Pick Pockets @ Newport, RI

Updated November 17, 2009. Corrected the website! Thanks, George @ Pick Pockets for pointing this out!

I’m not talking about someone who swiftly reach into your pocket/purse and empty it out while you’re not looking! This Pick Pockets is a wrap/sandwich place located in the Historical part of Newport, MA.

I stumbled upon Pick Pockets when I was strolling along this quaint little town looking for some takeout lunch while waiting for my friends Derrick & Audrey who was having lunch in a restaurant nearby. I was playing tour guide that day and did not want to join them for lunch since I have my “assistant” Brady with me and I did not want to abandon him in the car!

From the first look, I wasn’t too impress with the first look of the deli, maybe because it was a weekday and past lunch hour. But the sign for $9 Lobster Roll (and apparently voted the best in Newport) caught my attention! After walking up and down the street looking for other options, I decided to give this place a try. Being a lobster lover and fan of delicious deals….I couldn’t pass up the deal for $9 Lobster Roll, one of the cheapest priced Lobster Rolls I’ve seen! Lobster Rolls are usually priced about $12 - $16. The cheapest one I’ve had was $8 in Kittery, ME and it wasn’t that good.

Pick Pockets had an assortment of delicious wraps and it seems like they specialize in Vegetarian Wraps. They have more than 10 different kind of Vegetarian Wraps which were featured first on their menu. They also have a variety of chicken, beef and cold cut wraps. All sounded equally yummy. But my eyes and tummy were hooked on the Lobster Roll. Although I took my lobster roll to go, there were plenty of places to sit in the deli.

Here’s my Lobster Roll, it looked a little messy as I did not carry it properly between trying to untie Brady and carrying my Lobster Roll. I remember being charged about $10.75 for the Lobster Roll, that meant the roll was about $10 (assuming there’s tax) instead of $9 (as advertised outside?). Maybe I did not read the fine line or something, but the roll was still cheap. And it was YUMMY!!!!

The lobster roll was served in a toasted & buttered hot dog bun (with pieces of Romaine Lettuce) …just the way it’s supposed to be and the way I like it! There were plenty of lobster meat (mostly the pincers) and it was nice that the meat were all large and not chopped up finely unlike other places. Pick Pockets are serious about their lobster roll, keeping it to the minimum. The lobster was dressed in minimal mayonnaise and no other ingredients except maybe salt and pepper. It was definitely one of the best Lobster Roll I’ve tasted! The guy did put pickles on my roll, which I picked out later. I would definitely go back to this place for it’s Lobster Roll and perhaps try their Falafel Wrap!

Check out their website HERE. Their branch in Newport is located at :

190 Thames St
Newport, RI 02840
(401) 619-1973

Oh yeah, the guy who made my lobster roll was friendly and kind hearted. It was drizzling outside and I had Brady with me. I did not want to bring Brady into the restaurant so I tied him at the patio outside which had a little awning to shelter him from the rain. The guy was nice to tell me that I could bring Brady into his restaurant and that he didn’t mind that! Two Thumbs up for Mr. Nice Guy @ Pick Pockets!!! I didn’t bring Brady him since I was doing a take out! It was a nice gesture nevertheless!

Note: Newport, RI is one of my favorite place to visit. It’s exceptionally beautiful in the summer!! There’re beautiful mansions and coastlines along with the quaint historical town! =)

Tortilla Espanola / Tortilla de Patatas

Tortilla Espanola/de Patatas is Spanish for Spanish Omelet/Potato Omelet. This typical Spanish dish consist of eggs, potatoes and sometimes onions and can be found in various Spanish eateries and are often served as Tapas or Pinchos (on a stick).

My friend Chris has made it in the past during one of his parties and I think I might have tried it at a Tapas place here as well. And I’ve always enjoyed eating them. It somehow tasted so much better when we had it in Barcelona @ SaGardi. It must be the feel of savoring Spanish food in Barcelona! Haha!

