Way We Work

While kirby cucumbers abound - and are wonderful - at New York's Greenmarkets in the summer, lemon cucumbers are less common. Imagine my delight, then, to encounter the round little fellers at Cherry Lane's St. Stephen's Greenmarket stand on Saturday morning. There they were, nestled in among the kirbies, looking for all the world like miniature honeydew melons.

Lemon cucumbers are round and pale yellow, which, I suppose, is where they get their name. Their flavor is a bit subtler than other varieties of cucumber, and their flesh is silkier, too. All in all, they're flat-out delicious. I enjoyed the first of mine very simply, just sliced and topped with a light sprinkle of sea salt. I have no solid plans for the remainder of my haul, though I'm thinking a cucumber sandwich (warm, toasted bread, a touch of mayonnaise, salt and pepper - and, of course, cucumber) might be in order.

What would you do with such bounty?

A wee bit of inspiration.

4 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Labor Day weekend is upon us, my dearies! It's time for a last gasp of summer's freedom (The season doesn't even for another three weeks, but it does seem that the freewheeling, good timey stuff stops on Tuesday.), along with some time for serious enjoyment of summer's bounty.

Before the farmer's markets are taken over by apples, grapes and fall squash, let's grab late summer by the cojones and cook like mad, shall we? Here are some ideas for Labor Day fare...

Summer's most glorious pair - corn and tomatoes - are on their way out. Before they leave for good, why not enjoy a breakfast that showcases both? Recipe for a warm corn and tomato salad? Right this way...

Nothing says summer - or feeding a crowd - like pasta salad. My favorite version is the one I poached from my friend Danielle (who blogs over here as Foodmomiac). It's nothing like the gloppy, soupy versions you may remember from your childhood. It is, instead, sheer perfection.

Another recipe perfect for a crowd is spaghetti with raw tomato sauce. My version uses fresh fettuccine, but I've also made this for dinner parties using a pound or two of dried spaghetti. (Obviously, you want to multiply the tomato, garlic and basil quantities as well!) It goes over like nobody's business, and is especially easy to make now, what with in-season tomatoes finally coming into affordability.

One of my absolute favorite things to eat when it's hot out - or cold out, frankly - is home-cured gravlax. It's a perfect starting point for building a whole cold supper menu. Add in some pickles, a little pâté and maybe some crudités, and you've got the perfect meal. Don't forget the rosé, either.

Finally, dessert! I'd recommend a fruit tart, the better to enjoy the last bits of summer goodness. Maybe some blackberries and peaches baked in a no-fuss, no-rolling-required crust, or just plain plums in a galette. Whatever you do, use fruit that's local and in-season - don't be afraid to experiment a bit.

Have a wonderful weekend - Happy Labor Day, and Happy Eating!

Meatless Week: A worthy substitute.

4 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

On Saturday, after a gorgeous afternoon spent wandering the city, I met my brother and sister in law for an early dinner at 5 Napkin Burger. I know - a burger restaurant seems an odd choice for Meatless Week, but I'd heard very good things about their veggie burger, and was craving something slathered in pickles and special sauce.

5 Napkin goes for a meat-like veggie burger; the red color, I'm guessing, comes from beets, and the thing is huge, and chock-full of lentils, beans, and probably lots of other good sources of vegetable protein. And it's very, very tasty.

Seriously - I'd still order this now, even though I'm back on the meat. (I had sushi today, and it was mah-velous.) I especially enjoyed the toppings. I've never been much of a purist when it comes to my burgers, and I liked that the 5 Napkin folks included both house pickles and house sauce - maybe it;s my Francophile side, but I've always loved mayonnaise in concert with, well, anything.

Vegetarians and omnivore-veggie-burger-lovers alike, get thee to 5 Napkin. Good beer list, too.

5 Napkin Burger
2315 Broadway
Between 84th and 83rd Streets
212.333.4488

Joe. Upper West Side, NYC. 5:00 PM, Saturday, August 29th.

7 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

This iced Americano? Is full of win.

Meatless Week: An update on that eggplant.

7 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

On Sunday, I finally confronted the eggplant I'd bought a whole week before. (Which were still good - yay for long-keeping veggies!) Thanks to my resourceful readers and Facebook friends, I had a ton of ideas for how to tackle the stuff, and decided to do a completely bastardized caponata and mix it with the remaining fresh fettuccine and, of course, to finish things off with a dollop of mascarpone.

I gently sauteed some white onion and a healthy amount of garlic, until the onion was translucent and the garlic golden. Then I added the diced eggplant (about 3/4 inch dice, peels and seeds included) and a touch of tomato paste. Once that had a chance to work, in went some halved cherry tomatoes, a bit of basil and a little sherry vinegar to deglaze the pan. Last, but certainly not least, I added a smattering of capers, which gave the finished dish a wonderful salty nuttiness.

No recipe here; I didn't really track ingredient proportions or timing, but I can tell you this: eggplant is a lot tastier and easier than I remembered. It will definitely be on my shopping list this weekend.

Meatless Week: Making peace with zucchini.

8 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Zucchini gets something of a bad rap for being both rampant and slightly flavorless. Sometime in late summer, zucchini patches all across the country begin yielding unbelievable amounts of the stuff, resulting in a glut of zucchini bread, muffins and the like. Growing up, I was never much of a zucchini fan, mainly because it had a tendency to pop up on crudité trays, a bland traitor masquerading as the far more exciting cucumber.

As an adult, though, I've come around to zucchini and its summer squash compatriots. Its lack of assertive flavor - the very thing that put me off of it so many years ago - makes it the perfect canvas for a myriad of seasonings and preparations. I particularly enjoy it roasted. In a hot oven, zucchini turns sweet just slightly meaty in texture - a great foil for a light vinaigrette and some lightly stinky mascarpone.

The inspiration for these toasts comes from the fabulous whole foods blog Sprouted Kitchen. Sara flavors her zucchini with parsley and mint, and spreads the toast with ricotta - but since I have basil and thyme on hand, along with half a tub of mascarpone, I went in a slightly different direction. I also thought it would be good to dress the warm zucchini in a little lemon juice, the better to get the flavor deep into the fruit. I think it works. How about you?

Roasted Zucchini Toasts
Adapted from Sprouted Kitchen

1 lb. zucchini or summer squash, cut into 1/2 inch dice
Olive oil
2 tbs. finely chopped fresh herbs (I used a mix of thyme and basil)
2 tbs. finely chopped red onion
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 slices bread
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place a rack in the upper third of your oven and preheat it to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, toss the zucchini with just enough olive oil to coat it (a teaspoon or so should do it), along with a pinch each of salt and pepper. (Save the bowl; you'll use it again.) Spread the zucchini evenly onto a cookie sheet. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the zucchini is well-browned and roasted through.

Place the zucchini back in the large bowl. Using a fork, stir the lemon juice and mustard together in a small bowl, then add to the zucchini. Add 2/3 of the herbs and 2/3 of the onion, along with a bit more salt and pepper. Toss everything to combine evenly. Allow this mixture to sit while you toast your bread.

Toast the bread to your desired doneness. Spread each piece of toast with half of the mascarpone cheese, then top with half the zucchini mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining herbs and onions. Serve immediately.

Makes two pieces of toast.

Change is in the air.

8 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Concord grapes have appeared at the market. Their musky aroma spells one thing, my friends: F-A-L-L H-A-R-V-E-S-T. Yes, indeedy.

Meatless Week: Tomatoes galore.

9 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

So, I bought two quarts of tomatoes today. And I already had a pint or so at home. Clearly, I have a tomato problem. Or maybe problem is the wrong word - perhaps, one should say, I have a tomato opportunity. Several tomato opportunities.

I exercised one such opportunity yesterday afternoon, using a prodigious number of said tomatoes, along with a bit of garlic, a fistful of basil and some fresh fettuccine. It's one of my most basic standbys, but it's also one of the tastiest. A raw tomato sauce is kind to in-season vegetables - it doesn't cook away their sweetness or mask their acidity; instead, it lets every flavor in each tomato sing its own little ditty.

It's also ridiculously easy and incredibly satisfying. In fact, it's so good that I'm craving it again, right now, as I write this. Excuse me a moment.

Summer Tomato Pasta

1 lb. fresh pasta, such as fettuccine, or 1/2 lb. dry pasta, such as spaghetti
3 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup basil leaves, finely sliced into a chiffonade
1/4 cup olive oil
Scant teaspoon sherry vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbs. mascarpone cheese (optional)

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. In the meantime, combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil and sherry vinegar in a large bowl. Add a generous pinch of salt and some black pepper, and toss the whole lot together. Let it hang out while the pasta finishes.

Add the hot pasta to the bowl, and toss to distribute the tomatoes evenly throughout the pasta. Taste and adjust seasonings (you will probably want more salt and pepper). Divide between two bowls or plates, and top each with a tablespoon of the mascarpone. Serve immediately.

Serves two.

Queenie's Treasury

9 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Reader, I apologize. I have been remiss in my duties. This edition of the Treasury is a day late, and for that I am truly sorry. But I think it's super-fun, extra-glam edition, so hopefully the shininess will make up for the lateness, yes? Let's get to it!

First up, something a bit out of the ordinary for the Treasury: fashion. Hermès has launched an amazing website called J'aime mon carré (In English, that's "I love my scarf.) that showcases a ton of awesome ways to tie your Hermès scarves. Now, that being said, you certainly don't need one of the iconic scarves to use the techniques; any scarf will do, really, assuming it's a decent-sized square. So have fun - I expect to see many of you sporting the Bandeau Sixties, stat.

