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Hot licks
When they're not making music, a lot of stars like to cook
Thursday January 15, 2004
By Dale Curry
Food editor
An artichoke, an egg or what? Which food would you choose for your reincarnation?
Such a question may never have entered your mind, but you wouldn't believe the answers when it was put to a few dozen music stars.
From Our Advertiser
Singer Patti LaBelle would be an extra-jumbo hard-shell crab. Bass player Nate Mendel would turn into sugar. And bluesy singer David Coverdale would become an artichoke.
These and dozens of other stars have not only revealed their culinary soulmates, but also shared their top creations in "Food That Rocks: Favorite Recipes from the Hottest Kitchens in Music" (Conari Press, $24.95 paperback) by Margie Lapanja and Cindy Coverdale, David's wife.
Due out in February, this collection is cleverly organized like a concert with the opening acts giving you teasers such as the musicians' favorite dishes, the foods they would be, favorite restaurants and restaurant dishes, backstage food requests, music to accompany food, and food for thought. Then come the recipes: Shania Twain's potato roast, Sarah McLachlan's currant cake and Patti LaBelle's potato salad.
All of the proceeds from this book will be donated to Freedom from Hunger, a U.S.-based organization that helps women and their families in developing countries break free from poverty by promoting sustainable lifestyles through financial assistance in education, health management and micro-enterprise business development.
Jennifer Lopez is represented, though she is not a main character of the book. She and several other restaurant owners donated popular recipes. From her Madre's Restaurant in Pasadena, Calif., come empanadas fritas, an appetizer; crema de frijoles negros, a Cuban classic; and arroz con pollo, a favorite in many Latin countries.
Singer/actor/woman-of-the-world Lopez picks a heart, soul-soothing meal that is a fusion of Puerto Rican and Cuban classics inspired by her maternal grandmother when J. Lo was growing up in the Bronx, N.Y.
Opera singer Jacqueline Pierce, a mezzo-soprano who has soloed at the Metropolitan Opera, shares her recipe for a meringue torte. It is as light as a feather but only before it is filled with mounds of whipping cream and crushed chocolate toffee bars.
What food would she be?
Chateauneuf-du-Pape '59.
While she would like to be from the sunny vineyards of southern France, her favorite food is not nearly so sophisticated; it is, simply, pecan sandies.
Many of the recipes are tied to mothers and grandmothers as is Sarah McLachlan's currant cake. Backstage comments from the singer-songwriter-guitarist-pianist are, "I remember this as a Christmas cake. My mother started baking in October and went all out for Christmas. She, wanting to please everyone, made this cake especially for me, as it was the one Christmas cake that wasn't full of that nasty petrified fruit and nuts and booze, all of which I hated. I think it was a recipe that came down from my grandma, as did most of Mom's recipes. It's quite a heavy cake, full of molasses, and it reminds me of her and Christmas, watching her weave her magic in the kitchen. It is something that I make now for friends as a housewarming or just a treat."
If there is anything guitarist Ted Nugent likes as well as music, it is hunting. And good hunting means good eating. Asked for his favorite restaurant, he replied, "Any commercial establishment would have a long way to go to provide the quality of food we are used to, but Ruth's Chris is as close as they come."
And his favorite food?
"Dead stuff on the grill! Pure, natural, organic, fresh, protein-rich deer, elk, caribou, moose, buffalo, lion, bear, duck, goose, pheasant, quail, grouse, pigeon, dove, woodcock, squirrel, rabbit, muskrat, beaver -- all the natural chow."
And his recipe is for a venison backstrap, "the ultimate food," sliced into half-inch thick medallions and quick-singed over hot coals with a caress of garlic salt and pepper butter.
It's not surprising that Nugent would be a wild boar if he were a food, but it is surprising that singer/songwriter Billy Corgan would be a kumquat. And that English singer and songwriter Leo Sayer would be a plate of nachos.
Food and music are a popular pair, and Patti LaBelle expresses it this way:
"From the time I was a little girl, I knew there were two things in this world I was born to do: sing and cook." Here is one of her recipes:
Patti LaBelle's
potato salad
Makes 15 to 20 servings
20 large Yukon Gold or red potatoes
12 large eggs
2 medium Vidalia or Bermuda onions, finely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, diced into small pieces
3 stalks celery, diced into small pieces
½ cup sweet relish
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise (about)
4 to 6 tablespoons French's yellow mustard
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 habanero pepper, finely chopped (optional)
Celery seed to taste
Lawry's Seasoned Salt to taste
Paprika for garnish
Hard-boil eggs by placing them in a saucepan just large enough to hold them in one layer and filling with cold water to cover by one inch. Bring to a gentle boil over high heat. Cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the stove and cover tightly. Let stand for 15 minutes. Let cold water run over the eggs for about three minutes. Crack and peel while still warm.
Boil potatoes with or without the skin in a large pot of water until you can stick a fork into them and it goes in easily, about 20 to 25 minutes. When done, remove from water, remove skins and dice into bite-sized chunks.
Slice eggs into large chunks. Reserve a few slices to use as garnish.
Place potatoes and eggs in an extra-large bowl and gently fold in onions, green pepper, celery and relish. Add the mayonnaise and mustard, mixing gently (salad should be wet but not runny). Finally, add the cayenne pepper and habanero pepper if using and season with celery seed and Lawry's salt according to taste. Stir all of the ingredients together. Garnish with large slices of hard-boiled egg and paprika. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Sarah McLachlan's
currant cake
Makes 6 to 8 servings
½ cup cream or half-and-half
1 heaping tablespoon molasses
¾ cup butter
¾ cup Demerara (or dark brown) sugar
3 eggs
2 cups currants
2 2/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat the cream and mix in molasses. In a separate bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the cream and molasses mixture, then add the currants.
Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the wet mixture. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for about one hour or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Nate Mendel's pea soup
"The greatness in this recipe is the Beau Monde and barley," says Mendel. "If you don't like pea soup, this one may be an exception. Plus it's easy and lasts for a while."
Makes 6 to 8 servings
2 quarts water
2 cups dry, split peas
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup potato, diced
½ cup onion, diced
½ cup barley
¼ cup parsley, snipped
3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
2 to 3 tablespoons Beau Monde
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoinng
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon celery seed
Pinch cayenne
Throw it all in there (a large pot), boil, then cover and simmer over reduced heat for an hour.
The only thing better would have been to have Shania cook them 
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