However I went to Cool Café with the intention of eating something with lamb, so that helped me to narrow down my choices. I was also thinking Greek or Middle Eastern, so the choice became easier. I decided on the Lamb Gyro Alexander. What a great choice I made. My plate was piled high with lettuce, fresh cherry tomatoes, red onions, avocado, feta cheese, and an ample amount of great lamb strips, all atop warm pita bread. Of course it came with generous helping of mint yogurt sauce. I was trying to eat my Gyro like a taco, but it was way too full of all those luscious ingredients. So I ended up eating it with a fork and used my pita bread as a scoop. Eating it this way did not take away from the taste however! The Gyro came with either home potatoes or house salad. I chose the salad, but wished I had gone with the potatoes since the Gyro was heaped with a generous amount of salad ingredients.

I was told that the next time I go back to the Cool Café I really need to try the Crepes or I should consider the Basmati rice dishes both of which looked awesome, by the way. I was also told the Chef likes to come up with new dishes all the time. This place is sounding like somewhere I need to frequent often to get a better knowledge and sampling of the menu.

Cool Café is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they do a reverse happy hour Monday – Thursday, 2-5 pm & 8-11 pm. They have a great events calendar too, which includes World Guitarista Ricardo Castillo every Thursday evening, Belly Dancing by Meghan every Friday, Jazz by Phil Grota & Friends every 1st Saturday and Flamenco by Chayito y Los Flamencos Dancers de San Antonio every 3rd Saturday. They also offer many of their wonderful menu items for catering your events.

Cool Café has two locations in San Antonio, 12651 Vance Jackson and 19141 Stone Oak Pkwy., #507. I ate at the Stone Oak location.

210.403.2665

http://www.coolcafesa.com/index.html

http://www.flicksandfood.com/?p=6896 I found this recipe in the September 2011 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. It was a big hit.

Their website is http://bit.ly/nwfDDE.

Piadina is a sort of flat bread, originally from Romagna, where it is usually filled with cheese and cured-meat and folded in two or rolled up and eaten like a sandwich.

Ingredients
Servings 8

2 lb all-purpose flour
¾ oz salt
1 oz baking soda
7 oz lard
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup water

Preparation
30 minutes preparation + 5 minutes cooking

Pour the flour out on a pastry board and form a well. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk at room temperature. Work it into the flour, together with the other ingredients.

Knead the dough well with your hands until you have a smooth, dense dough. Divide the dough into 8 balls (called “panett” in the local dialect), cover with a dishcloth and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Then, the balls should be kneaded briefly and rolled out with a rolling pin to obtain disks of about 6 inches in diameter and 1/10 inch thick.

Place a flat baking sheet on the stove-top. When hot, put a disk of dough on top.
Keep an eye on the piadina while cooking, using a fork to poke the dough so that air bubbles do not form.

The whole should be evenly distributed so that the piadina remains flat and has its characteristic light and dark spots on the surface.

Chef’s tips

A piadina is typically filled with cheese like squacquerone, sheep’s or goat’s milk cheeses, mixed-milk cheese or aged cow’s milk cheese. Piadine are also eaten with lardo, pancetta (Italian-bacon), ciccioli (fried pork meat) or saba (cooked grape must).
It is also an great accompaniment to vegetables like cabbage, nettles, and radicchio or other sautéed with garlic, onion, shallots, pancetta, lard and natural flavorings.

• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup vertically sliced onion
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into (1/4-inch) strips
• 1 cup bagged prewashed spinach
• 2 cups hot cooked rigatoni (about 1 1/4 cups uncooked pasta)

Preparation

Combine first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp, and sauté for 3 minutes or until done. Remove shrimp from pan. Add onion and bell pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add soy sauce mixture, shrimp, and spinach. Reduce heat to medium; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Serve shrimp mixture over pasta. Yield: 2 servings (serving size: 1 cup shrimp mixture and 1 cup pasta).

This is how I came to learn all about this pizza process several years ago when Dough first opened its doors.  Recently I decided to return to Dough to see how things are going and of course eat another one of their wonderful pizzas. This time around I decided I needed to try other things on the menu, not just their pizza, so I did a starter of their Antipasto. It consisted of roasted vegetables, several different types of olives, cured meats and several kinds of cheese.  I love olives, especially when they are in different stages of ripeness, size and seasonings.  In fact, I love antipasto as a meal in itself.  It is ultimate snack plate for me.  This was a big serving of everything and should have been enough for lunch by itself.  And everything was so good I wanted to eat more, but alas I had come here for the pizza, and pizza I was getting.

I knew in advance which pizza it would be for me this trip and I didn’t waver even after looking over the nice selection on the menu.  It was to be the .  This little jewel features house-made Fior di Latte (a mozzarella made from cow’s milk), Parmigiano Reggiano, arugula, prosciutto and a nice drizzling of truffle oil.  This is heaven in every bite.  The truffle oil gives it a nice earthy flavor and I just love having the fresh arugula to crunch on.  All the toppings were so fresh Dough must fly them in from Italy daily.

OK, so since I over ordered, I had to take a doggy bag of leftovers home, but I knew I would be ready for more at supper.  I couldn’t let the arugula wilt, now could I?

I was so full I couldn’t do dessert, but I know from my last visit that Dough has a wonderful Polenta Cake which simply must be tried to be believed.  Made from corn and bread crumbs, this cake is slightly sweet and a little savory. It is kind of like a custardy pound cake which is moist with a complex texture which gets a bit of a char from the wood-burning oven before being served.  Of course it is topped with powdered sugar and a vanilla sauce. All I can say is “Save room for it”.

210-979-6565

No reservations taken.

Monday-Saturday:  11:00 a.m. until the fresh Mozzarella runs out!

Sunday:  5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

http://doughpizzeria.com/

http://bit.ly/pMISu4

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4-6 ounces good quality sliced pepperoni
1 jar Bertolli Marinara (if you double this recipe, use 3)
1 pound penne pasta
1 large sweet onion, julienned or large chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned or large chopped
1 green bell pepper, julienned or large chopped
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced thick
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 small can black olives, drained and sliced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Olive oil
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese (optional)

Put 4 quarts water on to boil in a 6-quart pot. When water is boiling, add pasta.

In hot skillet, add 2 teaspoons olive oil, then saute onions, peppers, mushrooms and pepperoni until vegetables start to sweat. Add garlic, olives and chicken, stirring often. When chicken is white and onions are translucent, remove from heat (be careful not to overcook vegetables or everything will be too soft)

Drain pasta when done.

In large bowl add pasta, meat mixture, topped with grated mozzarella, covered with marinara and tossed lightly. Top with grated Romano or Parmesan to taste. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.