Cookbook brings celebrity recipes back to life

In a time before chefs were celebrities and celebrities had Twitter accounts, sold photos of their newborns to magazines or had every mundane activity blogged about, they cooked.

“In the old days, if someone let you in their kitchen for an interview, it was a big deal,” says Frank DeCaro, host of “The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius Satellite Radio.” “You would peek in their oven.”

In a way, DeCaro has been peeking in celebrities' oven for years.

An avid flea marketer, DeCaro discovered old pamphlets, magazines, even kitchen appliance instruction books that included recipes from celebrated entertainers like Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. Along the way he also found a new obsession.

DeCaro sought recipes for years - What would you expect from the man who spent nearly seven years as the flamboyant movie critic on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart?” – eventually turning his collection into a quirky cookbook: “The Dead Celebrity Cookbook: A Resurrection of Recipes from More Than 145 Stars of Stage and Screen.” (HCI; 2011; $19.95)

The cookbook celebrates food loved by the stars of Hollywood's Golden Era - Dean Martin, Karen Carpenter, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Mae West - with tasty tidbits of information that make the book read like a fan letter to those DeCaro admires.

“It's like 150 little love letters, little mash notes to all these celebrities, to thank them for all they've given me,” DeCaro says in a phone interview from Los Angeles.

While he genuinely loves every performer included in the cookbook, DeCaro admits some of the talent was better on the big screen than in the kitchen.

“I say when something isn't good, but that doesn't diminish what they gave to us,” he says. “Who cares if they weren't very good cooks?”

DeCaro also sees “The Dead Celebrity Cookbook” as an entertainment “Who's who” for a new generation.

“I have my radio show and I work with a lot of interns, some who never know what I'm talking about,” he says. “My new philosophy is if Lady Gaga can know who Liberace is, so can you.”

With the Hollywood award season revving up - the Golden Globes were Jan. 15 and Academy Award nominations will be announced Jan. 24 - DeCaro hopes people will use his cookbook as inspiration for their viewing parties. He even has a chapter dedicated to deceased Oscar winners.

“Ultimately, I hope people have one copy for the reading room, whether it is the bathroom or the living room, and one for the kitchen,” he laughs. “Just don't get the two mixed up.”

He also hopes the celebrities in “the great test kitchen in the sky” appreciate the humor of his book.

“My favorite recipe is Liberace's Sticky Buns,” DeCaro says. “I just pray he's in on the joke.”

Here's a few recipes that appear in the book:

Liberace's Sticky Buns

1 cup white raisins

1/4 cup light rum

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon ginger

3 packages refrigerated unbaked crescent rolls

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup whole pecans

Non-stick baking spray with flour for greasing pan

Preheat oven to 325°. Spray two muffin pans with non-stick baking spray.

Combine raisins and rum in a small bowl and warm in microwave on high for 45 seconds. Set aside.

In a saucepan, melt butter and then stir in spices and brown sugar. Cook, stirring frequently, until it becomes a bubbling syrup. Put a teaspoon of syrup and a few whole pecans in each muffin cup.

Unroll one package of crescent rolls on a piece of parchment paper. Pinch seams together to form one flat piece. Drizzle a quarter of the syrup over the dough. Sprinkle a third of the raisins and a third of the chopped pecans on it. Roll it jelly roll style. Cut into 1-inch thick pieces. Place one slice of dough, cut side up, in each muffin tin. Repeat with each package of crescent rolls.

Bake 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately flip the buns onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Replace any nuts that may have stuck to the pan and serve warm.

Bea Arthur's Vegetarian Breakfast

1 tablespoon margarine

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

3/4 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

Salt and pepper, to taste

4 slices bread, toasted

Preheat oven to 250°.

Melt the margarine in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and mushrooms, and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Put tomato-mushroom mixture on each piece of toast. Heat in the oven for 2 minutes before serving.

Frank Sinatra's Barbecued Lamb

1 (7-pound) 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.

To cook, 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.