Customer Reviews

The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I visited this restaurant a couple of weeks ago, and had some of the best food I had ever tasted. Pure and simple, excellent quality, I couldn't wait to get the book and start cooking! This book is everything you could hope for in a cookbook. The recipes are clearly explained, the ingredients are easy to get ( you probably have most of them), and the resulting dishes are absolutely delicious. I tried three recipes over the last holiday weekend, and my family and guests were delighted. The Sunday Sauce and Meatballs are wonderful! A bonus is the excellent narrative that accompanies the recipes; funny, practical and smart; you won't be able to resist trying this food. I collect cookbooks,and this one is going to spend alot of time in the kitchen with me, not so much time on the shelf.

New York City is a wonderful place to find all sorts of cuisines; Italian may lead the pack -- in any event there are many contenders for best of class. One of the top favorites for us is the Manhattan Frankies -- we know the original is in Brooklyn, but that place would have to go some to beat their Manhattan offshoot.

We have so many favorites that it seems a shame to list any, but two are especially noteworthy in our world: Ricotta Crostini, and Sweet Potato Ravioli. (I was able to duplicate the ravioli at home with great success based just on eating the dish and getting some hints from our waiter; reading the book made the dish an absolute triumph.)

The cookbook was co-authored by Peter Meehan, writer for "The New York Times" and editor of the Momofuku cookbook, and was illustrated by former Frankies server, Sarah Rutherford. The recipes are well written and easy to follow, and there are tutorials on topics like Italian wine and cheese and growing your own avocado tree.

The recipe from the excellent (and beautiful) cookbook for Frankies's special meatballs describes a signature dish. It's worth comparing this recipe with a more classic version suggested by a friend of Frankies, and to hone your skills, reading the section describing both versions. Frankies recipe:

Ingredients

4 slices bread (2 packed cups' worth)
2 pounds ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano, plus about 1 cup for serving
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
15 turns white pepper
4 large eggs
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

Frank's Tomato Sauce

Procedure

1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Put the fresh bread in a bowl, cover it with water, an let it soak for a minute or so. Pour off the water and wring out the bread, then crumble and tear it into tiny pieces.

2. Combine the bread with all of the remaining ingredients except the tomato sauce in a medium mixing bowl, adding them in the order that they are listed. Add the dried bread crumbs last to adjust for wetness; the mixture should be moist wet, not sloppy wet.

3. Shape the meat mixture into handball-sized meatballs and space them evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The meatballs will be firm but still juicy and gently yielding when they're cooked through. (At this point, you can cool the meatballs and hold them in the refrigerator for as long as a couple of days or freeze them for the future.

4. Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the meatballs comfortably.

5. Dump the meatballs into the pan of sauce and nudge the heat up ever so slightly. Simmer the meatballs for half and hour or so (this isn't one of those cases where longer is better) so they can soak up some of the sauce. Keep them there until it's time to eat.

6. Serve the meatballs 3 to a person in a healthy helping of red sauce, and hit everybody's portion -- never the pan -- with a fluffy mountain of grated cheese. Reserve the leftover tomato sauce (it will be extra-super-delicious) and use it anywhere tomato sauce is called for in this book.

***

Wonderful eating, fun cooking, an excellent reference for just reading about great food.

Robert C. Ross 2010

Great book - most cookbooks, you look up a recipe, go to the page, and maybe read any relevant content for a page or two before just going off the recipe. This book is actually readable, from cover to cover. A quick background on the guys, tips on gear/gadgets and how best to stock your kitchen, then on to the food. One of my big complaints with cookbooks is being told "this is how it's done" or "you only do it this way", without being told why. I'm left wondering "if I don't do it this way, will it suck, will it just be more watery, will it be a total disaster?" Here, they tell you what they do, and why they do it. Good stuff

Here are some specific details about the construction of the book. It is organized into the follow sections: Preface, Introduction, About These Recipes and This Cooking, Equipment & Pantry, Antipasto, Sandwiches & Soups, Salads, Pasta, Meats & Other Main Courses, Sunday Sauce, Desserts, Appendices, Acknowledgements, Index and the Frankies Crest.