Anyway, I thought this would make a perfect appetizer to serve my guests as a teaser for my Halloween dinner. I found the recipe from the book “Everyday Tapas” and made some changes to the recipe. Here’s the modified version of the yummy Tortilla de Patatas!

TORTILLA ESPANOLA / TORTILLA DE PATATAS RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 Lb Red Skin Potatoes (Or any waxy potato)
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion, Chopped
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1-2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• 1 Cup Olive Oil

Method:

Peel potatoes and cut it into cubes (slightly larger than 1/2” cubes).  Heat olive oil in a nonstick pan (just large enough to hold the potatoes). Once oil is hot, add potatoes and onions and cook over medium low heat. You want to make sure that the potatoes are all submerged in oil. Add garlic into the oil about 5 minutes after that and continue cooking potatoes. Stir occasionally so that the potato pieces do not clump together. Cook potatoes until they are tender but not crisp or browned.

Meanwhile beat eggs lightly in a large bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Drain the cooked potatoes and onions in a strainer over a bowl. Set the oil aside for frying omelet. Gently stir in potatoes and onions into the beaten eggs.

Wipe pan clean and heat about 1-1/2 tbsp of the reserved olive oil. When oil is hot, add the egg mixture. Cook eggs over medium low heat for about 3-5 minutes or until the underside is set and slightly browned. Loosen tortilla occasionally from the bottom of the pan to refrain from sticking.

To cook the other side of the tortilla, cover it with a plate (large than the pan) and quickly turn the pan upside down so that the tortilla falls on the plate. Do this away from the stove, over the sink and watch out for hot oil.  Slide the tortilla onto the pan and continue cooking tortilla until it’s set and browned.

Remove cooked tortilla from pan and let it cool before cutting it. You could cut it up into wedges or squares. Garnish with some parsley sprigs if you liked. Serve either warm or cold.

June’s Comments: I covered the omelet when I was cooking the first side. I prefer to have a thick omelet, hence I used a smaller pan just enough to fit the potatoes and egg mixture to cook the tortillas. I ended up with about a 1” thick tortilla. I cut my tortilla de patatas into 1-1/2” squares and placed them on slices of French loaves (about 1/2” slices).

If you’re unable to find red skin potatoes, any waxy potatoes will work fine for this recipe. A good substitute would be Yukon Golds. Do not use Russet or Idaho Potatoes for this recipe!

Sightseeing Venice – Oct 5 & 6, 2009

I’ve always wanted to go Venice and I’m glad we managed to sneak Venice in during our Europe trip! Here are some pictures we took during our less than 24 hours stay in Venice!

Venice is famous for its Venetian Masks (Above) and you’ll definitely see plenty of these beautiful masks on the streets on Venice. Some of these masks are hand made using the traditional paper mache way, some adorned with Swarovski Crystals, some just too pretty, and some just plain odd. We did not get any masks as we don’t know how to carry them without crushing them in our backpacks! =)

Random picture of the many canals (Top Left) that surround Venice. View of the Grand Canal (Top Right) from the Rialto Bridge.

Shops on Rialto Bridge (Top Left). There were just so many stuff to see and buy! Rialto Bridge (Top Right) is one of the four bridges that span across the Grand Canal and is the oldest and most famous in Venice. The present bridge today was completed in 1591.

Another random view of a canal from yet another bridge in Venice (Top Left). Basilica di San Marco (Top Right) which was rebuilt in 1063 to form the basis of the present basilica. Unfortunately we arrived just in time for its doors to close for the day!

 

Another random view of a canal and bridge (Top Left) in Venice. Torre Dell' Orologio/St. Mark's Clock (Top Center) which was built and installed between 1496 and 149. St Mark’s Square (Top Right) also known as Piazzale San Marco in Italian. The St Mark’s Campanile is on the left, the Basilica is in the middle and Doge’s Palace in on the right.

 

Closer view of the details on Basilica di San Marco (Top Left). Doge’s Palace (Top Left) which was largely constructed from 1309 – 1424. This is a gothic palace in Venice and was the residence of the Doge of Venice.

