Plouffe’s

Plouffe’s in Pawtucket is an old-school diner, once called the Cup ’n Saucer. Some people actually call this place “Plouffe’s Cup ’n Saucer”. It’s an unassuming place with cheap, reliable diner food in a funny, NASCAR sort-of atmosphere. The decor is actually local racing photos from local tracks – things like midget cars, racing trucks and motorcycles at places like Seekonk Speedaway. Local specialties like French meat pie and Dynamite are made regularly, and their hamburgers are great. The jukebox in the corner works and pipes through the table mini-jukeboxes.

Beth and I went one day when we felt like we could finally leave the house. We’d been cooped up for awhile with our new baby and felt like we needed to get out, but since we were new to all this, we didn’t want a place that would stress us out if the little girl freaked out. Plouffe’s has just the right atmosphere – laid back and family-friendly, we could have made as much noise as we wanted. As it turned out, though, she barely made a peep.

I had the El Padrone, an open faced ham and egg sandwich topped with grilled onions and cheese served with home fries. It was hearty, greasy, and delicious. Their home fries are cut on the small side so they get crispy on the edges, but they are also usually pretty moist with oil. Slather them with ketchup and  dash of hot sauce and mmmm, good.

On the down side, the bottomless coffee is appreciated, but I am a bit of a coffee snob – I still drink it, of course, but its a watery brew made for the average drinker, not the stronger, darker and more flavorful stuff that I prefer.

On the plus side, the servers are always very, very nice and Kerri is one of the quickest around when it comes to keeping the water and coffee cups full. The kitchen is usually pretty quick, too, even on a busy Sunday morning. Local characters come in and out all the time, and if you are there during the weekdays, you’ll see groups of them sitting at the bar shooting the breeze for hours. Oh, and did I mention is was cheap?

The baby liked it, and we got a bit of a break without breaking the bank. That’s the best kind of old school experience.

Plouffe’s is located at 267 Main Street, Pawtucket RI.

Cantaloupe Salsa

I’m not always the biggest fan of cantaloupe. If it is mixed into a fruit salad, it always seems to me that they skimp on the cherries and pineapple for the cheaper but less exciting cantaloupe and honeydew melon – usually in giant hard to eat chunks. I’ve come around slightly over the years and have been known to have a slice with breakfast or as a summer dessert. But salsa? I was wary…

A few years ago Beth saw this recipe online or found it in a book and decided to give it a try. I was apprehensive at first, but very pleasantly surprised. The sweet, juicy melon pairs nicely with some heat (jalapeno) and some sweet red or vidalia onion. I like this alternative to tomato salsa so much that we have it at least once a summer, and make a whole melon’s worth that lasts us at least a week. I have even thought that mixing in some other melon, or a peach or mango might be worth a try one of these days.

It’s too bad that local melon like this is hard to find. I was able to get a nice one at the store though, and paired it will all local peppers and onion for a salsa that’s almost native to New England. The taste is somewhat tropical, though, which helps make you feel like you are on vacation even though your sitting in the back yard or staring out the window at the rain.

The smaller the chunks of melon, the better, and you may even decide to take about a quarter of the melon and puree it in a food processor briefly to make sort of a paste that the leftover chunks of melon and onion can swim in. It’s open for interpretation. Throw in some sweet red pepper for some additional color. In my photo, I used a purple pepper that we had along with two jalapenos and a whole cantaloupe.

1 whole cantaloupe, diced into cubes less than a quarter inch in size
1/4 cup diced sweet (red or Vidalia) onion, or half a medium bulb
1 or 2 (2 inch) red or green chili to taste, minced. De-seed a jalapeno for a little heat, or use the whole thing. If using a hotter pepper like a red Thai, use just one unless you are adventurous.
2 limes, squeezed for as much juice as you can get (about 2 tablespoons)
Chopped sweet basil or cilantro to taste (about 2 tablespoons fresh, half that if dried)
A few shakes of salt (1/4 teaspoon)

Mix all the fruit and veggies in a large bowl. Squeeze the limes over the mixture and lightly salt the surface. Mix thoroughly. Ready to eat immediately, but can also last about a week in the fridge in a tight-lidded container.

