Actors who wrote good cookbooks

Several country singers have written cookbooks in the past few years. Most of them are said to be pretty good, but I haven't personally read any of them.

 

Madhur Jaffrey has written lots of excellent cookery books - and is no mean actress, either!

 

Didn't know she was an actress, love her books though. Particularly fond of "From Curries to Kebabs..." I like the infusion of anthropology, geography, and history.
 

 

I remember her in many of the Merchant/Ivory films - and then saw her BBC TV programmes

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhur_Jaffrey

 

Does that really count, Phil? I mean, if we count cooks who happen to appear in a film or two, we'd have to include all of Paula Deen's books as well.

Come to think of it, didn't James Beard have a couple of walk-ons too?

Just seems to me that on a thread like this acting (or at least entertaining) should be the person's primary career, and writing a cookbook or two the sideline.

 

I've wanted to try   Morgan Freeman And Friends: Caribbean Cooking For A Cause.   The actors donated all the proceeds to relief efforts in Greneda after a hurricane there.

Tony Danza also wrote a cookbook but I'm not sure it qualifies as a "good" cookbook.

Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry have written several travel books and memoirs that include recipes.

And perennial film sidekick and bad guy, Vincent Schiavelli, who wrote several Italian cookbooks and got a James Beard award.

 

I like Suzanne Somers. She is an ardent health proponent. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif

 

Dom Deluise-   Eat This... It'll make you feel better!

My sides still hurt from reading the anecdotes. 

 

Lindsay Wagner..... you know, The Bionic Woman.... she wrote a vegetarian/vegan cookbook. I cooked for her on a movie for about two months in the 90's.

My version of a vegetarian plate at the time was steamed veggies, brown rice and salad. That was not going to fly with her. I honed my veggie/vegan skills on her, she would come out to the catering truck and chat about what I was planning to make her for the day. In the end, she was happy with the food!

This also led to regular work with her when she landed the Ford campaign and any other studio work she did. She always requested my company to provide the location catering.

 

Jane Asher, an English actress, owns a thriving cake business - and I used to use her children's birthday cake recipes and designs all the time when I was forced to come up with new ideas for my kids' parties!

 

I never knew actors were so good cooks...............................

 

I concur entirely about Vincent Price's Treasury. It is truly what it claims to be. I have a signed first edition, and I even use it periodically!

 

Bin Laden .....  The last supper.

Charlie Sheen.....  Meals for uppers and downers.

Food Network.........  Cooking in High Heels

Staff of Chopped........How to judge a cooking contest

George Busch................Cooking with alcohol

 

Well, I really like Sheryl Crow's book "If it Makes You Healthy", although she did it with a professional chef, so I guess it's not technically her cooking. And she's not an actress, but I wanted to mention it because I really like it.  

 

people, in his last visit to Brasil Antonio Banderas did a good paella, live. But I don`t know if he wrote a book, and recently I found a movie with Gordon Ramsay, I think is Love`s Recipes.

There is a strange connection between both careers that I don`t how to explain very well, and sometimes I watch some Chefs on TV and don`t know exactly if they are Chefs or actors, or both.

It`s good to know about Vincent Price book, I saw him in Edward Scissor Hands.

 

Though this post is dated Setember 2011, Gwyneth Paltrow´s New Cookbook, My Father´s Daughter ( family recipes ) ( I believe it is title ) could be a nice addition to a collection.

To my knowledge, ( Living in Madrid ), Antonio Banderas has never written a cookbook. However, he is a partner and investor in a Ribera de Duero Winery ( reds ), and the Tempranillo 100% grape variety is called Antabanderas. Addtly, he is involved in film directing and future tv projects and voiceovers. If he writes a cookbk, it would of be in shops here in Spanish and there aren´t any yet.   

 

I love Sophia Loren's cookbook, Recipes & Memories.  Along with very basic-but-great recipes, her life in film is also woven amidst the culinary.  She is one great actress who insists on cooking while on-location; rumor has it she always had a kitchen included in her dressing trailer.  AND, she was not above scrubbing the kitchen floor when it did not meet her approval for cleanliness!

I use her cookbook as an inspiration for classic but simple Italian dishes that I may want to alter to suit a particular ingredient or situation.  I've owned this book for ten-plus years and this book has yet to disappoint me!  Her risotto recipes can be easily adapted as the basic recipe is always the same; what you add is what makes the difference.  I cook risotto in a pressure cooker and the results are superb.

For an easy tomato-based sauce, you must try her puttanesca  recipe as it is a fast way to dress pasta when time is "of the essence".  By the way, puttanesca  means whore in Italian; "ladies of the evening" are always in a rush!  ;-)

Bon appétit!