Meatless Week: Copying the master.

I was absolutely, completely convinced that someone would buy me the Frankies Spuntino cookbook for Christmas this year. Not only was it on my gift guide, but it's a cookbook chock-full of recipes from my new favorite restaurant, one to which I have dragged pretty much every single person who buys me Christmas gifts on a regular basis.

But, no. No one did, most likely because they all assumed someone else would. And so I found myself ordering said cookbook last week, in no small part so that I could make the Frankies' escarole, red onion and walnut salad at least once during Meatless Week. Frankly, I can't believe it's taken me this long to tackle my favorite Frankies salad in the comfort of my own home.

Because, friends, believe me when I tell you: this is one freaking delicious salad. I was first introduced to escarole via my college's ever-present chicken escarole soup, and so I always assumed it was the kind of green that must always be cooked, preferably on low heat for an obscene length of time.

But, no! Turns out escarole (aside from its bitter, tough outer leaves) is a sweet, crunchy delight - somewhat akin to a silkier version of romaine. Sounds amazing, right? And Frankies treats it just right, tossing it with sliced red onion and crumbled walnuts, and dressing it in a walnut dressing spiked with just a touch of honey. They top the whole thing off with shaved pecorino, which lends the proceedings a bit of funk.

So. Freaking. Good.

I made it Sunday afternoon while my gratin dauphinois (recipe to come) browned up in the oven. It paired beautifully with the rich potato goodness, and it makes me exceedingly happy that I can now enjoy my favorite wintertime salad any time - no trip to the Lower East Side and/or Carroll Gardens required.

Escarole Salad with Red Onions and Walnuts
Adapted from The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion and Cooking Manual

For the dressing:
1/4 cup walnut halves, crushed
1 tsp. honey
1 tbs. walnut oil
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tbs. water
2 tbs. sherry vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste

For the salad:
1 small head of escarole
1/2 cup red onion, sliced as thin as you can manage
1/2 cup walnuts, crumbled by hand
1/4 cup prepared dressing
1/2 tbs. walnut oil
1/4 cup loosely packed Pecorino Romano cut into curls with a vegetable peeler
Black pepper

Prepare the dressing:
Combine all ingredients in either a blender, or, if you want to use an immersion blender, in a tall, narrow container (I used a tall Tupperware container.). Puree the dressing until it's emulsified. The texture of the dressing should be uniform and silky.

Use the dressing immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Prepare the salad:
Discard the dark green outer leaves of the escarole. Core the head and wash the remaining leaves in cold water. Spread on a tea towel to dry, or pat dry with paper towels. Chop or tear the leaves into roughly bite-sized pieces.

In a large bowl, toss the escarole with red onions and the walnuts. Dress the mixture with the walnut dressing and the additional walnut oil, tossing well with your hands to ensure that the salad is evenly and lightly dressed.

Divide the salad between the plates. Garnish with the Pecorino and a few turns of black pepper.

Serves two.

Meatless Week: Obsession sets in.

So, I couldn't even wait a full 48 hours to have the tomato and avocado salad again (I had it tonight for dinner.). Trust me when I say that neither could you. Seriously. Get yourself a ripe avocado, some tart-sweet tomatoes, and slice that red onion as thin as you can. Like, right now.

Frankies Spuntino's Avocado and Tomato Salad
Adapted from The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion and Cooking Manual

1/2 lb. ripe tomatoes
1/4 small red onion, sliced as thinly as possible
1/4 cup olive oil, plus additional for drizzling
1 tbs. sherry vinegar
Fine sea salt
1 ripe Hass avocado
Freshly ground black pepper

Slice the tomatoes into wedges and place - gently - in a large bowl. Add the onion, 1/4 cup of the olive oil, vinegar and a large pinch of salt. Gently toss the salad with your hands, then set aside while you prep the avocado.

Pit and peel the avocado, and slice the flesh into large chunks or wedges.

Place the tomatoes and onions onto a plate and drizzle with about half the vinaigrette from the bowl. Arrange the avocado on top of the tomatoes and drizzle them with a bit more olive oil. Salt the avocado generously, and top with a few grinds of black pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves one, generously. (Frankies claims this version serves two, but I beg to differ.)

Tweaking a classic.

My name is Meg, and I'm addicted to Italian food.

If you are even a casual reader of my blog, you probably already knew that. I mean, I'm an omnivore. I love Vietnamese, Chinese (especially bad, Americanized Chinese - I am half-Jewish, after all), French (obviously), Japanese, Cuban, Mexican (especially taqueria-style eats), Spanish, molecular...you name it, I probably really enjoy it.

But when it comes to what I'm likely to cook at home, Italian frequently seems to win the day. I think it's likely the result of its emphasis on fresh ingredients (especially vegetables) and my ability to look at pretty much anything and go, "That would be great with some olive oil and garlic." Whatever the reason, Italian - or, at least, Italian-inspired - is often on the menu chez Queenie.