View of some gondolas and San Giorgio Maggiore is an island of Venice (Top Left). We did not sit in one as we wanted to save money. Gondola rides are said to cost about Euro 80 for a 40 minutes ride. We’ve sat in a fake gondola in Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and that was sufficient, I guess!

Another picture of Gondolas with Santa Maria della Salute (Church) in the background (Top Right). What is Venice without it’s world famous Gondolas? =)

Around & About Venice

We flew from Barcelona to Venezia (Venice) on Vueling Airlines, a budget airline where cost of the flight is decent but you do pay extra for check in luggage and drinks/snacks onboard! Venice is famous for its canals and bridges. Venice is actually built on one hundred seventeen islands, holds over hundreds of canals and countless bridges. Flying into Venice Airport (VCE), we walked to the docks after getting our Alilaguna (Water Bus) tickets. The walk to the dock is about 10 minutes. The water bus comes about every 30 minutes or so. The comfy ride from the dock to our Fondamente Nuove stop where our Bed & breakfast is cost us Euro 13 per person for a 40 minutes ride from Mestre (where the airport and dock is) to Venice. We love that no vehicles are allowed on Venice. The only place in Venice where you would see buses (and cars, I think) is on Piazzale Roma. It was definitely nice to walk around the island and not worry being run over by a moving vehicle!! =)

Venice is tiny, walkable and can be quite confusing. Very soon all bridges, canals and squares looked the same. We brought along a compass (thanks to Kelvin’s cousin’s advice!) and that helped us a lot to get our bearings right whenever we got lost. One thing about Venice, no matter how lost you get…you’re still within the island.

We spent one night there and stayed at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast (Almoro B&B) minus the breakfast! To us, one day is enough to discover Venice! =). Next Up…Pictures!

2009 Halloween Dinner

Halloween this year seemed like nothing to us.  In previous years, we will get a wig and hang out in town. The first year, we had a dinner party at Kristen’s and hung out around witch town Salem. The second year, we had a dinner party at Seyda’s and hung out around Cambridge. Both years, we bought wigs or masks to dress up. That’s the extent of our Halloween costumes! =)

This year’s Halloween, it was at my place…dinner with close friends and a horror movie marathon. Since we weren’t home during Halloween the past 2 years, we weren’t sure if kids would be going ringing our door bell. We prepared some candy nevertheless and hope for some cutely dressed up kids to scream “Trick or Treats”!… Well, none came and I was left with a bunch or candies! I shall try to bring them to my local library!! =)

I planned for a 6 course meal for Halloween and ended up with a 5 course meal. It was not because I ran out of time that I only made 5 dished instead or 6. I overestimated the food (pasta to be exact) and thought that we already had more than enough food for 5. I made all the food from scratch (ok, I did not make the pizza dough) in 3 hours. =) Nothing creepy about the menu…but can I claim, they were delicious? Oh yeah, I gave my guests packets of treats as well. =)

Here’s what I made:

1) Pincho de Tortillas de Patatas (Left): Omelet Potatoes, inspired by our visit to Barcelona, Spain! I will share this recipe later!

2) Cream of Celery (Right): Celery Soup. I accidentally added a lil too much milk. It was not as thick as I wanted, nevertheless still good and “celery-ey”.

3) Pizza Ai Funghi (Left): That was a fancy Italian name for Mushroom Pizza. We had the best Mushroom Pizza in Rome, Italy….I wanted to recreate it. It was good, but still not like the ones we had! I used fresh mushrooms (sautéed prior) this time. It was better than the canned mushrooms I used the first time.

4) Lobster & Asparagus Macaroni (Right): Kraft’s Mac & Cheese where it’s all orang-y scares me! This is my version, perhaps a little more grown up? =)

 

5) Crème Brulee (Below): I was nervous how this will turned out. It was my first time making one of my favorite dessert. Thankfully it was a success. I pulled off the crystallized/caramel top by broiling the sugar covered top under the broiler. I have a blow torch, but I think I do not have propane in it! The broiler worked out just fine! =)