Next up, a little something to spruce up your purse - or, in my case, my bathroom. See, I'm famous - or, rather, infamous - in my family for never having tissues around. The reason? I think Kleenex boxes are, without exception, hideously ugly. I don't see why I'd invest in them, save when I have a terrible cold. And I've yet to meet a tissue box holder that I like, either. That may have changed, though. I know this gold leather pouch is meant for one's purse, but I don't see why I shouldn't use it at home, do you? Me likey.

Last, an interesting news item. A man from Portland, Oregon was banned from a local sushi restaurant for confronting the staff (gently, but in front of other customers) about their choice to serve Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of the most endangered fish in our waters. Now, I agree - he should have waited and taken his complaint to the owner in private. That said, no one should be eating or serving Atlantic bluefin at this point, and I'm shocked by the number of people I know who don't know/care about this. So, yeah. Eat a different kind of tuna, folks. It ain't that hard. (Need more guidance? Check out this frequently-updated guide to sustainable fish-eating from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.)

Meatless Week: Giving in.

10 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

On Thursday night, I became the embodiment of every parent's worst fear about their child's vegetarianism: I had ice cream and french fries for dinner.

After four days of cooking and eating meticulously sourced, impeccably fresh vegetable-based meals, I couldn't take it any more. I needed relief from the virtue and toil of Meatless Week. And so, when I was walking past Shake Shack and saw that there was a lull (for once, the line was not out the door), I pounced.

Ten minutes later, in possession of a small cup of vanilla custard (with peanut butter sauce) and an order of fries (mayo on the side), I sat myself down in the sunshine to be very, very naughty. Not gonna lie: it was seriously good. I hardly even missed the burger.

Meatless Week: Going green. And pink.

11 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Howdy, folks! As Meatless Week progresses, I'm realizing a couple of things: cooking vegetarian requires a lot of olive oil, produces a lot of dishes, and is generally a lot more work than just roasting a chicken. Now, I knew that would be the case, but I hadn't quite realized that I'd be doing so many dishes each night. Mostly, though, I think it's because I decided to focus on salads and other fresh things - as opposed to making, say, a one-pot veggie meal to see me through.

One of the dirty dish culprits was yesterday's lunch. Alongside the leftover corn chowder from Wednesday night's superlative dinner, I enjoyed one of my more favorite summer salads: roasted beets with green beans, red onion and dill. It is so. Freaking. Good. There's something about the combination of the snappy beans and rich beets - enhanced by a little bit of dill and lemon juice - that just makes me happy.

This isn't a new recipe; it's basically this pasta without the pasta or the yogurt, and with lemon juice instead of vinegar. I think you should try it.

(And, yes, those really are beets in that photo. They're light pink, though, so they look kinda potato-y. But they're not, I promise.)

Meatless Week: Even vegetarians get to drink.

11 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Meatless Week: An oldie and a goodie.

12 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Hello, gentle readers! It's day three of Meatless Week, and so far, I'm doing just fine. No major bacon or beef cravings - though tomorrow, which is sushi day at my office, will be a true test of willpower.

I've managed to keep myself satisfied by eating vegetarian dishes with lots of flavor and a bunch of different textures. For lunch today, that meant poaching some garlic in olive oil and adding some hot pepper. I tossed half with some blanched broccoli and soy sauce (à la Ina), and the other half with orecchiette, halved cherry tomatoes and some fresh basil leaves.

Tonight for dinner, I decided to pair hot with cold. I had two ears of corn and a couple of Yukon golds left in the fridge, and decided that corn chowder would be just the thing for those and for the glug or two of cream left from last week's dinner party shenanigans.

I browsed Epicurious and found what I was looking for: a simple, fast corn chowder recipe from a summer 2008 issue of Gourmet. I played with it a bit - my version is less creamy, a bit saltier, and has black pepper rather than white - but kept the primary, golden notion: making a quick corn stock with the cobs. Genius!

To go alongside, I made one of my all-time favorite salads, which I shamelessly copied from Anella, a teeny restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It's a salad of romaine hearts, topped with a creamy, tangy dressing, chopped dill and onion, fresh, buttery croutons and fried capers. It is, in a word, dee-licious. And the recipe? It's just over here. Clickety. (By the way - I didn't have any crème fraiche on hand, so I subbed in a bit of Hellman's mixed with low-fat buttermilk, and it worked like a charm.)

I'm a bit worried about my lack of protein consumption, but am hoping to remedy that tomorrow with an eggy breakfast and some of the same - or possibly beans - at dinner. I think that should do the trick. Clearly, were I planning to become a real-life vegetarian, I'd have to get better at the whole alternative protein sources thing. In the meantime, though...corn chowder!

Summer Corn Chowder
Adapted from Gourmet

2 ears corn, shucked
1 quart cold water
1/2 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 large carrot, halved lengthwise, then sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 scallions, finely chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Cut corn kernels from each cob, then hold cob upright in a bowl and scrape with the back of a butter knife to extract the "milk."

Bring cobs, water, potatoes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a large pot, covered, then boil, covered, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. (Break the cobs in half to fit into the pot, if need be.) Discard cobs.

Meanwhile, cook onion, carrot, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt in oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is pale golden, about 10 minutes.

Add bell pepper, corn and its "milk," thyme, and bay leaves to the onion and carrot mixture. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. (If there's not enough "milk" to make this sufficiently wet, add a bit of the potato cooking water.)

Stir potatoes with water and cream into the corn mixture and gently boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 7 cups, about 30 minutes. Stir in black pepper and salt to taste. Discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs. If serving immediately, add the scallions. If not, wait until you do.

Meatless Week: Obsession sets in.

14 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

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.)

Meatless Week: Desperately seeking eggplant inspiration.

14 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

So, I am not normally a big eggplant eater. Don't get me wrong: I don't hate it, and I'll eat it in a heartbeat if it's served to me. But I've only cooked with it a few times, and don't feel 100% comfortable with it.

Which brings me to the question: I was seduced by the cuteness of these little fairy tale eggplants at the market on Saturday, and would love to hear what you think I should do with them. I bought about a pound and a half, I think, based on my memory that eggplant cooks down quite a bit.

Thoughts?

Brian & Caroline's house. Astoria. 9:00 PM, Saturday, August 21st.

14 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Momofuku Milk Bar's malted chocolate cake. It contains toasted marshmallows. YUM.

Mousse tarts, ricotta cheesecake and cream horns from Veniero's. DROOL.

Meatless Week: Monday blues.

15 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Meatless Week is off to a lazy start here chez Queenie. I had a seriously nasty, scary bout of food poisoning over the weekend, and I stayed home today to ensure a complete recovery before returning to work. As a result, I was worried my first day of Meatless Week would be one of dry toast and diet ginger ale, but while I was still absolutely exhausted, my stomach actually felt pretty hardy today.

For lunch, I made Frankie's Spuntino's tomato and avocado salad. (As opposed to their beet and avocado salad, which I've swooned over previously.) I practically licked the plate when I ordered this at the restaurant a few weeks back, and so I was very, very excited to be reminded of it in an NPR podcast over the weekend. I promptly added avocados to my FreshDirect order (Did I mention that I am in love with my iPhone?) and got ready for the excitement.

Now, I was bleary and sleepy when I ate, so I don't have a photo to accompany my accolades, but you know what I do have? A second avocado. So I think I can promise you that this salad will be making a second appearance later this week. In the meantime, avail yourselves of the recipe. You won't be sorry.

Dinner, coming after a further three hours of napping, was a less sleepy effort. I didn't want to do anything too crazy, but I was pretty hungry. The result? A tomato and cucumber salad, alongside a dish of orecchiette with corn. Pasta with corn always strikes me as slightly over-indulgent (carbs upon carbs), which is one of the reasons I love it oh-so-much.

This is the kind of recipe with which you can - and should - play fast and loose. Leave out the pepper, sub in browned butter for the olive oil and sage for the basil, and it's something new and different. Add a bit of soy and ginger and omit the cream, and it's a bit Asian-fusion-y, in that delightfully mid-90s, inauthentic, guiltily delicious way. Whatever you do, make sure the corn is either local, fresh and sweet or - I know, craziness - from the freezer. There's no point making this with insipid, tasteless corn. None whatsoever.

Orecchiette with Corn and Basil

2 ears corn, shucked
1 tbs. olive oil
1 red pepper, diced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic (one if the cloves are large), thinly sliced
1/8 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/3 lb. orecchiette pasta, cooked to al dente and drained (reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water)
1 tbs. heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

If there is any bit of the stalk left on the corn, slice it off to create a flat surface. Stand the ear of corn on its flat end and slice down the side, cutting away the kernels. Repeat on all sides of the ear until the cob is stripped of its kernels. Set aside the corn and discard the cobs.

Warm the olive oil in a medium skillet set over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot (slightly shimmering, but not smoking), add the red pepper, scallions and garlic to the pan. Cook for a few minutes, until the scallions are very soft and the garlic lightly golden.

