Wickford, Providence and Cranston-you got a friend

Well, haven't blogged in awhile been busy between school, home (preparing for summer) and a little travel.  Like Betty White I have to thank facebook for helping me reconnect with my old best buddy from Pennsylvania.  We spent many happy fun-filled days raising our kids and sharing the trials, tribulations and joys of momdom! So, when my daughter decided to visit her sweet cousin up at Johnson and Wales I thought hey I know someone I would love to visit-and off we went.  The trip to Rhode Island is embarassingly easy-ferry from Port Jefferson and in one hour and a half we were pulling into Wickford the prettiest town right out of a post card. I thought I was on the TV set of Murder She Wrote -remember that great 80's show with Angela Lansbury set in New England? ANYWAY....the first night there had to be celebratory and fun I was with my buddy and my daughter with her cousin-so we needed a girls night out.
Since I had never been to the Melting Pot we headed for the Providence Place Mall which in and of itself is quite a destination. This restaurant is quite deceiving as it seems cozy and small yet if you walk around a bit you find it it has many rooms and special spots for intimate gatherings. After our servers explained the ins and outs of the menu we ordered a fondue entree AND dessert which came with salads. WAY too much food even for 4 people but we perservered.

The entree fondue consisted of all our meat, fish and veggie choices bathed in a hot broth where we cooked them right on the spot.  This was satisfying and delicious. You were not rushed and just cooked as much you wanted at your leisure.  If that wasn't enough there was the dessert part of the show.  Favorite pickings to dip in chocolate, marshmallows mixed with graham crackers!  It is definately a must do for any occasion.
     Our second evening in Rhode Island had us hankering for Italian food and evidently we could not leave the state without going to Cranston to the perennial favorite Twin Oaks.  Pulling into the crowded parking lot and wading through the bar area made me doubt if and when we were going to get seated and perhaps eat. But have no fear they are not strangers to crowds in fact young and old gather here for not only a slice of nostalgia but a good bowl of pasta as well. We bade our time having refreshments in the lounge while people watching and viewing the Red Socks (when in Rome) on TV.  We were pleased to find out that our wait was not too long and before we knew it we were perusing an extensive menu of not only Italian favorites but steaks, seafood, barfare and something to please everyone at this family restuarant.

 Yum!
Ahh but all good things must come to an end but not before a delicious brunch Sunday morning (I love a new food experience)
with dear friends of my son's at a quaint restaurant on Broadway in east Providence called Julian's. Generous portions of Eggs Benedict for all with home fries whichever way you want it-I really can't say which was more satisfying this trip the food or the companions-I think the latter.  

                            

Atlantic City Surprises

     It had been at least 7 years since I had been to Atlantic City and I was in for some pleasant surprises.  Yes, there still exists some seedy areas but many of the Hotels are renovated with happening pool and restaurants scenes and lucky for my group a new hotel- The Chelsea.  Seated between the Hilton and the Tropicana this little known gem not only is well positioned, has a great art-deco decor and a fabulous restaurant.  We were celebrating my daughter's 21st birthday and decided to head down to Atlantic City with family. After a bit of research George found The Chelsea.  It is a boutique hotel that although does not have gambling has lots of other amenities for when you want to get away from the gambling scene.  The birthday girl wanted surf and turf but did not want to go to a chain restaurant-so lucky for us the restaurant in the hotel fit the bill.
     One of the nicest features of  Chelsea Prime is that it has a view of the ocean and at night you can see it shimmering along with the boats in the horizon. Outside the restaurant is a seating area in front of a fireplace which lends itself to cozy before dinner cocktails. If that is not appealing the bar area also has ample seating while you wait for a table-which was not too long.
     The restaurant is open and spacious unlike the restaurants that are squeezed into the casino or mall areas.  The service was quick, knowledgeable, and attentive.  The menu as promised had plethora of choices of surf and turf and everyone joining us quickly made their choices. Probably the best suggestion of the night was from our waitress who recommended the Seafood Plateau

for 4 (we needed 2 of these). This had the freshest, most delicious assortment of shellfish-jumbo shrimp, raw clams and oysters, crab legs, ceviche, and chopped marinated crab.  This alone is worth going to The Chelsea.  The entrees that followed were cooked to perfection whether the NY Strip Steak or the Black and Blue Tuna-everyone was more than delighted. As it is an ala carte menu the side dishes offered were traditional for a steak restaurant and each one did not disappoint. The potatos and creamed spinach smooth and well seasoned and the broccolini done aldente. The selection of wines was top shelf and because we were full lattes and sorbets were the choices for dessert. They brought out my daughter's sorbet with a little fanfare perfect for the occasion adorned with a candle.
     As we were leaving we noticed that they had some private parties set up for dancing and lounging on the other side of the restaurant. So, for a small boutique hotel it has exactly what their discerning customer wants.

