Click to purchase
I never thought of the glamorous Jackie Collins as someone who would actually cook, but who knew, she now has a cookbook named for her most popular character and based on some of the food that’s shown up in the books. Open the book to find the inside covers filled with pictures of Jackie and her celebrity pals, including her sister Joan Collins of Dynasty fame. But no worries, there are lots of food pictures inside the book too. Also sprinkled throughout are occasional notes about why the recipe was included, i.e. “English Roast Potatoes are a teenage Gino junior’s passion. He devours them…”
The first chapter is Cocktails, and the first thing I tried was a drink called The Jackie Collins, which was created by Wolfgang Puck. It includes some of my favorite flavors, raspberry and lemon, and was really delicious. This may be my new favorite drink.
Appetizers are next and include a few salads like a Caesar with white anchovies and terrific Beet and Avocado Salad with a honey balsamic vinaigrette. There are also several pizzas and mac & cheese (as an app? really?) Then comes the Pasta Appetizers, with such rich fare as Veal Saffron Cream Pasta Sauce, Fettucine with Crab and Cream, and Rigatoni with Lobster Champagne Cream. I can’t imagine Jackie Collins eating any of these.
Entrees are next and this is the most extensive chapter in the book, with about 35 recipes or so. When the weather turns cold again I’m definitely going to try Lucky’s Kick-Ass Chili with four kinds of chili peppers. The Pork Chops Milanese were delicious and easy, and I loved that they were served with an aurugla salad. I am also intrigued by the Bourbon-Marinated Flank Steak with Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and soy sauce. There are some nice fish dishes, too, like Santangelo Salmon with red miso and sake butter, and a simple Sole with Parmesan Crust.
There is a chapter devoted to side dishes like The Best Mashed Potatoes Ever, which is a pretty standard recipe, but the Sweet Potatoes and Apricots is a bit more unusual – chopped dried apricots are soaked in bourbon and then added to a brown sugar enriched mashed sweet potato along with pecans. There is also a Thanksgiving “lifesaver”, Brussels Sprouts Moutarde, which is made entirely in the microwave, nothing I will be attempting; however, I can see the merit in the idea.
A short chapter with five sauces is next, including Blender Hollandaise Sauce and Lucky’s Best Besciamella Sauce and then we get to desserts, including Flourless Chocolate Cake, Moist Sugar Cake, and a Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Strawberries, along with several other fruit desserts and a couple of sorbets.
It is a lovely cookbook and Jackie Collins’ fans should definitely add this to their bookshelves.
4/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE LUCKY SANTANGELO COOKBOOK by Jackie Collins. St. Martin’s Press (April 8, 2014). ISBN 978-1250014658. 176p.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 