Add the corn kernels to the pan and mix with the aromatics. Salt and pepper this mixture fairly generously, and saute for two or three minutes, until the corn is just softening. Add about half the basil and half the reserved cooking water to the pan and continue to cook until the liquid in the pan is reduced to a syrupy coating.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan, along with a tad more of the cooking water, and cook the pasta and sauce together for a minute or two. Turn off the heat and add the remaining basil and the cream to the pan. Stir to combine. Taste, adjust seasonings (I find that adding the cream means adding a bit more salt and pepper), and serve immediately.

Serves two.

Queenie's Treasury

17 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

It's Saturday! Are you as excited about that as I am? It's been a productive morning so far - I got to sleep super-early last night and was up at 7 to enjoy some coffee and a quiet Greenmarket run. Not sure yet what the afternoon will bring, but, for now, here are some goodies to keep you busy!

First up, some seriously beautiful books. I'm not sure if it's an irresistible response to the advent of the eReader, but Penguin has released stunning versions of classics over the last year. First there were the cloth-bound volumes, and now these magnificently Art Deco, gilded editions of F. Scott Fitzgerald. All of these were designed by inimitably talented Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Next up, a look at the latest plan to revitalize La Marqueta, East Harlem's storied five-block market. The latest plan, proposed by a private developer, is to expand the market to stretch a full 20 blocks - that's a mile - under the elevated Park Avenue train tracks. I have to admit, as someone who lives only about 20 blocks south of the market, the idea of being able to shop in a space rivaling London's Borough Market is very, very exciting. Even more so because the market would occupy an area that's traditionally been overlooked by projects like this in the past. Fingers crossed.

Finally, some cute little animals! I'm not usually one to fall for such things, but I absolutely love the photographs created by Sharon Montrose of The Animal Print Shop. When I see animals, I typically think "kid's room," but I can see these working in just about any space. They have a modern quality to them that really, really appeals to me. I just like 'em!

Seven days, no meat. Really.

18 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

I am about to embark upon an exciting challenge, my lovelies. Beginning Monday, I'll be going meat-free for seven days. Not to worry - I have no intention of turning vegetarian on you (though I have a lot of respect for those who can survive without bacon). No, it's nothing quite so drastic.

I'm participating in my friend Lorna Yee's second Meat-Free Week challenge. (Check out the results of her last Meat-Free Week over here!) After all, abstaining from meat - even only occasionally - is a good thing for your heart, the environment and, frankly, your roster of recipes. It's a challenge of will (I predict bacon smell-induced whimpers sometime around Day Four), but mostly an exciting chance to think a little differently about how and what I eat, and an opportunity to get my protein elsewhere. Nuts, eggs and beans, anyone?

I hope at least a couple of you will join me (and Lorna, and the other Meat-Free gauntlet picker-uppers) on this journey. I think it will be a good time, especially given the incredible bounty of the Greenmarket these days. Between corn, fairy tale eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, eggs, potatoes, beets, green beans and peaches, who needs meat? Not me.

Hopefully. (After all, I can still eat dessert.)

Hipsteriffic.

21 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Last Saturday was a ridiculously beautiful summer day. Low humidity, glorious sunshine, and relatively few obligations led me to pay a visit to the Hester Street Fair after a visit to the lovely Holly at Fringe Salon. The Fair occupies a piece of land originally used as a pushcart market site by Lower East Siders in the early 20th century. It's a shady little have at the corner of Essex and Hester, marked by an iron arcade straddling the entrance.

These days, the Fair is home to a number of different sellers, primarily of food, jewelry and vintage goods. There's also - mercifully - a misting tent where you can stand to get cool, and a super-neat used bike seller. The day I visited, the spice vendor was doing a brisk business.

I loved the vintage jewelry seller. Those brooches are just too sparkly and fun for words, but I couldn't choose just one, and so I decided to leave them all behind to be adopted by someone with a better capacity for decision making.

The jewelry booth also had a gorgeous collection of vintage keys on display. I loved how he arranged them on the mirror - it made for an intriguing vignette, I thought.

Memorandum had a variety of cool, Hollister Hovey-ish vintage items on offer, like this portrait...

...and this taxidermied stag.

And did I mention the bikes? It doesn't get more hipster than taxidermy and bikes.

This buckle goes fast.

22 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

This photo was snapped outside my office at approximately 11:00 AM on Thursday.

I think it's safe to say that - at least when it comes to baked goods - I have some damn lucky coworkers. My 12th Floor colleagues routinely enjoy the fruits of my baking experiments, and said experiments have increased exponentially with summer's onslaught of obscenely tempting fruits. I've flirted with peach-plum cake and taken blueberry buckle for a spin, but my heart (and that of the 12th Floor as a whole) belongs to peach browned butter buckle.

That's right. Peaches. And browned butter. That sound you hear? It's me, dying happy.

I first discovered the concept via the ever-awesome Deb of Smitten Kitchen. She made her buckle in a super-picturesque (but not at all commute-friendly) cast-iron skillet, and I was, indeed, smitten. The cake combines two of my favorite things: tangy buttermilk and nutty browned butter. The topping does the same, with its copious amounts of peaches (Deb used nectarines, which would also be delicious.) and - again - browned butter.

However. The first time I brought this in, we thought there was just too much cake. Don't get me wrong - the cake part is truly delicious. But the fruit and the topping? They are the stars. They need a modicum of cake - it imparts dignity and allays the notion that you are simply slurping up peaches, sugar and butter - but they don't need quite so much.

And so, on the second go-round, I halved the amount of cake. The result? A moist, delicious, slumpy buckle. And one that went in record time. A vote of confidence if ever there was one.

Peach Buckle with Browned Butter
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the cake:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing pan
3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Small pinch of allspice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
3/4 lb. peaches, pitted and cut into wedges (about 5 peaches)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the topping:
Reserved butter from cake (above)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Queenie's Treasury

24 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Happy weekend, my lovelies! It's a gorgeous day here in New York, and I'm about to head out to the Greenmarket, where I'll be shopping for supplies for a dinner party to be held tonight chez moi! In the meantime, here are some fun tidbits to see you through the day.

I love a good gift basket. The sad thing, though, is that most of the time, they arrive littered with bits and pieces you'd never buy separately, and don't care for when assembled. However. The baskets from Fortnum & Mason, the venerable London department store, are a different breed altogether. Chelsea at Frolic! loves the Picadilly Hamper, with its strawberries and cream, but I'm partial to the robin's egg blue Champagne and Chocolates, myself. Yum.

Have you heard of Outstanding in the Field? It's so freaking cool. Basically, it's a traveling outdoor restaurant. The owners started the business in 1999 as a way of promoting local, sustainable food by setting dinners in the fields from whence they spring. I am currently obsessed with the notion of a fabulous City Harvest benefit, with these folks hosting it in the middle of Central Park. Yes indeedy. You heard it here first.

My native state of Connecticut is just over the border from New York City, and I grew up making the 50-minute trip into the city pretty frequently. We Nutmeggers are well-known for our poise, grace, beauty and - perhaps more notably - our love of the tipple. Which is why I was thrilled to see that, out of 80 new train cars being purchased for the Metro-North New Haven line (the one that brings Connecticut folks into Manhattan), seven are slated to become bar cars. Seems only fitting, no?

Serious refreshment.

25 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Summer 2010, thy name is gimlet.

I've been drinking gimlets right and left this summer, and I can't think of a good reason to stop. I make mine with fresh lime juice, simple syrup and Plymouth gin, and they're just about the most refreshing thing I've tasted in a long, long time.

I've been tinkering a bit with my recipe, and have finally settled on a ratio of 4 parts gin, 1 part lime juice and 3/4 part simple syrup. Confusing? Perhaps. But I've given the recipe in ounces, tablespoons and teaspoons, so hopefully it will be a bit easier to size up. (If you size it down, I'll be a bit disappointed in you. Just saying.)

Queenie's Gin Gimlet

4 oz. gin
1 oz. (2 tbs.) lime juice
3/4 oz. (1 tbs. plus 1 1/2 tsp.) simple syrup*

Place 5-6 ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Place your cocktail glass in the freezer. Add all three ingredients to the shaker and shake well - but not too vigorously - until the outside of the shaker is coated in cold condensation.

Remove the glass from the freezer and strain the cocktail into it. Garnish with a lime wedge, if you so desire.

Serves one. If you want to make a whole bunch, you could totally use a pitcher. Stir vigorously.

*To make simple syrup, combine equal parts granulated sugar and water in a saucepan. Set the pan over medium high heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stored in the fridge, simple syrup will keep for a couple of months. I make two kinds; one with granulated sugar (for lighter drinks) and one with turbinado sugar (for more robust drinks).

Chikalicious. East Village, NYC. Sunday, August 1st.

26 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

High lining it.

27 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

My friend Kim came to visit me last weekend, and I was determined to show her a proper New York time of it. And when Saturday dawned gloriously sunny and crisp, I decided that a walk along the High Line would be just the thing - even more so because I'd not yet made it there myself. Naughty, naughty New Yorker!

The High Line, in case you've not heard of it, is a newly-opened park on the west side of Manhattan. It opened in 2009 after years and years of negotiations, delays and debates. The High Line is so called because it's actually built above the city; it's a landscaped stretch of old elevated railroad tracks. The tracks run through what used to be the industrial center of the city, from Penn Station through the Meatpacking District, and have been landscaped in a way that pays tribute to their history. (As of today, the High Line is only finished up to 20th Street, but work on the last 14-block stretch is moving forward!)