Options: add garlic, other sweet fruits, cucumber or sweet peppers. Adjust hot peppers to taste. Use as a dip with salted chips or as a topping on grilled fish or chicken.

Zephyr Farms CSA

CSA Share Week 9 from Zephyr Farms

Since we knew we would be a bit home bound this summer due to our new bundle of joy (baby girl if you placed a bet, and yes, both babe and Beth are doing well), we enrolled in our first-ever CSA through the wonderful folks over at Zephyr Farms in Cranston, RI.

Luckily, we had the foresight to listen to the advice of friends, and we split our share with another friend. We pick up a bunch of produce every 2 weeks, and we also got half an egg share, which means a dozen eggs every time we pick up the produce as well. So far, it’s worked out great. The half share is plenty of produce for the two of us… a full share would have been way too much. The variety so far this year has been great as well, and we’ve even tried a few things we’ve never cooked with before, like fennel.

You can see on their blog all the great stuff that they have been harvesting, and I must say, the tomatoes that are starting to come in are fantastic. Also, grilled yellow squash and zucchini make a great topping to salads or pasta… I just grill a bunch ahead of time so it doesn’t go bad and I’ve got it in the fridge whenever I want to add some savory char to a dish.

This week we picked up 4 lbs of tomatoes, 3 lbs cucumbers, 3 lbs squash, bunch of beets, small head of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, sweet peppers, eggplant and the crown jewel, and something I completely did not expect – a small watermelon! So far, I’m very happy and impressed with the experience. To think… we’ll have produce rolling in until October!

Looks like I’ve got some cooking to do this week. I’ve also got some green beans and potatoes from the last share that I need to use. Hmmm… me thinks a ratatouille is in my future.

Loie Fuller’s

My wife and I haven’t been out to dinner or brunch in quite a while. We’ve been pretty busy (and broke) with moving and a new baby on the way and all. In fact, we might not be able to do much after the baby, either… Anyway, it was a special occasion (our 1 year anniversary), and so we decided we just had to treat ourselves.

We hadn’t been to Loie Fuller in quite some time. Ages ago, we had a prix-fixe Valentine Dinner there that was quite good. They were still new at the time and maybe working out the kinks in the menu, but it was a great experience. We had heard they had brunch for some time now, but like I said, just haven’t had the funds to make the trip.

Since it was a special occasion, we went decadent (for us). We started with a plate of beignets ($6), the french version of a morning donut. Dusted with powdered sugar with a side of what I think was strawberry rhubarb compote, this side dish was a the perfect sweet starter for our savory mains. Hot, a little dense in the middle, but very tasty, these guys were great. Reminded me, of course, of Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, but I’m not such a fanatic that I can say I remember what they taste like and that these were better or worse. All I’ll say is, not many places serve beignets and so I am glad there is an option when I’m in the mood.

The menu is small, but it changes rather frequently. I decided on the Steak Egg and Cheese (two eggs, shaved steak, cheddar and spicy aoili), which was a Philly cheesesteak with an egg on a bun. I attempted to eat it like a sandwich, but that only lasted two bites. It was just too rich and the bread soaked up the aoili. It was still delicious with a fork and knife. A little mixed green was on the side with a small slice of watermelon, all for only $8. The steak was tender and just made the perfect sort of Sunday morning fare.

Beth had the Shrimp and grits with poached eggs, which was also $8. I had only a little bite, and it was quite nice. The grits were creamy but not heavy, they shrimp looked expertly grilled, and the addition of poached eggs and hollandaise to the whole things just must have been divine. It was just what she was in the mood for, she said, and we both finished our plates. Sadly, that meant no leftovers for the next day (or that evening).

