Buffalo Joe's Breakfast & Lunch Cafe

 





Buffalo Joe's is still rather new. It's been less than one year since it's opening, but its flavors have caught the attention of more than just local residents in Clarence. AM Buffalo did a piece on the restaurant,  during which Joe, the owner and chef, was able to show off his simple but outstanding and boldly flavored fare.






What is most surprising here is the complexity of flavor compared to the typical 'greasy spoon' blandness. You can choose to have your potatoes plain, but why would you ever want to do that when you can instead have an exceptional example of Southern Asian styled seasonings, house blended in secret?

The clam chowder, an expected soup with an unexpected subtle earthiness from a delicate blending of herbs. The large number of well diced and soft, not rubbery nor fishy scented clams too were a surprise. But what really brought me here was the promise of well seasoned hash browns with bold well cooked bacon. No limp undercooked slimy American bacon here.

My husband, the one who couldn't stop talking about the hash brown, bacon, and eggs and urged me to visit, had the beer battered fish fry. It had the slight warm woody scent of stale beer, the perfect liquid for battered fish. It was flash fried and the steamed fish had the appearance of freshness you don't see at most restaurants. Usually the edges of the fish are hard from being battered and then frozen then re-dipped and then fried. But this filet was perfect all the way through. The German potato salad was amazing!

The place was full the whole time we were there, but no one had to wait to be served. The waitstaff were fast, efficient, tidy and so polite. I really look forward to going back to visit!

Duff's

Duff's brought Buffalo one of the finest versions of wings back in 1969 and has continued to do so ever since. They are hot, there doesn't appear to be a mild, but even so, despite the heat, the flavor is full on from first taste to finish. To top it all off, they are undeniably addictive.

Their hot sauce is locally made and their house beer is brewed by Rochester's CB's Brewing Company. If you visit their home base in Amherst, NY, ask for Maggie as your waitress, she's a real sweetheart!








We ordered the 1/2 pitcher of house brew, fries, and 20 wing special and Blue and Bacon Burgers. What impressed me were the crisp shoestring fries, the equally crisp bacon, and the soft rolls from Costanzo's Bakery!

Nothing destroys a perfectly good blue cheese and bacon burger than stringy under-cooked bacon or a crappy cheap roll, and as you can see pictured below this was not the case. It was a stupendous burger! If only this post was scratch & sniff.

      

French Onion and Lentil Soup

In a crock pot set on low, pour in two day soaked French Lentils. Add 4 cups of water. Chop 2 onions and layer on the lentils.

 Finally sprinkle in 2 tbls rubbed sage, 1 tbls pepper, 1tbls salt, 4 tbls bacon drippings and crumbles, and thinly slice or crumble 1/ 2 pound of sausage.

Cook for 6 hours and then use a stick mixer to blend some of the onions and lentils. Just enough so the soup has a creamier texture. Serve with bread and enjoy!

Schiacciata all Sicilianna

 When I looked for authentic Sicilian recipes for the last International Dinner, I came across this recipe. The amazing thing is that when I Googled images to see it's construction I discovered that the making of Schiacciata all Sicilianna is not a straightforward affair. I found them folded like a stromboli, or a calzone, tucked in like a pasty, built like a pie, or laid out like a very long pizza. But then I started to find 7 pages in my search that chefs in the country side roll them like a cinnamon bread. It's swirling center was so lovely I decided to go with the roll.

I also discovered that the ingredients varied wildly. I finally decided to do a variation on my monster meatloaf. With a blend of ground chuck, ground lamb, and pork, though in this recipe I used well browned crisp bacon which was crumbled and the dripping were used to fry up the onions and garlic, I found the perfect filling for my roll.

The dough was 2 cups flour, 1 cup warm water, 1 1/2 tsp yeast, 3 tbls olive oil, 1 tbls sugar, and 2 tsp salt. I used a white whole wheat flour which was very easy to work with. In the first photo you see my husband rolling it all together while I worked on the Taralli. The roll's ends were tucked under and the whole thing was laid out onto a greased pan and baked at 380 degrees for about 30 minutes. The time will depend on the roll's thickness and filling as well as the type of flour used in the dough. I think 30 minutes is a good point to start checking on it. It should have a nice golden brown and crunchy exterior when finished. This was very savory and I enjoyed it with several glasses of wine!

Day 23 - Mabon Feast of Bacon Gouda Potato Soup and Spiced Cherry Bread

This is based on the Creamy Cheesy Potato and Onion Soup recipe I made back in January.

Break down cost for this meal.

Heavy Cream $1.69
Smoked Gouda with Bacon from Yancy's Fancy $4.75
Potatoes $3.99
Onion $1.00
Dried Rosemary
Olive Oil
Flour $0.85
Water
Yeast $1.19
Chinese 5 Spice $1.00
5 tbls minced dried cherries $1.39

Total cost for 5 servings = $15.86

Day 3 - Breakfast with Spars on International Bacon Day

Breakdown cost of this meal.

6 organic eggs $2.00

Spars Bacon $6.39

Rye and Pumpernickel Swirl Bread $3.89

Strawberry Balsamic Jam

Tea, water, and some one snuck in orange juice (Oh those sneaky children!)

Total cost for 5 servings = $12.28

Since today was chock full of birthday parties and other mayhem I decided it was going to have to be breakfast, rather than dinner for today's challenge. Spars is divine, no matter what you choose. Their selection of local products as well as their outstanding locally made sausages, deli meats, bacon and more are well worth any wait at the counter!