The cement blocks that make up the paths recall railroad ties, and the wildflowers and reeds planted along the walkway seem to emerge from cracks in the sidewalk, much as they might in railroad beds left to seed.

One of the coolest things about the High Line is the way it allows for unique vantage points from which to view the city. It's not quite ground-level, nor is it a high-rise, and since it crosses the roadway fairly often, the path provides glimpses into nearby buildings and across vistas that just can't be seen from the ground.

In case you need another reason: see that overpass up there? Right under there, you can buy Butter Lane baked goods as well as popsicles and shaved ice from People's Pops. Yum.

Coffee upon coffee.

28 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Iced coffee with coffee ice cubes is pretty freaking amazing, right? I mean, I make iced coffee at home all the time, but I never take the effort to actually make the coffee ice cubes. But after the fabulous, strong-to-the-last-sip coffee I had yesterday at 88 Orchard, I'm really wondering why not. WHY NOT?

In fact, please excuse me while I go get the French press all ready for an ice cube-bound pot of brew.

9th Street Espresso. 3 PM. Saturday, July 31st.

28 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Need I say more? Yum.

Cake yearns to be free, you know.

29 days ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

I don't believe that cake is only meant for special occasions. After all, it's relatively easy to make, and it goes with absolutely everything. But, for some reason, we as a society seem to think of it as something meant for birthdays and dinner parties. I'm here to tell you it doesn't have to be like that.

That's right. I want you to liberate cake from its a-couple-of-times-a-year shackles. Loose it from its guests-for-dinner chains. Work with me, people.

To help you along, I thought I'd share one of my favorite everyday cake recipes. It's a simple buttermilk cake, and it bakes up like a light and fluffy version of pound cake. (Don't have buttermilk on hand? Use some plain yogurt instead.) It goes well with everything from macerated fruit to hot fudge to ice cream to whipped cream. When I made it last week, I had a slice with a bit of lightly sweetened whipped cream for dessert, and then brought the rest in to work, where people ate it plain - and loved every bite.

The best part? It takes about ten minutes to prep. All you need to do is remember to soften the butter a bit ahead of time. Seriously. It's so easy.

So, please - won't you help me save cake from a lifetime of celebrations and usher it into your regular routine? You won't be sorry.

Everyday Buttermilk Cake
Adapted from Gourmet

2 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (I use low-fat), well-shaken

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9-inch, round cake pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper and set the pan aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in the salt.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment - or a large bowl and a hand-held electric mixer fitted with the beaters - beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

With the mixer or beaters on low speed, beat in the buttermilk until just combined. Add the flour in three batches, mixing well with a wooden spoon after each addition, until the mixture is just combined.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula, or the back of a wooden spoon. Rap the pan on the counter several times to get rid of any air bubbles.

Place the cake in the oven and bake until it is golden and a wooden pick inserted into its center comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes.

Place the pan on a rack and cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, and then invert the cake onto a plate. Invert the cake back onto the rack to cool completely.

Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Keeps well wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for up to two days.

Serves 8.

Crosby and Broome. 11:30 AM. Sunday, August 8th.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

In SoHo, 11:30 AM on a Sunday counts as early morning. Utter quiet.

A moody good time.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

I went to see the Arcade Fire concert last night with a bunch of awesome folks (Miriam, Jeremy, Ken and Clemmie), and it was amazing. Snapping decent photos from our vantage point was tough, mostly because I have not yet mastered my iPhone. That said, I think these moody bursts of color captured the night pretty well.

They ended with Wake Up. Which made me very, very happy.

Fangirl out.

Flying by.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

According to Williams-Sonoma, it is now almost fall. It is time to start thinking about braising and browning and other things dutch oven-related.

How did it get to be August?

(Also, my doves: I know I've been posting a bit less of late; I promise to remedy that very, very soon. Smooches.)

Miya and Elisabeth will style your life.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Who are Miya and Elisabeth? Why, they're those lovely ladies you see right up at the top of this post, and they are simply fabulous. I've blogged about my friend Miya's incredible talents before - she is a true artist, and a designer extraordinaire. (She created my header, with which I am in deep, deep love.) Her newest venture is a joint effort with her equally talented friend Elisabeth, and is called You + ME*. (The "you" being, well, you, and the ME being Miya and Elisabeth.)

These two are life stylists. They will help you find the perfect gift, plan the perfect moment, or design the perfect party. Whatever your heart desires. Their goal is to make your life as pretty as a picture, something at which they excel pretty damn hard. Need proof? First, let me tell you this: Miya's wedding was one of the most beautiful, original, thoughtful events I've ever attended. Everything about it was pitch-perfect without being twee, and I've rarely seen a group of guests enjoy themselves the way they did that night. And don't get me started on the super awesomeness of that photo booth (again, see above) and those flowers.

Need more proof? Head on over to their new website, and make sure to check out their inspiring blog, full of cool gift, shopping and cooking ideas. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some lemon-blueberry pancakes. Like, right now.

60th and 1st, 25 July, 2:00 PM.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Is anyone else addicted to Hipstamatic? Because I am.

Apparently, I'm all about the peaches.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Summer's bounty is everywhere these days. On trips to the market, I'm typically overwhelmed by the options on hand: berries, tomatoes, corn, melon, greens, stone fruit...they all abound, and, more often than not, temptation overwhelms my reason. I wind up with three pounds of peaches, or two pounds of plums, and I'm left - all alone - in my apartment, trying to figure out what to do with all of it before it goes bad on me.

This weekend, I decided to make a cake. As I often do when I am in need of inspiration, I headed over to Smitten Kitchen and did a little poking around. I searched for plum recipes, peach recipes, general stone fruit recipes...and hit the jackpot. I wanted something tasty that would showcase the peaches and plums I'd bought, but also be easy to get into the office the next morning. (I made a blueberry-nectarine buckle last week that nearly did me in on the subway.) Deb's dimpled plum cake seemed the perfect solution.

I didn't have enough peaches to make a lemon-and-peach version, so I went half and half: lemon with peaches and green plums. I was also out of light brown sugar, so I used dark - and loved the results. The cake was moist, with a fine crumb, and fragrant with lemon and molasses. And, true to expectations, it was remarkably easy to make and to transport - and, given that it was more or less gone by 1 PM, I'd say it was a hit at the office, too.

What more could a girl ask for out of some Sunday afternoon interwebs poking-about?

Dimply Peach and Plum Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Two peaches and three plums, halved and pitted

Place a rack in the center of your oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour an eight-inch square baking pan, and place on a cookie sheet. Set aside.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer fitted with the beaters), beat the butter on medium speed until it is light and creamy, about three minutes. Add the sugar and continue to beat on medium speed, about three minutes more, until the mixture is light, fluffy and uniform. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well to incorporate fully after each addition.

Beat in the oil, zest and vanilla, then reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two or three batches. Using a spatula, give the bowl a good swipe around the edges to make sure the batter is uniform. Pour into the prepared pan.

Arrange the plums and peaches prettily, cut-side up, in the batter. Jiggle them a bit to make sure their tops are even with the top of the batter.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, checking every five minutes past twenty to see how you're doing. When a knife or tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, you're done.

Set the cake on a rack to cool for at least fifteen minutes. (This will also give the fruit juice that's come out of the plums and peaches to seep into the cake.) When you're ready to serve the cake, run a knife around the edge and invert it onto a plate, then back onto a final plate. (In other words, serve fruit-side up.)

Serves 8.

Perfect pancakes...and peaches.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

A couple of years ago, during my annual visit to Nick and Louisa, we ate the most delicious pancakes I have ever tasted. They come to us - unsurprisingly - courtesy of the amazing Ruth Reichl, who added her own personal pancake recipe to the Gourmet cookbook. Their marvelous texture and flavor come mainly from an exorbitant amount of butter in the batter and from being cooked as pancakes should be: gently, in just enough fat, over a moderate flame.

In fact, no matter the recipe, those are the basic principles to making a quality pancake. Too many of us let the skillet get too hot, or fail to wipe it down between batches. Doing so results, respectively, in burned outsides and raw insides, as well as a smoky, gritty mess of a pan. By following a few simple steps, we can all avoid the dreaded "first pancake" syndrome, and turn out perfect specimen after perfect specimen.

First of all: use enough oil, but not too much. If you are using a non-stick skillet, you want only the thinnest film of oil, about half a teaspoon per batch for a large (8 to 12 inch) skillet. For a standard skillet, use just a bit more; you should be able to swirl the oil around a bit - but just a bit.

Keep the heat moderate; when you drop your batter into the pan, it should hiss slightly and not stick, but it should brown slowly to a golden hue, not quickly to dark brown or black. Just keep an eye on it; if the edges of your pancakes bubble rapidly immediately, the pan is too hot. Don't be precious about adjusting the heat as you go; the pan will change in temperature as you add or remove pancakes to it. You must compensate by adjusting the flame.

Wipe out the pan between batches, and add fresh oil. If things have gotten really sticky and icky, use a bit of water to get the brown bits up from the bottom before wiping with a paper towel.

Finally, pay attention! Pancakes are not something you can walk away from. Watch how they bubble, how they firm up around the edges; they will not cook on a perfect schedule, so you must pay attention to them and flip them according to their own time.

Now that you know how to make pancakes in general, why not try these in particular? I've taken Ruth's superlative version and riffed on it a bit; the butter has been browned, and I've added chopped fresh peaches to the mix, in a nod to a) the season, and b) the fact that I didn't have any blueberries in the house this morning.