Where to go in Chelsea NYC

So here was the dilemma-where to go to eat before the Michael Buble concert at Madison Square Garden? My daughter and I were starting to celebrate her birthday a week early and so we wanted to eat somewhere special. The places near MSG tend to be either chain restaurants or glorified pizza joints. I knew she wanted to eat Italian food and the better options in that general vicinity we have flushed out-Carmines since she was 8, all the Felidia restaurants have been visited and we even have slurped up some pasta at Frank Sinatra's old haunt Patsy's.  I was counting on a turn for the better weather wise -after the winter we have had-so I narrowed my search to something we could walk to from Penn Station. Lo and behold in the Chelsea section I found Crispo 240 W. 14th St between 7th and 8th Avenues. Luckily for us the day was unusually warm so the 20 block walk was both envigorating and eye-appealing. On the way down we window shopped and poked into a few stores that caught our interest. When we arrived at Crispo we were cheerfully asked whether or not we wanted to dine in the garden. We eagerly accepted along with the other guests that were being seated at that time-I guess we all wanted to enjoy the weather while it lasted.  The menu had so many great appetizers and salads that at first we had a hard time deciding where to start. Bruscetta with fresh ricotta and Carmelized cauliflower with pine nuts and currants were chosen.  The bruscetta was crispy and nicely seasoned and the smooth ricotta made a nice balance in texture. The cauliflower mix of tastes with the carmelization made it sweet. Before we knew it our entrees had arrived-Ricotta Gnocchi with spinach and fontina and Papardelle in a pork bolognese sauce. Both pasta dishes we homemade and the portions were just right not heaping as many places tend to do. We both found the dishes delicious!  In keeping with our celebratory mood we decided to end the meal with cappucino and fresh zeppole with chocolate sauce perfect for sharing.

We had just enough time to catch the subway 2 stops up to the concert!

What to do on Lenten Fridays

     Well as we approach the 5th week of Lent and pasta with pesto and pizza were getting ho hum I decided to take my mom's old favorite and give it a new twist. Back in the 60's it was potatos and eggs -now called Frittata or fried fish on Fridays. I have to say my mom did a great beer battered fish with lots of lemon drizzled over it-even those who were not fish fanatics couldn't help themselves!  So with that in mind I decided at the last minute to replicate the meal with a 2010 twist. I stopped at my trusty fish guy Eddie to pick up some fresh fish. Whenever I have made fish tacos in the past I have grilled the fish either outside or on my trusty grill pan inside which also does the trick. You need a fairly thick piece of fish or it will get lost in the tacos with all the fixins' on it. Last time he had fresh monk fish which my husband flipped for but this time the cod was fresh and just the right thickness-any white fish will do.
   So for three people I bought a little over a pound-I had already picked up lemons, cilantro, soft taco shells,
fresh organic salsa, and an avocado. Sometimes I shred cabbage and radishes to use as a sort of coleslaw topping but that night I thought Mexican would be the way to go.  It really does not take very long make so if you are in a hurry and hungry this is perfect.
     First I washed the fish and left it to dry as I got the other ingredients ready.  Luckily for me, my daughter was home and she has become a master at making guacamole so that was one less thing to do. She mashed the avocado and added lots of lemon juice, garlic powder and just a little jar-style salsa which adds just enough liquid so it macerates easier. I through togeher a salad with a light vinegrette to have as our side dish. I added corn and fresh red onion to the organic salsa to give it more color and zip.
     At this point I was ready to make the batter for the fish but I came up with a real snag-NO BEER in the house! Oops I thought it was here?! Neither of us wanted to get back in the car so I thought how can I be resourceful to continue with my plan. And then it came to me. I needed the batter to be light and foamy and effervesent-well I had ginger ale that would work but I was not sure that regular old all purpose flour would give a puffy crustly-crust. So I looked in my cabinet a lo and behold I had Presto self-rising cake flour! This has baking powder and salt added to it which would give it the boost and seasoning I needed.  So I used
1 cup of gingerale and 1 cup of the Presto flour which foamed up just like I imagined it would.  I filled  my little Fry Daddy with canola  oil and waited for it to heat up. In the mean time I also preheated the oven for 250 degrees so that I could keep the fish warm during the process.  I salted and peppered the fish on both sides and then cut them into bite size pieces, then rolled them  in the batter until all of the fish was covered.
     One by one I dropped them into the sizzling pot and they turned puffy, brown then crispy-I quickly moved them to brown paper (never use paper towels as that absorbs the grease leaving the fish saturated and limp) then I transferred them on to a large plate and put into the oven after liberally squeezing lemon over the top.
     On the table we lined up the salad, guacamole, and fresh salsa in anticipation for the main dish. NOW for the tacos -usually I just wrap them in a wet paper towel and put in the microwave for 25 seconds but this time I decided to use my panini maker to quick -grill them. So I sprayed them with olive oil spray by Filippo Berio and slightly grilled them just until they were warm.