After our non-alcoholic drinks (coffee for me), food, taxes and tip, the bill came to under $40. I have to say, that’s pretty reasonable. Something about the sumptuous Art Nouveau decor in there makes you think you’ll be spending an arm and a leg, but the few times I have been, I was pleasantly surprised when the bill came. I’m sure once you’ve had a few $6 Bloody Marys and Mimosas you can go overboard, but at that point, I don’t think you care.

It must also be noted that there were quite a few families with small children there. I can only imagine that the packed houses at Nick’s and Julian’s not too far from Loie’s makes parents come here instead. The decor makes them feel grown up, the prices are reasonable, the atmosphere is friendly, and you don’t have hungry patrons staring at you while you eat. Plus, the more hurried waitstaff won’t give you the evil eye when your toddler throws some toast on the floor. Maybe that means that Loie’s isn’t making as much money as the rest, but I’d say it’s a win for parents who want a local option other than family chain restaurants or busy hipster hang outs. The lack of a wait actually makes me think twice about going back to Nick’s or Julian’s in the morning, and the food at Loie’s is just as decadent.

Other items on the menu while we were there include: Belgium Waffle, Vegetable Omelet, Striped Bass Cake, Chicken Hash, French Toast, Vegetable Frittata, a Croque Madam, and sides of Hash Browns or Applewood smoked Bacon.

Note: I intentionally put this place in the “Cheap Eats” and the “Upscale Dining” category because it belongs in both places: it’s reasonably priced but feels more upscale.

Faial Restaurant, Smithfield

I guess I’m just bad with gift certificates. Don’t get me wrong, I love eating for cheap (or free!) but it seems to take me awhile to get to a place if I haven’t been before and know that I will like it. I think we had gift certificate’s for Faial’s for at least six months, maybe nine, before we tried it the other night.

A few years ago, too, I had been there for a Mother’s Day brunch with about a dozen of us, but I don’t remember much of the experience. Since I didn’t remember much about the menu, I looked online. Faial’s is a mix of Portuguese favorites, but the menu consists mainly of various seafood and pasta options, with some cuts of beef as well. The food is mostly Mediterranean in style, meaning it has Spanish, Portuguese and Italian influences. The restaurant’s name comes from the island of Faial in the Azores, and is not, such as I thought, someone’s last name.

The other prelude I had that set my expectations a bit was the fact that the gift certificates came from my 80-some odd year old aunt. This told me that the restaurant might just be the family friendly type of place that it turned out to be. The decor, once we arrived, was described by my wife as “mid-range hotel”. I don’t think she meant this in a terribly bad way. Simply, that while the name and prices may suggest a high-end affair, the location (Smithfield) and the decor indicated that it was a down-home kind of place, without pretension. Sure, there wasn’t style or panache, either… but we weren’t there for that.

The bread for the meal comes up with a warm ramekin of their signature red sauce (available for carry out in jars). Faial sauce – widespread throughout the menu – is not really describes anywhere on the menu, so I’ll do my best to get it’s ingredients right: a tomato-base with butter, garlic, paprika, wine? and spices. Unstirred, the top layer of the sauce is oily with butter, while the bottom was thick and chunky with garlic. It was also surprisingly spicy – surprising mostly when I think of my family enjoying it, a group not known for a love of spicy food.

The plates being passed around us looked large, so we opted to go right for an entree. My wife got the Paehla ($26), which is usually a bouillabaisse of seafood and rice. In this case, though, it was a 1/2 lobster, shrimp, scallops, mussels & littlenecks, served over our seafood rice, topped with  Faial sauce. It was huge, and it looked really, really good. It seems to be a favorite, too, as we started to notice many other people at other tables with this giant dish in front of them.