I hope you enjoy them!

Browned Butter Pancakes
Adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook

1 cup buttermilk (plain old milk will work, too)
2 eggs
3 tbs. canola oil
8 tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup flour
4 tsp. granulated sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3-4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Additional canola oil, for cooking

In a small skillet or saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook just until the butter turns slightly brown and smells nutty. Set aside until cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and oil, then whisk in the cooled, browned butter. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, backing powder and salt. Stir in the milk mixture until just combined.

Heat 1/2 teaspoon or so of oil in a large skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of two, pour 1/2-cup measures of batter into skillet. Drop five or six peach cubes into each pancake and cook until bubbles have formed on top and broken, about two minutes.

Flip pancakes with a spatula and cook until undersides are golden, about a minute or two longer. Remove from the pan to a warmed plate. Wipe out the skillet between batches, adding oil for the next batch to the clean skillet. Continue until all the batter has been turned into pancakes!

Makes about eight pancakes.

Queenie's Treasury

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Happy weekend, guys! It's yet another sweltering day here in New York (95 and super-humid, yay!), and I've taken refuge from the sun in my apartment. Before I get down to figuring out what to do with the pound each of plums and peaches I bought this morning, it's time for an edition of the Treasury!

First up this week, an intriguing, slightly haunting story from the New York Times. Rokeby was built by the Astor family in the 19th century, and now, despite its crumbling state, it plays home to a motley crew of Astor and Livingston descendants, most of them artists. The piece is a captivating portrait of the decay of the American aristocracy; at Rokeby, an oval skylight installed by Stanford White co-exists with peeling paint and a lack of adequate heating. The photos have an eerie beauty, and I kind of want to poke around the place on my own.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt has done it again. The MIT grad's Food Lab series for Serious Eats is one of the most awesome things on the interwebs, and his latest installation - instructions for making an In-N-Out Double-Double, Animal-Style - is the bomb. For those of us who live out here on the East Coast (read: sans In-N-Out), the ability to make a replica of the original right in a home kitchen is a pretty brilliant thing.

If you follow the interior design blogosphere at all, you've probably heard the news: Brides.com is now playing host to the Domino archives. Stories are being added slowly but surely, which is super-exciting, especially for those of us who don't have back issues on hand at home. One my favorite Domino stories of all time featured the design of editor Tori Mellott's 450 square foot apartment. Small space decorating is near and dear to my heart, and Tori's place is downright inspiring. I especially love her kitchen. That toile wallpaper and those kelly-green cabinets make me so, so happy.

Oh. Em. Gee.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

The march of the peaches continues, my friends, and I couldn't be happier about it. Last week, I spotted a recipe for peaches poached in wine and basil over at Food52 and instantly intrigued. I've always been more of a baker than a poacher, but something about the simplicity of the recipe (wine, basil, sugar, water, peaches) called to me.

The fact that I'd bought two pounds of peaches to no particular end might also have had something to do with it.

Regardless of motivation, the fact remains that I decided to make the poached peaches on Sunday afternoon. I tweaked the recipe in the smallest way (using rosé instead of white wine, since it's what I had on hand), but the results were still heavenly.

After only a few minutes of poaching (and a very easy peel), the peaches were even more luscious and heady than they'd been in their raw form. The syrup heightened their sweetness, and the slow poaching process coaxed the peaches from delightfully ripe to lusciously, sensually soft. The rosé wine lent itself to a rosier syrup than I'd expected, delicately scented with basil. Its remainders will, no doubt, make for amazing cocktails.

Guys, I gotta tell you: this is pretty much the sexiest dessert ever. For reals.

Enjoy. (Insert lascivious wink here.)

Peaches Poached in Wine and Basil
Adapted from TheRunawaySpoon on Food52

1 cup (dry) rosé wine
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 large bunch basil (about two cups' worth of leaves)
6 ripe yellow peaches

Place the wine, water and sugar into a wide-bottomed saucepan and stir to dissolve the sugar a bit. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and continue to boil for five minutes. Turn the heat down and allow the syrup to simmer gently while you halve the peaches.

Cut the peaches in half and gently remove the pits. This can be a delicate undertaking, depending on how ripe the peaches are. Add half the basil leaves to the syrup, then place the peaches in the pan, cut side down. (If all of your peaches don't fit in one go, you can do multiple rounds.)

Poach the peaches cut side down for about three minutes, then turn them (I used my fish spatula) over and poach for an additional three or four minutes. When pricked with a knife, the peaches should give way easily.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches to a plate. Add any peach juices from the cutting board to the pan, along with the remaining basil. Bring the syrup to a boil and cook until reduced by half. Pour in any juices that have collected from the peaches, and let cool to room temperature.

Serve the peaches drizzled with the syrup; whipped cream or vanilla ice cream would also be lovely. Reserve most of the syrup for use in cocktails. Trust me.

Serves six.

Easy as tart.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

I think I might have mentioned how much I love blueberries. And how much I love peaches. What, therefore, could be better than a recipe that combines the two into one delicious whole? Not a whole lot.

I'm a big fan of peach-blueberry pie, made with mountains of peaches and a very few berries, but I wasn't thinking far enough ahead to such a creation when I did my marketing last Saturday. The result? A pint of gorgeous, plump blueberries, and two small peaches left over from half a week of snacking on their companions.

The solution? A recipe for a smallish, easy-to-make tart that emphasizes the berries, treats the peaches as a luscious garnish and generally busts any myth claiming that pastry is tricky to prepare. You can use your food processor to make the dough, which you then press into the pan. No rolling means no flour-strewn counters. This recipe is a one-paper-towel-clean-up kind of deal, friends.

Hope you like it!

Simple Blueberry-Peach Tart

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick (1/4 lb.) very cold butter (cut into bits)
1 egg yolk

For the filling:
1 pint blueberries
Juice of half a lemon
Scant teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tbs. turbinado sugar, divided
1/8 tsp. salt
2 peaches, sliced
1 tbs. milk or cream

Lightly whipped cream, for serving

Place the flour, sugar, salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the yolk and pulse a few more times, until the mixture becomes to come together.

Dump the dough into the middle of a tart pan (I use my eight by ten inch rectangular tart pan; you can also use a nine or ten inch circular pan.). Using your hands or the flat bottom of a measuring cup, press the dough evenly into the bottom. Press the dough up the sides to the rim of the pan and set the tart pan on a baking sheet. Refrigerate the dough-lined pan for 30 minutes.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat it to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, mix the blueberries, lemon juice, cinnamon and one tablespoon plus one teaspoon of the sugar together in a medium bowl. Allow to sit while the oven pre-heats. Once the oven is ready, remove the tart shell from the fridge and pour the blueberry filling into it, distributing evenly.

Place the peach slices on top of the berries, arranging them evenly over the top of the tart. Sprinkle the entire tart with the remaining sugar and lightly brush the exposed crust with the cream. Place the tart in the oven and bake until the berries are bubbling and the crust is golden, about 25-35 minutes depending on your oven's personality.

Cool on a rack until nearly cool before serving. You can also cool the tart completely, cover it well with plastic wrap, and serve it the next day. (Note: if you are in an area with a lot of humidity, the crust may soften a bit overnight. It's still tasty, though!) Serve topped with whipped cream.

Serves six.

Not too cool for school.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

One of the coolest things I'm doing this summer is going to school. That's right, I'm back on the books! The School of Visual Arts recently created an MFA program for Interaction Design, and I'm taking one of their Summer Intensive courses. So far, it's been a great experience. I'm working on a group project and seriously enjoying the assigned reading.

Our first individual assignment was to write a short essay about one of our design heroes. None of you, I'm sure, will be surprised to learn that I chose one Mrs. Julia Child. I thought I'd share my little essay with you, since I know you love her as much as I do - or, if you don't, you soon will!

Julia Child is widely credited with revolutionizing the way mid-20th century Americans cooked and ate - and rightly so. But while we typically think of Julia's influence flowing primarily from her television shows - The French Chef in particular - it was her innovative way of writing a recipe, more than anything else, that led to her enormous influence on American home cooking and cuisine.

Traditionally, a recipe is written as a list of ingredients followed by a set of instructions in paragraph form. Julia, however, knew that, when presented with recipes in this format, people tend to forgo reading through the recipe ahead of time, instead assembling the ingredients and diving in head-first. This method - cooking a recipe cold, without reading through the steps required - can often lead to confusion, mishaps and a frantic search for necessary equipment.

In Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia and her co-authors addressed this issue by listing ingredients and equipment alongside the relevant steps in the recipe instructions, instead of ahead of them. The result? Cooks were forced to read through the entire process ahead of time, ensuring a firmer grasp on the principles of the recipe and a far sunnier outcome.

Add in the book's incredible helpful, beautiful line drawings that assisted readers in the trimming or artichokes and trussing of chickens, and it becomes clear that Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a masterpiece of design as well as of cuisine.

Dispatch from the field: Union Square Greenmarket.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

July is a time of exceptional beauty at the Greenmarket. Tomatoes are finally out in full force, and bell peppers are popping up, too. Raspberries, blueberries and blackberries are parading through the stands.

Did I mention the peppers? These little Hungarian guys were all over the place last weekend, just begging to be mixed into a stir fry or chopped into a salad.

And stone fruit! Tiny, perfect, sweet-tart plums were everywhere, as were nectarines and peaches. Large, purple-skinned plums can't be far behind.

