is also a happy amateur chef in his own kitchen. This month’s recipe comes from the Lemp household, with his indulgent wife, Elaine, helping prepare a meal fresh centered around white-winged doves, fresh from local ranch fields and watering holes.

Ramona Mahl shares her recipe for one of the world's classic desserts, crème brûlée, with LIVE! Food Editor Debbie Sontag, as well as information about The Philip Mahl Memorial Kitchen developing at The Firehouse in memory of her son who perished in an auto accident in New York. The rich, custardy dessert is a great way to end a meal wherever and whenever it’s available, and now adventurous readers can prepare their own.

Spanish gazpacho, a refreshingly chilled tomato and vegetable soup, had origins as a peasant soup, not nearly as appealing as Food Editor Debbie Sontag’s recipe. This is a great surprise of healthy food with zest for many, an acquired taste for others, but worth a couple of tries before chilly weather dictates robust, thick and warm soups and stews again.

Korea’s delicious cuisine is widely admired in Del Rio, but poorly understood except by practiced cooks. Sukcha Jewell is among that small number of kitchen masters who serve up the fragrant, spicy dishes native to the country of her birth. Sukcha shares one of her favorite recipes here with adventurous LIVE! readers.

Del Rio caterer Karen Swint was a one-woman hit at the “Taste of the Town” food extravaganza on South Main Street, Saturday (June 2). While most vendors relied on big kitchens and full staffs to respond to the 600, plus attendees, Swint wowed diners with delicious entrée, appetizer, and dessert samples. Now, she shares one scrumptious entrée recipe with Southwest Texas LIVE! readers.

Food Editor Debbie Nygren Sontag interviews a chef and the owner of the soon-to-reopen Avanti Italian Restaurant for a spicy dish favored by many of Bob Michelini’s loyal customers. Shrimp Fra Diavolo is simple, flavorful, colorful and festive.

Good cooks abound in Del Rio, and the city’s diverse social mix – natives, pilots, park rangers, Customs, Border Patrol and other government families, talented caterers, homemakers, and determined culinary-motivated business men and –women – offer an astonishing array of skills and products. This month, Oralia “La La” Newton shares her elegantly simple recipe for a roasted chile salsa, the sale of which has helped a much-needed orphanage and, now, a drug and alcohol addiction rehab center thrive in Ciudad Acuña.

You will love this meal, as long as you’re not a vegetarian! I’m not one for following recipes to the “T”. I like to review several recipes and use ideas from several different ones. So my first suggestion is to change things to suit your preferences. Below is my recipe that might require a few variations when you can’t find all the ingredients locally.