Now: Your Daily Dose of Celebrity NewsDead Celebrity Cookbook Features Michael Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie and More
The topics of death and delicious recipes don't end up mingling very often, but the two go hand in hand in The Dead Celebrity Cookbook, which features 145 recipes from, you guessed it … actors, musicians, and other famous folks who have moved on to that big kitchen in the sky.
From Katharine Hepburn's brownies to Michael Jackson's sweet potato pie to Andy Warhol's stuffed cabbage to Farrah Fawcett's sausage and peppers, author Frank DeCaro, journalist, radio talk show host, and former movie critic for "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," has managed to collect a mouth-watering mix of recipes -- and tidbits to go along with them -- that lets home cooks pay homage to Hollywood. omg! talked to DeCaro about the kitschy cookbook, and got the scoop on which stars still live on through their signature dishes.
How.did you come up with the idea?
I've been just a huge flea market shopper and I became a big eBay person as well so I was buying anything -- and I mean anything -- that had a celebrity recipe in it. If it was a manual from a microwave oven circa 1975 or a handout from a Midwestern supermarket in 1968, old, out-of-print cookbooks, biographies, magazines, newspapers, ads; anything that had a celebrity recipe in it I would grab it and buy it. I had this collection, and you really do have to do something with it or the "Hoarders" people come and take all your stuff. I thought a book would be a fun idea.
Did you worry the title might be a bit morbid for a cookbook?
It's not a scandal book. The only thing irreverent about The Dead Celebrity Cookbook is the title. It's very much a reverent, loving, take. It's 150 love letters to celebrities.
What's your favorite recipe included in the book?
I have to say my favorite recipe -- and you should not laugh -- is Liberace's sticky buns. It's more fun than crescent rolls ever deserve to have in their lives. He'd make a brown-sugar syrup that's absolutely delicious and take some raisins soaking in rum and nuts and throw it all together. They're incredible and I ate nine before they were cool enough to handle. And I'm not joking. I made 24 and I ate nine. And nine is too many.
Did you discover any particularly surprising recipes while compiling it?
Well, people have been teasing me. They've been saying, "How could you put a recipe from Karen Carpenter in there for chewy pie?" Well, I loved her and I put it in because I think she has one of the greatest voices of the 20th century and I don't think you should be friends with anyone who doesn't like the Carpenters. I think they're just the greatest.
What's the oldest recipe you've come across?
There's a recipe in the book from the silent film star Ramon Novarro for his guacamole. And it has pomegranate seeds in it and it's fantastic. It's like an 80‑year‑old recipe that tastes modern. It's something that the Naked Chef would come up with. To add the seeds from a pomegranate into your guac, it gives it this citrusy, fresh burst in there. And who would think that's an 80‑year‑old recipe? They weren't even known as avocadoes at that point. They had another name entirely.
Any dishes in the book you don't like?
Oh, ["The Jeffersons"] actress Isabel Sanford's Boston Chicken was just a disaster. I loved Weezy Jefferson, but the sauce is made out of Russian dressing, apricot jam, and onion soup mix. And I was just like, "I'm not convinced those three things need to meet in the same dish." And I included her because a friend of mine said, "Oh my, God, I grew up on that. I loved that dish." And I was like, "You're crazy." She said, "No, we called it sticky chicken and we always looked forward to sticky chicken night." So, I said, "Well, somebody's going to like it then." So we put it in.
You included an entire chapter of recipes that belonged to Lucille Ball. Why?
Partly because I'm crazy about Lucille Ball. But also I thought any woman who is attacked in her own kitchen by a 12‑foot loaf of bread and lived to tell about it by the end of the episode is OK by me and deserves a whole chapter. You know, I don't think anyone in the history of television has had more problems with food.
Have you gotten any feedback from the families of any of these stars?
I got a call from someone who claimed to be Frank Sinatra's chef in New Jersey, who said he has recipes. I haven't followed that up yet. There's an actor who was a guest star on the "Golden Girls." The other day we invited her to the book signing and she got very upset by the book title. So she was the only naysayer.
You actually end the book with Rue McClanahan's non-dairy cheesecake. Why?
I had to end the book with the show that really was all about cheesecake. I thought that was kind of nice way to end it. And I was very fond of the women of the "Golden Girls" and I still am a huge fan of Betty White. And I'd met Rue and I had met Bea [Arthur] and she was just a hoot and a half.
Any living celebs out there you'd love to get recipe from?
Dolly Parton. Actually, I had a meal with Dolly once for an interview and I would like to repeat that again. And I hope she's not in any of the volumes of The Dead Celebrity Cookbook until we get to like volume 20, though, decades from now.
The cover of your book features a sunglasses-wearing skull made up of pictures of food, with crossbones in the shape of silverware. Was that your idea?
It's very much tongue in cheek. It's because I hate when people say "Oh, they passed on." It's like no, you're dead. Dead's dead. But their careers and their legacies certainly aren't dead and I want to make sure of that. That was the impetus for the book.
Visit the author at FrankDeCaro.com
Michael Jackson's Sweet Potato Pie Recipe:
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon or orange juice
2 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (canned or freshly cooked)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup pecan halves
1 unbaked pie shell
Beat eggs and sugar. Add melted butter, salt, milk, vanilla, and spices. Blend egg mixture with mashed sweet potatoes and lemon or orange juice. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Garnish with pecan halves. Bake 10 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake 40 minutes longer or until golden.
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