Tomatoes again, but I couldn't leave you without a last shot of the colorful goodness.

Failsafe.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

If there's one hors d'ouevre that never goes out of style, it has to be the crudité plate. A platter of fresh, seasonal vegetables accompanied by a delicious dip is pretty much always a crowd-pleaser, at least in my circles. In fact, I could make a whole meal of crudités, given ample opportunity and time.

The key to a great crudité platter is twofold: keep the veggies interesting, seasonal and colorful, and keep the dip interesting and fresh. Packaged dips or bottled dressings simply won't do here, and since making a delicious fresh version takes about ten minutes, why would you bother with the overpriced, over-processed variety? As far as veggies go, get creative. This time, I let the Greenmarket be my guide, and wound up with zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, radishes and grape tomatoes. A few weeks ago, it might have been fennel, radishes and snap peas.

I've spent years searching for the perfect dip, and I think I've finally found it. The recipe has been right under my nose all this time, lurking in my well-loved (but apparently not well-enough-thumbed) copy of The New Basics Cookbook. It's a twist on the classic Green Goddess dressing from the 1970s, here re-invented as a slightly chunky, herb-filled dip. I've made a few changes (subbing in yogurt for sour cream; using anchovy paste in the place of minced filets), but it's pretty true to the original, and will no doubt make your guests ask for the recipe. (It's happened to me each time I've served it, and I love it!)

Go forth and appetize, my friends.

Green Goddess Dip
Adapted from The New Basics Cookbook

3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about one lemon's worth)
2 tsp. anchovy paste (or 4 anchovy filets, finely minced)
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaft parsley
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tbs. thinly sliced scallions
2 tbs. finely chopped chives
2 tbs. finely chopped tarragon leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice and anchovy paste in a medium bowl, and mix well. Stir in the remaining ingredients and taste the dip. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dip for at least 3 hours to allow the flavors to blend.

Makes 2 cups of dip, enough for about 8-10 people.

This is the life.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

I love my job. I like my life. And, most days, I'm pretty darn content with the demands they place on me. But, every once in a while, I sneak a glance over at the other side. What might it be like to be feckless and free, to be one of the ladies who lunch? One recent afternoon, I caught a whiff of luxury, and I liked it.

Lunch at Brasserie Ruhlman, Laurent Torondel's vast indoor/outdoor restaurant in Rockefeller Center, is most definitely a luxury. Menu highlights include steak frites, a lobster roll, oysters and sole meunière. Starting with shrimp cocktail, therefore, does seem the thing to do. What's more classic, or more perfect for a warm summer afternoon?

And I know you know that a true lady who lunches always orders steak tartar. After all, what good is a meal if it doesn't need to be mixed tableside? (Actually, this is the place to tell you that the service at Brasserie Ruhlman was a bit odd. Our waiter didn't seem to care for us much, and instead of offering to mix up my tartar himself, he said, "Would you like to stir?" and kind of walked away. Lame.)

And this is excellent steak tartar. The meat was fresh as could be, and the sauce and, er, fixins were wonderful: big, juicy, salty capers, chopped shallots, dill and parsley, all topped with a piquant dressing and a teeny, perfect quail egg. Yum.

The fries were pretty freaking awesome, too. If not terribly ladylike. Whatever.

Brasserie Ruhlmann
45 Rockefeller Plaza
212.974.2020

Le quatorze juillet.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

It's that time again, folks! Time for feasting, fireworks and patriotism.

No, no - this isn't a late Fourth of July post. This is a FourTEENTH of July post. Today is Bastille Day, the day when France celebrates the storming of the Bastille prison (a turning point in the French Revolution) and their république in general. Here in the States, it's a fabulous excuse to celebrate French culture, wine and food.

I plan to mark the occasion with a glass of champagne and a crêpe of some kind. Or maybe some mussels. Ooooh, or steak frites. Hmmmm...

How will you celebrate? Whatever French tradition, drink or meal you choose, get things started off right with a little Marseillaise action. That's right, kiddos. It's time for your annual Casablanca clip. Enjoy.

On a roll.

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

I've lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for about seven years now. That's meant enduring seven years of raised eyebrows, "Oh, I'm so sorrys," and "But where do you eats?" Truth is, I moved to the neighborhood for the cheap rent, and stayed for the convenient commute. But, finally, my years of patient waiting (broken only by marvelous dinners at the now-shuttered Bar États-Unis and the slightly-too-dear-for-everyday Spigolo) seem to be paying off. The Upper East Side is creeping ever so slowly toward becoming cool.

No, really.

A few new places with cred have opened recently (not to mention the Shake Shack due to start slinging burgers by the end of the month), including an uptown branch of the downtown seafood mecca, Luke's Lobster. Jeremy and I visited their original East Village shop back in March, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The rolls are plain and simple: lobster, butter, salt, pepper and a touch of Hellmann's, served up on a butter-toasted hot dog bun.

Now that they're so close to home, I've gotten the chance to try the shrimp roll, which is similarly unadorned, and just as tasty. The shrimp are small and tender, and pop lusciously in the mouth. For me, the buttered roll is half the point of a seafood roll, and the shrimp's less aggressive flavor lets the roll shine even brighter - so that made me pretty happy.

Most exciting of all, Luke's uptown branch has installed a Fryolator and will soon be serving fried belly clams. (As early as today; the staff needs to conquer some eyelash-singeing hiccups first.)

This New Englander couldn't be more excited. Bring. It. On.

Luke's Lobster
242 E. 81st Street (Between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
212.249.4241

Queenie's Treasury

about 1 month ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

It's the weekend! Hallelujah! It's been a wild, wacky (and actually pretty wonderful) week chez Queenie, and I'm looking forward to a little bit of rest and relaxation over the next two days. Before I get down to the relaxation part, though, I need to bake a cake for this guy. And before that, I have some Treasury goodness to share with you. Here goes!

First up, a recipe for Planter's Punch from Serious Eats. Planter's Punch is a classic rum cocktail made with dark rum, simple syrup, lime juice and bitters. It's pretty much perfect for the kind of stiflingly hot weather we've been having in New York recently, and has some sentimental value for me, too. My grandparents used to have a house on a teeny little island in the Bahamas, and Planter's Punch was the cocktail my grandfather would have ready and waiting for guests upon their arrival. So, for my purposes, I shall re-christen the drink Pops' Punch - but you go ahead and call it whatever you like.

I love this room. I could live in this room. And, yes, I know - it's really, really pink. But still. I could live here. That ceiling! That table! That pendant! Love.

The Style Files brings you the prettiest lemonade ever. I don't plan to make any this weekend (see above, re: cake-baking), but I think you definitely should. Please send pictures, okay?

Planter's Punch photo courtesy of Art of Drink.

Get thee a galette!

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Berry season is in full swing here in New York, which means fresh blueberries are abundant. The berries are at the height of their goodness: they're firm and sweet and just a tad tart. And while berries from southern New England and the Midatlantic don't get the magnificently wild tang that graces berries from Maine, ours are still pretty darn good.

When faced with a pile of in-season fruit of any variety, my first instinct, typically, is to bake a tart. This time around, it's a blueberry galette, a free-form tart very similar to the strawberry-rhubarb crostata I made back in the beginning of June. Instead of individually sized tarts, here I've made one large dessert to serve a group of four or five, but it's just as easy to make as the crostata, and just as fun to eat.

I've seasoned the tart with my favorite combination for blueberries: sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, along with a dotting of butter and a hint of salt. The butter and vanilla lend the berries richness, while the cinnamon adds a spice to heighten their tart nature. Once you add all that, you will, of course, need a bit of sweetened whipped cream to cut through it.

Am I right?

Blueberry Galette

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup polenta
2 tsp. granluated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, very cold or frozen, cut into 1/2-inch bits
3 tbs. ice water

For the filling:
1 pint of blueberries, rinsed and dried
2 tbs. turbinado sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tbs. butter, cut into 1/4-inch bits

1 egg, beaten with a tablespoon of cold water
Sweetened whipped cream, for serving

Place the flour, polenta, sugar salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse together until the mixture is mealy and most of the butter is about the size of small peas. With the processor running, stream the water in one teaspoon at a time until the mixture begins to come together in one or two big clumps. You may not need all the water, depending on the humidity in your ingredients and the air. (Alternately, you can make the pastry in a medium bowl, using a pastry blender. A food processor is super-fast, but a pastry blender works well, too. Make sure to chill the bowl ahead of time.)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and mold into a large disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Let the dough rest for at least an hour; it can sit in the fridge for up to 36 hours before you use it.

When you're ready to make the filling and bake the galette, take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit; this will help take the chill off a bit. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the blueberries in a medium bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Toss to combine evenly, and set aside while you roll out the pastry.

Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper and place the dough in its center. Flour your pin and use it to whack the disk of pastry once or twice, then start rolling it out from the middle outward, spinning it if you need to, until you have a roughly circular shape about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the crust (on the parchment paper) to a cookie sheet.

Spoon the filling into the middle of the tart, leaving about two inches of crust as a border. Starting anywhere you'd like, fold the pastry up over the filling. Continue to fold in triangles as you go around the tart (Refer to the photo above; it's easy to do once you take a look at a finished version, I think.) until all the edges are folded over the filling, leaving a nice circle of pretty fruit exposed. Using a pastry brush, paint the crust with the beaten egg; this will give it a nice sheen. Dot the exposed filling with the butter.