     Well it all fell into place nicely- using the slightly grilled taco shells, adding the fish, and the toppings, we had a healthful Lenten repast.   

North Shore gets hit by a storm or where to go during a blackout

After returning home Saturday night from a lovely family celebration we were innundated by a torrential rainstorm followed by large blasts that turned out to be transformers.  Those transformers "transformed" our lives into 32 hours of darkness with accompanied by a pervasive chill. Fortunately it was not the sub-zero weather we had been having and  it was daylight savings time so the darkness was kept at bay for one hour longer. But as we approached dinner time on the second day, and came to the realization that the power was not coming back on,  we knew we had to find a place to eat! We decided to go to Alexandros in Mount Sinai NY which is a cozy Greek restaurant with great food and attentive service.  After we were seated the friendly service gave us a mortar and pestle to mash our own fresh hummus complete with warm triangles of pita. To start we decided to share the grilled stuffed octupus-filled with tomatos and feta-wow each bite was like a taste of summer with that fresh off the grilled goodness. This appetizer gives you 6 and although we could have eated more we knew we wanted to save ourselves for our entrees.

I wanted something traditional and homey so I got the moussaka -layers of potatos, eggplant and ground beef smothered by bechamel sauce. This was smooth and delicious. George could not pass up the red snapper which they filleted at the table quickly and efficiently-his meal included rice pilaf and grilled asparagus done al dente. I was sufficiently satified but was persuaded to share some baklava to end our perfect "blackout" dinner. We cane home to a cold dark house but the memories of that dinner kept us warm.

The Rockaways

     We have been spending a lot of time in Rockaway Beach, Queens as of late and are exploring the sights and sounds in that beach community. It is a very unaffected area with just a few chain restaurants.  We love it because it is 10 minutes from Kennedy Airport, 10 minutes from Long Beach (another fun filled town) and 10 minutes from Howard Beach which has a plethora of  diners and restaurants. As you drive along the main drag of Howard Beach which is Cross Bay Blvd. your head will be spiinning with all the different ethnic eateries that are represented. Since we were in the mood for Italian food and fish we chose Lenny's Clam Bar. Lenny's Clam Bar  has graced the corner of 161 St and Cross Bay Blvd in Howard Beach since 1974 and is known for the owner Joe's hot sauce-a kind of Fra Diavlo.  We ordered linguine with red clam sauce and the "combination" which includes shrimps, mussels, calamari and scungilli sauteed in a marinara sauce.

Both dishes were nicely prepared with fresh seafood and a light not cloying sauces. The portions were more than ample and everyone brought home treats for the next day.
     Believe it or not we decided to have the dessert specials for the night which were lemon sorbet served in a garnished lemon shell and the Bananas Foster which I make at home but have never had out -both were as we expected. The lemon sorbet, which  was a perfect way to cleanse the palate after a slightly spicey meal, was a smooth, tart, lemony treat.  The Bananas Foster had the slight cinnamon-rum taste I was looking for and blended with vanilla ice cream AND whip cream although not prepared table side the presentation was good and the taste decadent! We will definately return. The other great thing about dining out in Queens is that everything is still bustling late night so we were not rushed and leisurely enjoyed our meal and was by no means the last to leave.