Carne de Porco

I got the Carne de Porco Alendejana since I felt like I should get something Portuguese at a Portuguese restaurant. The dish was meatier than I anticipated, but I should have known, as Portuguese main dishes are usually very meaty. This was slow stewed pork pieces with littlenecks and roasted potatoes drenched in a thinned-out Faial sauce ($18). The meat was very tender and basically broke apart with the fork. The sauce was a great compliment to all the elements on the plate. I think I tackled maybe about a third of what was on the plate, and had plenty to take home. (It was great over rice the next day.)

Since we had just gorged ourselves but tried to exercise some version of restraint, we treated ourselves to coffee (decaf for her, espresso for me) and a flan dessert. The coffee was good, but the flan was, well, it had dollops of canned whip cream and rainbow sprinkles. It was strange… flan should not come with sprinkles in my mind, but maybe I was being uncultured and close-minded. Flan doesn’t always mean elegant, I know – there are flan-flavored jello puddings, after all, and it really just means caramel custard – but I felt like in this setting it should have been treated with a little more respect.

The very strange flan

The service was pretty solid, I have to say. You get the impression that the staff see quite a few families and parties large and small come through there on any given night. When we had tried to go on a Saturday, the place was already booked up with reservations. The only thing that annoyed me was that my empty beer bottle seemed to linger on the table after all the dishes had been cleared and we were enjoying coffee and dessert. I know, it’s such a small thing…  I guess if that’s all I have to complain about, than it was really almost nothing.

Overall, a thumbs up. I can’t say I will be “in the mood” for Faial very often, but if we think about it, we’ll go back and try something else off their very extensive menu.

Brunch at The Liberty Elm

Liberty Elm's Monte Cristo: Courtesy Cherie M. @ Yelp

The Liberty Elm is a place that I always mean to go to but for whatever reason, I had only tried to eat there once, when they first opened, and we ended up waiting too long, walking out, and going somewhere else. This time around, probably three years later, was much, much better.

It should be said that the Liberty Elm is a great authentic diner experience without a lot of the typical greasy diner fare. Oh sure, you can get eggs and bacon and toast, but these eggs are local, and so is most of the pork. The orange juice is squeezed fresh by an amazing machine near the counter, and the menu includes a few more fresh juice options, some Tex-mex fare, and tons of simple local favorites.

The day we went, there was a Johnny Cake Benedict special on the board, and two of the people at my table beat me to it. Johnny Cakes, for the uninitiated, are some sort of New England version of grits, where white corn meal (never yellow) is made into moist patties. Two of these were topped with eggs, ham, and hollandaise. I had a few bites, and I must say, it was rich to the point of decadence. A little side of potatoes made the whole thing starchy, cheesy, eggy and delicious.

Another person at the table got their version of a Monte Cristo, which involved two spongy slices of french toast, a generous slab of ham, an egg (ordered as an add-on) and real maple syrup. It looked really good, and he said it was excellent. The bread was thick but not heavy like a brick… it was light and fluffy, making the egg and ham even more decadent.

As an interesting side note, I looked up the differences between a Croque Madam and a Monte Cristo. It seems to go like this: Croque Monsieur – grilled cheese with ham; Croque Madame – add an egg to the Croque Monsieur; Monte Cristo – deep fry an egg-battered Croque Monsieur or make a Croque Monsieur with French toast instead of grilled bread.

Liberty Elm's Migas, courtesy Cherie M. @ Yelp

What did I have? I got the Liberty Elm’s Migas, one of their Tex-Mex options. Sauteed onion, bell pepper, tomato and corn strips scrambled w/eggs and topped w/ American cheese, served with a side of pinto beans, fresh salsa & an organic whole wheat tortilla. I got my Jalepenos on the side. It tasted fresh, and the whole thing worked great as a mixture. I tried to eat as much as I could in the tortilla, but their portion was large and I could have used an extra. I liked it, I did, but I must say I was a little distracted by the other more decadent options at the table.

Next time, I’m getting a benedict.