We know comedian Frank DeCaro from"The Daily Show with John Stewart" but the comedian and talk radio host has a cookbook.
It's "The Dead Celebrity Cookbook: A Resurrection of Recipes From More Than 145 Stars of Stage and Screen."
DeCaro reveals the secret ingredients for actress Mae West's fruit compote and John Ritter's favourite fudge along with other recipes from dead stars.
There are over 145 recipes in the book and DeCaro says, "I taste-tested about a third of them, some of are really delicious; some, not so much."
As far as a personal favorite? "Liberace's sticky buns! I made 24 of them and ate nine before they were cool enough to handle. They're so good!"
Why did he write this book? "I did this book for home cooks with a sense of humor. Pop culture junkies will love the chance to reminisce about stars. But really, I wrote it for people who don't know who these celebrities are: younger readers, for instance. I hope they discover these stars and their work through this book."
"This is only the first in what I hope will be a series of 'Dead Celebrity Cookbooks.' It may have an irreverent title, but the book is a love letter to the stars. It's important to me that audiences don't forget these incredibly talented people. They may be gone, but their work -- and their recipes -- lives on."
Let's take a look inside the book, shall we?
Frank Sinatra's Barbecued Lamb
(serves 6)
1 (7 lbs.) leg of lamb, boned and butterflied
1 cup olive oil
8 tablespoons wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup prepared mustard
Combine oil, vinegar, garlic, and salt to make a marinade. Place lamb skin side up in a shallow pan and pour the marinade over it. Slather mustard on skin side. Cover and let marinate overnight. Place lamb mustard-side down on a very hot grill, five inches from flame. When brown on one side, turn. Cook about one hour total, checking for doneness at 45 minutes. Slice thinly to serve.
Eartha Kitt 1927–2008
Actress, chanteuse, and international sex kitten Eartha Kitt slipped into Catwoman’s catsuit in the final season of Batman. (Julie Newmar was off making a movie.) In the mid-seventies, she played a funky-fierce fashion designer named Madame Rena in the very fun blaxploitation film Friday Foster, opposite Pam Grier. Her voice-acting was much lauded in her later years. No one could purr any sexier than she could. Kitt is best remembered, though, as the singer of the Christmas favorite “Santa Baby.” Others from Madonna to Miss Piggy have recorded the song. But Kitt’s original remains the definitive version. In comparison, the others are just kitty litter. Oh, meow.
Eartha Kitt’s Chicken Wings
Serves 6
3 pounds chicken wings
1 cup water
1 (19-ounce) can tomatoes
2–3 carrots, cut lengthwise
1 green pepper, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 red pepper pod
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon celery salt
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Put wings in a pot with water and tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes covered. Meanwhile, chop the vegetables. Add them with the seasoning to the chicken wings and simmer uncovered for 10–15 minutes until tender, but not overcooked, and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Farrah Fawcett 1947–2009
The iconic poster, a swimsuit shot that launched 8 million puberties and just as many lookalike hairdos, clinched what keen-eyed observers already knew about Farrah Fawcett. Those who’d seen her in Myra Breckinridge, on Harry O, and doing commercials knew she wasn’t just gorgeous, she was a star destined for bigger things. Her TV moment came when Aaron Spelling cast her as Jill Munroe, one of three recent police academy graduates who’d been assigned the most “hazardous” (that is, mundane) of duties. Charlie’s Angels took Fawcett away from all the bit parts and launched her into the stratosphere. Tabloids followed her marriage to (and divorce from) Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors and then the ups and downs of her long relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal. Critics took note when she took on a pair of dramatic roles in The Burning Bed and Extremities, two battered-women tales. Late in her career, the press reveled in Fawcett’s bizarre antics: naked painting videos, incoherent talk show appearances, and the like. But fans never stopped loving her. When she appeared with her fellow “Angels,” Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith, in an emotional 2006 Emmy tribute to Spelling, the audience was floored. The trio, who’d rarely been seen together since their glory days, still looked as fabulous as ever. Time stood still, if only for a little while. Whether Farrah Fawcett’s recipe lives up to its name, you’ll have to decide. Certainly, though, she was supreme.
Farrah Fawcett’s Sausage and Peppers Supreme
Serves 4
3 green bell peppers
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 pound hot Italian pork sausages
¾ cup dry red wine
Preheat oven to 350°. Wash peppers, remove stems and seeds, and cut into chunks. In a covered ovenproof pan, sauté peppers in olive oil until they start to soften. Season with salt and pepper. Remove and reserve. Brown sausages in the same pan. Add wine, cover and bake 40 minutes. Uncover, add sautéed
peppers, bake about 30 minutes longer, and serve.
Post Mortem: Who knew Charlie’s most glamorous Angel knew her way around an Italian kitchen? As it turns out, her sausage and peppers are heavenly. Some chopped onion sautéed with the peppers would be a welcome addition.
Excerpted from The Dead Celebrity Cookbook by Frank DeCaro. Reprinted with permission. © 2011 HCI. All rights reserved