There is a twenty five page section of photographs in the center of the book. Rather than focusing on the prepared dishes, the pictures depict people and surroundings with just a few shots of actual food. In a normal cookbook, where the pictures are often needed as a blueprint for the final product, sufficient information is provided within the text of the recipes so that the cook never feels lost - even to the number of turns of the peppermill.

The authors discuss the food and it is written so conversationally you'd swear they were speaking directly to you, explaining why something is done the way it is, how they used to do it and what personal touches the reader might want to try. It is a very special cookbook, although as the title states, more of a kitchen companion and cooking manual than standard cookbook. Yes, there are recipes, but to call them simply that seems somehow inadequate.

I prepared the Watercress with Fresh Figs and Gorgonzola salad (although,as suggested within the recipe, I used fresh peaches in place of the figs,) Ricotta Cheesecake and Eggplant Marinara. All three dishes were delicious and I encountered no problems with the recipes.

When reviewing cookbooks, if appropriate, I usually complain about the lack of photographs and the book's inability to lay flat open on a countertop, but although this book doesn't do either, I don't care. It provides significant information as is, and the authors personalities come through loud and clear. It would be wrong to try to fit their concept into a cookie cutter cookbook mold, but bear this in mind, it is not one of those lushly illustrated cookbooks designed to be almost more of a coffee table book than useful kitchen tool. The Frankies book is styled to look like a fine piece of literature -- something that will survive the ages -- with its black bound cover with gold engraved print and gilt edged pages. The book, in appearance and content is as distinctive as its authors and is worthy of space on any cookbook shelf. It would make an excellent gift for a novice or experienced cook.

If you also have a bunch of unused cookbooks and worry about buying another cookbook which will sit with the others collecting dust--I did too and luckily I was given this as a present. This one will be used. Alot.
Humorous, insightful, extremely well thought out and helpful.
Read the book, a fun read, to see how they want to lead you--and then go for it! Nothing is too simple for them to explain and make clear, which I needed.
Thank You Frankies for helping me impress the lady (who of course bought me the book)!

I thought I had died and went to heaven when Frankies started selling their olive oil.
Now comes their book. Not only is it a great read, it is a fabulous cookbook.

I am a New Jersey girl of Polish decent, who grew-up in a mostly Italian/Polish neighborhood. I've been making meatballs and sauce the way my Italian mother-in-law made them for the past 46 years. I have tried eating meatballs in many Italian restaurants, but they were never as good as my own. However, when my daughter made the Frankies Spuntino recipe for meatballs and Sunday Sauce, I had to admit that they were the best meatballs I have ever had and the Sunday Sauce was wonderful too. I couldn't wait to buy The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual for my very own and yes, I made them for my "significant-other," who couldn't believe how really great they were.
Although I will still make my own meatballs and sauce from my worn-out, olive oil-stained recipe book, I will make The Frankies' meatballs and Sunday Sauce with no reservations...I have no need to try anymore meatballs. I have now been to "Meatball Nervana."
Thank you to the Frankies for their great recipes. I look forward to trying more from this book.

Two guys from Brooklyn, NY, who both became succesful chefs, rekindle a friendship to include a long ago friend and writer. After 20 years they decide to share their Italian cooking recipies, techniques and history. History, by the way, to include Grandma's techniques, recipies, etc. As I told my daughter, a chef, the eggplant parmagian will be remembered as better than her first kiss. A superior cook book.

This book Is written in a very matter-of-fact tone and would be great for a beginner or young cook. The format and appearance of the book make it well suited as a gift for a guy, even a teen serious about cooking. Processes and materials are thoroughly explained with antecdotal background stories. Along with beautiful drawings, this is a well- rounded book that is useful as a guide and reference.

This is my number 1 book ever!It makes you feel like you know the author.
It makes you want to sit down at their family table and eat untill you burst!
I love the antique look of it and gives you the feeling of having an old friend.