Place the tart in the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on your oven, rotating the tart halfway through baking. Bake until golden-brown and bubbly; the crust may leak some juices, but should hold up pretty well in any case, despite the liquid. Once the tart is done, remove it from the oven and transfer it, on its parchment paper, to a cooling rack. Cool close to completely before slicing. Serve topped with whipped cream.

Serves four to five, generously.

New friends and noodles.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Last week, I met a new friend for dinner at Momofuku Noodle Bar. Jason is someone I've been tweeting with for more than a year now. He's been living in Boston, but moved to New York about a month ago - something I find very, very brave. He's living in Park Slope, but I insisted we have our first meal together at one of my favorite Manhattan spots.

It was a warm evening, and I ordered the ginger-scallion noodles, a tangle of hot ramen dressed in room-temperature ginger-scallion sauce and topped with pickled cucumbers and marinated mushrooms. I, of course, added several glugs of Sriracha and proceeded to attack the bowl. Yum.

To drink, Jason and I both went for the shoju slushies: limeade, this time. I had a small, but could have had about four large ones. But that might give my new friend the wrong impression. Gotta save the drunkenness for a little while, at least. Right?

Grill-tastic.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

One of the best things about having an actual backyard is the ability to grill with abandon. I really, really miss grilling; it's been almost nine years since I had a grill at my disposal, and, believe me - I feel its absence.

So, of course, I was seriously psyched to get to eat a whole lot of grilled goodies during my trip to Ohio last month. Nick and Louisa are pretty amazing with the grill; Nick's ribs in particular are really. Effing. Good. On this trip, though, we tried to be a bit healthier, and went with slightly less naughty cuts and sauces. We grilled some gorgeous peppers and spring onions one night, to eat alongside...

...this. This is matambre (courtesy of The Gourmet Cookbook), a traditional Argentinian preparation for flank steak. You butterfly the flank steak and fill it with a mixture of breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, spinach, bacon and carrots, held together with a bit of the rendered bacon fat. Rolling it and tying it for grilling is most definitely a two person job, but once it's ready to go, it's easy to finish.

And super-easy to eat. The meat was seriously flavorful after sitting only an hour or so full of filling; it would probably be even more impressive having sat around for a whole day - which you can totally do. An excellent option for making ahead of time.

Another night, we tried Gourmet's Foolproof Grilled Chicken. It's brined before it's grilled, and once it's cooked, you dip it in a spicy, Asian-inspired vinaigrette made with fish sauce and lime juice. It is, in a word, delicious.

And did I mention...smoky from the grill? Oh yes.

Summer in a bowl.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Corn is in season, folks! Corn started showing up at the Greenmarket during the last weekend of June, just in time for the Fourth. There's little that says "summer" to me quite as clearly a fresh ear of sweet yellow corn, so, of course, I had to snap some up to feed myself over the long holiday weekend. I nabbed five ears and decided to use the first to make one of my favorite treats: warm corn and tomato salad.

I've made endless variations of this salad over the years; my favorites always include garlic, chives and a healthy amount of salt and pepper. This time around, I added a handful of gorgeous scallions and topped the whole thing with a fried egg - the easiest way to turn a bowlful of veggies into a fully-rounded meal.

This salad is a celebration of early summer, one that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch or dinner - or all three, if that's how you roll.

Corn and Tomato Salad with a Fried Egg

2 tsp. olive oil, plus more for frying the egg
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 ear of corn, sliced off the cob
1 medium tomato, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tbs. chives, finely chopped
1 egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 tsp. of olive oil in a small (6-inch) skillet set over medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic and scallions and saute for a few minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and the scallions are softened.

Add the corn to the pan and saute for a minute or two, mixing the corn well with the aromatics. Add the tomato and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about a minute, stirring, and then add 2/3 of the chives to the pan. Cook for another minute or so, then remove the mixture to a shallow bowl.

Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel. Add enough olive oil to thoroughly coat the bottom of the pan and set it to warm over medium heat. Crack the egg into a ramekin. Once the pan is hot, add the egg slowly to the pan, doing your best to center the yolk in the white.

Fry the egg over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, depending on how done you like your eggs. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then remove from the pan with a slotted spatula (I like this one.) and add it to the top of the corn and tomato mixture.

Top the egg and salad with the remaining chives, season to taste with salt and pepper, and eat!

Serves one.

Getting in the spirit, Greenmarket-style.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Even the Greenmarket was patriotic this weekend.

Between the blueberries, raspberries, sweet cherries and red and white currants, it was a veritable playground for those eager to bake a flag cake, cherry pie, or berry tart. (I'm among that last group there. Recipe for blueberry galette, coming up!

Independence: worth celebrating.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Independence Day in the States is generally considered to be a time of barbecues, fireworks and general merriment. (Lest we forget, though, here's the reason we're celebrating: our Declaration of Independence.) Me? I'll be spending the day making a blueberry tart, doing a little shopping, and seeing a French movie. I know, I know - sacrilegious!

It's not that I wouldn't love to be barbecuing in the open air, but this is New York, and that sort of thing is a bit harder to come by. Instead, we drink rosé at cafe tables, enjoy a delicious meal, and recall our status as one of the nation's original capital cities.

How are you celebrating the Fourth?

Queenie's Treasury

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Happy Fourth of July weekend, everyone! In a move I consider to be true to the holiday's culinary traditions, I've bought a pint of blueberries to use in a small tart tomorrow, and cannot wait for some seriously good fireworks. In the meantime, here are some Treasury picks to entertain you.

First up this week, a fabulous spot for vintage goodies. Haven Vintage's Etsy shop is my latest favorite. I've been poking around for some vintage cocktail glasses for a bar cart (another recent obsession), and found a gorgeous set of gold, faux-cane old-fashioneds at Haven. They have a perfectly curated assortment of vintage and antique pieces, mostly small housewares. I can picture this yellow wire basket holding throw blankets in a bedroom corner, and the bar towels? They just make me happy!

Next, an interesting article from the New York Times about Connecticut's cutthroat world of farmers' market promotion and, well, marketing. The field is so flush with contenders in the state that markets have begun offering promotions and discounts to entice buyers to their booths. I wish this were a problem in some of the neighborhoods here in New York.

Last, a little something to make you smile - or, if you're like me, to make you laugh so hard that your coffee almost comes out your nose. Catalog Living is a new blog chronicling the ridiculousness that is housewares catalog styling. Random hats under the coffee table? Giant, impossible seashells? Useless, oversized abacuses? (Abaci?) Catalog Living has - and mocks - it all. I can't get enough.

Last gasp.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Strawberry season is drawing to a close.

I actually couldn't believe how plentiful the berries still were last Saturday, and I was glad for it. Late-season berries tend to be sweeter and gushier; they're basically sugar held loosely together by vitamin C and strawberry seeds.

You have to eat them the day you buy them, lest they turn into strawberry booze overnight, but that's okay. After all, how could you ever resist?

Maybe there will be some tomorrow, too. Mmmmm...

Packaging lust.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

When Louisa and I visited the farmers' market at Crocker Park, we also stopped in to Trader Joe's for some additional provisions.

We have a Trader Joe's in Manhattan these days, but I don't go there terribly often. It's down in Union Square, and I'm typically pretty Greenmarket-focused whenever I'm there.

As a result, I haven't had a lot of opportunity to admire Trader Joe's packaging up close and personal. I was seriously blown away by the boxes of pudding.

I don't really care for instant pudding (though I'm sure theirs is better than most), but the packaging? It's fabulous! It's retro-magical! It's a 50s party in your grocery cart!

Now that's what I call a vacation.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Gewurtztraminer.

Rosé.

Happiness.

Variations on a theme.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Here in the States, we typically think of gazpacho as a cold, tomato-based soup, usually a bit zingy thanks to the addition of garlic, onion and vinegar. Sometimes it's chunky, sometimes it's smooth, but it's pretty much always tomato-y.

In fact, traditional Spanish gazpacho is a creamy, lush soup made with soaked, stale bread, copious amounts of olive oil (hence the creamy lushness) and flavored with vegetables. Which isn't to say that our interpretation of the soup is wrong or bad; it's just that: an interpretation.

In his Simple to Spectacular cookbook, Jean-Georges Vongerichten spends several pages showing us how varied the interpretations of gazpacho have become. Tomato-melon gazpacho (a twist on the traditional inclusion of cucumber, which is, after all, a member of the melon family), a simple tomato-cucumber-red pepper incarnation, and the most unusual of the bunch: cucumber-coconut gazpacho.

Given my love of cucumbers, I supposed I shouldn't have been shocked by how delicious this soup was, but I admit it took me by surprise. I'd forgotten how rich and complex cooked cucumbers can be, and how delicious they are with fresh herbs, especially mint. And now that they're in glorious season, I'll be making this all the time. I might swap the mint out for some basil next time, and see how I go. Yum.

Cucumber and Coconut Gazpacho
Adapted from Simple to Spectacular by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman

1 sweet or mild white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large cucumbers (or four Kirbies), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
3/4 cup mint leaves, whole
Tabasco, to taste
1 tbs. fish sauce
2 tbs. lime juice
Chopped mint (or cilantro, if you prefer) for garnishing the soup
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large, straight-sided skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is slightly softened and the garlic is fragrant. Add the cucumber and sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of salt and a bit of black pepper.