So when I wound up with a package of hot pork sausage a week or so ago, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it: make some sausage and peppers. I turned to my current Italian-American gurus, the Frankies. Yes, I know. You've heard me mention them before. Tough noogies.

The Frankies make their classic sausage and peppers with sweet sausage, and serve it on polenta. I only had hot sausage, but I added some basil from my windowsill garden to sweeten things up. And, since I'm trying to cut back on the processed carbs (which is not easy when you love pasta as much as I do, guys), I ate mine all plain-like. It was still dang good.

Sausage with Onions and Roasted Peppers
Adapted from The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual

2 bell peppers (at least one red; the other red, yellow or orange)
1 small yellow onion
2 tsp. canola oil
Kosher salt
1 pound hot pork sausage, casings removed
14 oz. canned San Marzano tomatoes
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, sliced crosswise into 1/4 inch slices

Roast the peppers:
Using a gas stove, turn two burners on high and lay a pepper on each (Using tongs, please!). Roast the peppers, using the tongs to turn them, until the skins are evenly and completely black and blistered. It should take between 5 and 10 minutes.

(If you don't have gas burners, brush the peppers with a bit of canola oil and roast them under the broiler, following pretty much the same procedure. This method may take a bit longer.)

Once the peppers are roasted, place them in a medium mixing bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. They'll steam a bit before they cool, which will make them easy to peel. Once they're cool, peel away the blackened bits and core and seed them. Slice them lengthwise in 1/4 inch wide slices, and set aside.

Prepare the sausage & onions:
Cut the onion in half lengthwise (through the root), then cut the halves into 1/4 inch wide slices with the grain, meaning lengthwise from the root to the tip.

Heat the canola oil in a wide saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and just a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and takes on a golden color. If things are browning too quickly, add a splash of water to the pan (but make sure it cooks off before you move on to the next step).

Use a slotted spoon to add the onion to the peppers. Without turning the heat down, add the sausage to the pan. Use a wooden spoon to break it into small clumps and saute for 10-12 minutes, until it's brown but not dry.

Add the canned tomatoes, crushing them one by one as you add them to the pan. Add half the basil. Scrape the bottom of the pan to rescue any delicious browned bits. Simmer the lot for 15-30 minutes, or longer if you have the time. Add the peppers, onions and remaining basil, and cook for a few minutes more.

Serves 2-3.

When in Rome.

My friend Nicholas is headed to New York for vacation, and asked me to suggest some places where he simply has to eat and drink. Places that fall into the category of "quintessential NYC, on a budget." Well, Nicholas...ask, and ye shall receive. Here are some ideas!

Frankies Spuntino

You all know how much I love the Frankies. (If not, all you need to know is this: it's a lot.) You can't come to New York without eating at least one Italian meal, and these guys do it right. The menu is incredible, the wine list wonderful and reasonably-priced, and it's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner - especially good when you're on vacation and have so many opportunities for deliciousness. Go, and make sure that at least one of you orders the cavatelli with browned butter and spicy sausage. And the escarole salad.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Another one of my obvious favorites. The Momofuku empire encapsulates the most recent evolution of the New York dining scene, where casual has replaced sumptuous as the go-to model. You may sit on wooden stools, use paper napkins and bump elbows with your neighbor at Noodle Bar, but you'll also eat some of the very best seasonal dishes around.

Café Sabarsky

This cafe is meant to recreate fin de siècle Vienna on the Upper East Side, and it pretty much achieves its goal. Set in a paneled drawing room in a Fifth Avenue mansion-turned-museum, it's filled with Thonet chairs and adorned with Hoffmann sconces. The savory food is good, but the sweets (especially the linzertorte) and the coffee (especially the einspanner) are the best part. Go early to avoid the nutty lunch crowd that inevitably gathers on weekends.

Two Little Red Hens

Some people will tell you that the city's best cupcakes are to be found elsewhere. Those people are, in a word, wrong. Just...wrong. The Hens make the best cupcakes - not too sweet, full of quality ingredients and bursting with flavor. All that said, their breakfast pastries (scones, muffins, sticky buns and - my favorite - cinnamon rolls) and non-cupcake sweets (date bars, fruit pie, cream pie) are my usually choices. But I do have a weakness for their mini chocolate-peanut butter cupcake, too.

And lest this become a novel of truly epic proportions, I'm going to list the rest of my recommendations a bit more briefly. In no particular order...

Balthazar
Head to this classic SoHo bistro for breakfast. You'll save some dough (lunch and dinner can be pricey here), enjoy delicious pastry, and spy on many a power diner.

The Breslin
Another great place for breakfast. You won't have to wait for a table, and you'll enjoy one of the best breakfasts in the city. After all, isn't eating breakfast out one of the great pleasures of vacation?

Ceci-Cela
Best croissants in the city. For reals.

The Dutch
My favorite things here are the cocktails, the oysters and the brunch. Go for drinks or go early.

Five Points
This place isn't new, but it was one of the flag-bearers in the local-and-seasonal-but-not-obnoxiously-self-righteous movement of the early-to-mid aughts. Fantastic cocktails and really great emphasis on seasonal veggies. The kale Caesar is to die.

