Dining in Newport, Rhode Island

On Tuesday, Carlos and I headed to Newport, Rhode Island on a day trip. We have both been to Newport before but it had been a while and we had never gone together. It was a fun trip filled with food, drives, walks, mansions and beautiful sights.

We had lunch at The Red Parrot on Thames Street. I had been to this restaurant before. It's in a great location and gets a lot of business because of it. They were packed and we got some pretty crappy service. I was incredibly hungry by the time we got there so I was very impatient. It took forever for us to get service and to get our food. It felt like we were there for 2 hours!

We ordered a half dozen local oysters as a starter.

I'm so happy Carlos has developed a taste for Oysters. He dislikes most seafood but gave raw oysters a try and discovered that he likes them. These were pretty decent.

Carlos got a Greek Salad.

I really wanted lobster so I ordered a Lobster BLT with sweet potato fries. The basil focaccia was supposed to be either toasted or grilled but was neither. It was cold and not very tasty. The insides were delicious though. There were lots of large chunks of lobster, strips of crispy bacon and slices of tomato along with field greens. On the side there was a dipping sauce for the fries and mayo for the sandwich. I skipped the mayo. I'm not a big fan of sweet potatoes but these sweet potato fries were the most delicious ones I have EVER HAD! Perfectly fried, sweet, crispy on the outside, soft in the middle and overall heavenly! If you ever go, you must have these as a side. Even Carlos, who also isn't a fan of sweet potatoes, enjoyed them.

For dessert, we split a slice of coconut cake. It came with fresh pineapple, mandarin oranges and mango puree. The cake was a bit stale and dry but overall it was tasty.

We did a lot of walking an exploring along the wharves, up and down the different streets in the touristy part of town and down some side streets.

Later on, we went down Ocean Drive to see all the glorious sights and headed to the famous Bellevue Avenue. We went to two mansions: Marble House and Breakers (above). I had only ever seen the mansions from the outside and had never been inside so this was a treat.

We went back to the wharves and had dinner at The Wharf Pub & Restaurant.

We had a long journey back home so we ordered iced tea and had plenty of refills.

For an appetizer, we got the house tater tots. This restaurant had different tater tots with all sorts of toppings and sauces. We went with the plain ones which were only $5. It came with rosemary ketchup and whole grain mustard. I can't stand rosemary so I mostly had the mustard. These tater tots were hot, crispy and mighty tasty.

Carlos ordered a Greek Style Turkey Burger. The toppings included tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, cucumbers and parsley. It came with a side of potato wedges. Carlos devoured this plate of food!

I had the Beet & Green Salad with Blackened Local Cod. The fish was an extra add on for about $5. The salad had mixed greens, local ricotta, red onion, toasted pine nuts, pickled beets and croutons. Everything was tasty but the croutons were a bit burnt and they could have been more generous with the beets. I only say this because this was advertised as a beet & green salad. 

Now let's talk about that cod. Oh my heavens. That was one of the best pieces of cod I have ever eaten. It was well-seasoned, perfectly (and I mean perfectly) cooked. The cod held together really well and it was blackened just right. I would go back just for that cod. I told the waiter how good I thought it was and I hope he passed that compliment on to the chef.

After, we got some cookies from the Cookie Jar which is right across from The Wharf Pub & Restaurant. No pictures though! For $5, we got an oatmeal raisin cookie, snicker doodle cookie and a peanut cookie. The snicker doodle cookie was the best of the three!

We had fun in Newport, RI and will definitely be going back.

Chicken & Leek Pot Pie

Oh hey there! It's been a while. I have been focused lately on exercise and healthy cooking. And much of what I have made or eaten hasn't really been blog-worthy. I plan to change that and update here more. Another issue I have been having is food photography. Our kitchen is dark and we have no windows there. We had to get rid of our kitchen table too so we have been eating off of a rickety old coffee table. Not the best circumstances for good food photography. I hope to be able to pick up this blog back to it's old glory when we move out into a new home with a better kitchen. Until then, expect some posts here or there.

Now this Chicken & Leek Pot Pie is the best chicken pot pie I have EVER MADE! Leeks are much tastier in this pie than onions. I don't add herbs or celery but feel free to add them in if you want. This is simple and delicious.

Chicken & Leek Pot Pie

Ingredients:

Extra Light Olive Oil
1.25 lbs of Chicken Tenderloins, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1-1/2 lbs of baby tricolor potatoes, halved or cut into thirds depending on size
2 leeks halved, sliced and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsps of flour
2 cups of Chicken Broth
Pie crust dough
egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp of water)

Makes 6 servings

Preheat oven to 385 degrees

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a dutch oven or a wide bottomed pot. Once the oil starts to sizzle, brown the chicken. I brown the chicken in two batches. Take the chicken out and set aside.

Add another drizzle of oil and add the potatoes and carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Then add the flour, leeks and chicken. Stir so the flour covers all the ingredients Slowly pour in the chicken broth. Stir well.

Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes. Shut off heat and cool for 10 minutes.

You basically want to do all the cooking of the filling on the stove top. The baking time is really for the crust.

Add the filling to a baking pan. I use a 9-1/2 inch oval one.

Cover with your pie dough, stretch and cut off extra bits.

Cut a few diagonal slits along the top. Brush the top with the egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes in your preheated oven.

I forgot to add the egg wash to this one in the photo above. Oops! Otherwise the crust would have been a lot glossier and not as dry.  It was still good though.

The filling is a bit light on the chicken but I like it that way. You can always reduce the amount of potatoes and add some more chicken if you want. Fresh herbs would be nice too but since they are expensive and don't keep well in our fridge I skipped them.  

It's important to let the pie cool for 20 minutes. Or 10 minutes in front of a fan! Cooling time is crucial so you can serve the pie without it completely falling apart. Enjoy!