Saute the vegetables for five minutes, then add the stock and cook for five minutes more, until the cucumber starts to turn tender. Add the coconut milk and cook for three more minutes, then add the mint, Tabasco, limes juice and fish sauce.

Remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is very smooth. (Alternately, you can transfer the soup to a blender to puree it; do this in batches, if need be.)

Chill the soup. (If you want to serve it shortly after making it, place the pureed soup in a medium bowl and nestle it in an ice bath - spike the water with a general handful of kosher salt to speed up the process. Stir the soup frequently to aid in cooling it.) Serve garnished with mint or cilantro.

Serves four to six, depending on how hungry you all are.

Marketing, Ohio-style.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Sandusky, Ohio doesn't have a plethora of amazing restaurants (though there are some notable spots, no doubt) or a hopping nightlife, but you know what it does have? Seriously good produce. Louisa and I visited a number of different markets over the course of the week I spent there, and all yielded some good goodies.

At Louisa's perennial favorite, Kramer's Farm Market in Norwalk, we found delicious asparagus, which we promptly seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper and grilled for dinner.

At the Sandusky farmers' market, held downtown on Fridays and Saturdays, we found sweet cherries, snappy green beans and gorgeous beefsteak tomatoes. We used the latter two in our salade Niçoise.

Last, but not least, the North Union Farmers' Market in Crocker Park. We arrived a little late (prime time seems to be between nine and ten in the morning), but still managed to find some plum, juicy sugar snaps, along with some green onions for grilling.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; the Midwest is, after all, the bread basket of the States. The irony is, of course, that so much of what's produced there is consequently shipped off to the rest of us, or used in processed foods. These three markets, though, are doing their part to share the local bounty with, well, the locals - and that's a damn good thing.

Queenie's Treasury

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Good morning, all! It's on its way to being another steamy day here in New York. I made my weekly pilgrimage to the Greenmarket this morning (Snap peas and cucumbers and beets - oh, my!), and am meeting up with my brother and our friend Ken for a lobster roll run this afternoon. In the meantime, though, it's time for some Treasury action!

First up this week, a quick trip to Paris for some serious cookware shopping. David Lebovitz, ex-pat and pastry cookbook author extraordinaire, posted a guide to shopping for supplies in that most culinarily obsessed of cities. He mentions, of course, the legendary E. Dehillerin, as well as the marches aux puces and some intriguing cookbook shops. Sigh. Yet another reason to get myself back to France sooner rather than later.

Next, a ridiculously delicious-looking brunch at Portland, Oregon's Simpatica. My friend Lorna posted this on her Cookbook Chronicles blog just yesterday, and it looks so. Freaking. Delicious. Smoked steak, grilled shrimp, fried eggs, potatoes and broccoli? Um, wow. Never mind the chicken and waffles. Or chicken fried bison. Drool.

Finally, a fabulous piece of art from Jane Mount, who documents people's ideal bookshelves as a form of portraiture. As a lifelong bookworm, I thoroughly approve. And, in fact, I bought a print of this piece, Ideal Bookshelf 6, GW, just yesterday. It's a portrait of George Weld, chef and owner of Egg, a restaurant in Brooklyn. And I can't wait for it to arrive so I can hang it on my ready and eager wall. Yay!

Julia knows best.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

It was pretty darn warm - dare I say, hot - while I was in Ohio last week. The last thing we wanted to do was turn on the oven or use the stove too frequently. The solution, of course, was a composed salad. But not just any composed salad - oh, no. We decided to make an old favorite: Julia Child's salade Niçoise from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Chances are that at one point or another you've all had a version of the Niçoise salad, most likely at a restaurant, and possibly updated with, say, seared tuna. Chances also are that the version you had wasn't half as good as Julia's classic recipe. It's just a salad, sure, but she knows exactly how to make the very best of each and every ingredient.

Green beans are blanched to bring out their sweetness while retaining their snap; farm-fresh eggs are hard-boiled, showing off their impossibly golden yolks; potatoes are boiled and soaked in wine, chicken stock, and vinaigrette while still warm; perfectly ripe tomatoes and simply sliced and sprinkled with salt and pepper. The whole kit and kaboodle is topped with an impossibly generous shower of chopped herbs. (We used a combination of chives, parsley, mint, tarragon and basil.)

The result is a meal for four that surpasses all of your typical salad expectations. It's a meal worthy of summer in the south of France, one that should absolutely be accompanied by a crisp rose (Give De Loach's superlative 2007 O.F.S. a go, why don't you?) and followed by a dessert of strawberries, eaten whole, warm from the sun.

Puppy love.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

My friends Louisa and Nick have two of the cutest dogs on the planet. Oscar and Hunter have vastly different personalities (Oscar is a manipulative little cuddle-stealer, while Hunter is a quiet, loyal charmer), but they are equally cute. Each in his own way, of course.
I invite you to share the cuteness with me!

First up, the will-do-anything-to-have-his-own-way rascal, Oscar!

And this is Hunter, who is sweet, smart and an all-around good guy. He also has seriously impressive eyebrows.

So freakin' cute, right?

Minimal cooking required.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

It's pretty freaking hot out today, no? Seems like the perfect day for a composed salad. All you need:

- Chopped romaine lettuce
- Chopped Kirby cucumber
- Corn (either cut off of a raw cob, or defrosted from the freezer)
- Cold chicken
- A potato or two, boiled and sliced
- A radish or two, thinly sliced
- Snap peas

Arrange it all artfully atop a bed of the lettuce, top with some vinaigrette, and there you have it: the perfect warm weather meal. Expands or contracts to serve one or many.

Go ahead; give in to the laziness. You won't regret it.

Ohio-bound.

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Good morning, all! It's a bit early for me to be posting, I know. I'm writing this from the American Airlines terminal at LaGuardia, where I'm waiting to board the teeny regional jet that will whisk me away on my annual pilgrimage to Sandusky, Ohio!

No, I'm not going to pay homage to the roller coasters at Cedar Point; I'm going to visit my friends Louisa and Nick! Many of you are already familiar with our culinary pursuits, be they the pork belly-off, homemade banh mi, or dinner at Per Se (just to name a few). This week promises more of the same, though we are aiming to be healthier than is normal for us during these visits.

Don't worry; I'll see if I can't get them to sneak in a cocktail or two. After all, I'm on vacation!

Queenie's Treasury

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Happy weekend, everyone! I'll be spending my weekend dog-sitting for my friends' dog, Dexter, out in the wilds of Brooklyn. Before I head off into the outer boroughs, though, it's time for a little Treasury action.

First up this week, a seriously awesome series of photos from photographer Bryan Solarski. Little World is composed of iconic scenes from around the world, all captured by the magical, miniaturizing effect of tilt shift photography. The unreality of the images makes you stop and reconsider the familiar. I especially love the ones involving water, including Venice's Grand Canal, Coney Island, and the Amalfi coast. Wouldn't mind being any of those places right now, come to think of it.

Next up, another set of photos, this time courtesy of the blogger Frau Haselmeyer. She recently took a trip to Switzerland and became enchanted with the country's gorgeous consumer packaging. As someone long enamored of Europe's superior design sense (at least when it comes to the little things), I heartily encourage her obsession.

Last but not least, a seriously beautiful, sumptuous wedding at the Parker Palm Springs, via Martha Stewart. I cannot get enough of the invitations, the bride's ruffly dress, or the table settings. Oh, the table settings. Are those not insanely beautiful? Makes me want to recreate them for a dinner party sometime soon.

Cocktails, ahoy!

2 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

On Saturday night, Cristin and I picked Ellie up from the library and headed down to the water for a cocktail. We ended up at Belle Haven, the yacht club Ellie's parents belong to. It's not the most exciting destination for an evening out, but we were after the breeze and the view, not the raucous partying.

And what a view! Greenwich is right on Long Island Sound, and that faint stripe of green you see in the distance is Long Island itself. On a clear day, it's a crisp view, and you can even see - just barely - the Manhattan skyline.

And what's that on the cocktail napkin? That's right: the club's coordinates. How very nautical, no?

Memory lane, it beckons.

3 months ago | Queenie Takes Manhattan: Queenie Takes Manhattan

Last weekend, I went out to Connecticut to keep my friend Ellie company. She was home alone at her parents' house, studying for her medical boards. We grew up in the same town, but my mother moved away when I was a senior in college, which makes homecomings (despite their requiring little more than a fifty-minute train ride from Grand Central) hard to come by.

My friend Cristin came out on Saturday afternoon, but before she arrived, I dropped Ellie off at the library and headed down to the water and to my old stomping grounds. I grew up near the beach; only a block from the water, as a matter of fact. My friend Caroline and I used to ride our bikes all over the place, sneaking onto secret little beaches and into tiny little coves. So, I parked the car and took a little walk.

And promptly discovered that trespassing, while cute in the 1980s and at 8 years old, is just plain creepy at 30 in 2010. Yeah. I only made it to two or three little spots before deciding it was time to admit that I am now too old to sneak onto people's property and stopping the madness in exchange for an iced coffee.

Of course, I had to make one last stop, at our home itself, a beautiful old (built in 1898) shingle-style house. A good number of the houses in the neighborhood were built in the late 19th century as summer homes for New Yorkers, our house among them. It was a decidedly summery place, even in the coldest, snowiest of winters.

Sigh. I do miss it.

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