Acme
My new favorite restaurant - also a great place for a drink. New Nordic cuisine with local ingredients and really cute waiters.

Sripraphai
First of all, this will get you out of Manhattan. Second of all, it's the best Thai food in the city. Take the 7 to Woodside and make sure to order the papaya salad and the pork with chili and basil.

PDT
Really delicious cocktails in a quiet bar. Entering through the phone booth in Crif Dogs only makes it more fun. (You can order hot dogs to your bar stool or booth, too.)

Gift Guide Number Three: (Mostly) cookbooks.

Darlings. My apologies for the lateness of this post. I fully accept that by posting the final chapter of my gift guide on December 15th, I am catering to procrastinators like myself (Amazon's Super Saver Shipping will still arrive by December 24th, people!), along with those shopping for January birthdays. So sue me.

For those of you who still seek inspiration - or are perhaps in the market for a gift to your fabulous selves - here goes. Queenie's suggestions for books - mostly cook-, some not - to give this holiday season.

1. Tartine Bread
Any of you who've been lucky enough to visit Tartine in San Francisco know that their wares are as gorgeous as they are tasty. This hefty new book (a companion to their earlier, pastry-focused tome) is no exception. Perfect for the carb-loving aesthete in your life.

2. The Gourmet Cookie Book
Gourmet was famous for their December issues, which always featured a series of delectable cookie recipes. The best of those are collected in this book, which is also a beautiful example of photography married with food styling joined with graphic design.

3. The Zuni Café Cookbook
This isn't a new book, but it's one I just received as a (very thoughtful) hostess gift this fall, and I am in love. It reads like a primer on good, soulful cooking, and has some insanely beautiful photographs to boot.

4. The Essential New York Times Cookbook
Edited by the indefatigable Amanda Hesser (co-founder, with Merrill Stubbs, of Food52), this collection of classic recipes is a must-have for anyone addicted to Craig Claiborne's original.

5. The Inn at Lake Devine
Okay, so this isn't a cookbook. Not even close. But it's one of my all-time favorite novels, and the main character is a chef. It's set mostly in the 1970s, and is pretty much the best translation of the Austenian spirit into contemporary fiction that I can think of. Food plays a central role in the novel's WASP/American Jewish culture clash plot (think Yankee pot roast vs. roast capon and blintzes), and I think you'll love it. A perfect stocking stuffer (or, um, late Hanukkah gift).

6. The Blackberry Farm Cookbook
It's gorgeous, it's full of good recipes, and it looks great on a coffee table. What more do you need?

7. The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion and Cooking Manual
You know of my obesession with Frankies. Therefore, you cannot be surprised that their cookbook, published earlier this year, has made the list. Go forth and make lots of tomato and avocado salad, plus some cavatelli with browned butter and hot sausage. You're welcome.

8. As Always, Julia
A collection of Julia Child's correspondence with her close friend Avis Devoto, this is one of my must-reads for the year. It may not be a cookbook, but if Julia's perseverance and dedication (which always shine through when she's doing the talking/writing) don't make you get up and do something, then nothing will.

Feasting.

On my last night in Austin, Louisa invited our friends Joel and Ted over for dinner. We decided it would be the perfect opportunity for some Italian-style feasting. Joel agreed to make a salad and bruschetta, and we agreed to make a pasta, a meat, and a vegetable side. The games had begun.

For the meat course - well, actually, for all of our dishes - Louisa and I took inspiration from one of my very favorite places, Frankies Spuntino. (Every recipe mentioned here can be found in their cookbook.) Their rib eye roast is a garlicky delight, and they serve it sliced cold. Make-ahead steak with garlic and herbs? Sold.

We bought a 2 1/2 pound rib eye roast, had it deboned, and rubbed it all over with garlic, parsley and thyme. We let it hang out in the fridge for 24 hours, then roasted it slowly in the oven, where it browned gorgeously all over and rendered just the tiniest amount of fat. I resisted temptation and popped that baby back in the fridge, where it stayed for another five or six hours.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Louisa worked her magic on a sweet and sour baked eggplant dish. See, what you do is make a caramel in the bottom of a sauce pan, then deglaze it with vinegar. In go the hand-crushed tomatoes - along with a healthy amount of salt and garlic - to simmer for half an hour.

In the meantime, Louisa roasted some sliced eggplant. We then layered the eggplant with the sauce (saving some of it for pouring later) and roasted it again. Before we served it, we topped the whole thing with ricotta salata and mint. It's eggplant parmesan re-imagined for summer, folks. (And, apparently, Sicilian.)

For the pasta course, I made Frankies justly famous fresh pasta (we used penne) with hot sausage, browned butter and sage. It was damn good, as always.

And then, then - we sliced the roast. Pink all the way through, redolent of herbs and garlic, and a worthy companion to the eggplant. Add in Joel's delicious salad (dressed with his new obsession, white balsamic) and amazing bruschetta with grilled kale and tomatoes, and it's clear. This is how you do summer, Italian-style, kids.