FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Recipes:
Pimento Cheese Bites with Cream of Tomato Dip
Sundance Chocolate Torte

HOLLYWOOD DISH
More than 150 Delicious, Healthy Recipes from Hollywood’s Chef to the Stars
By Akasha Richmond

(January 2006)  Celebrities and socialites have craved the best of everything from clothes to cars since the 1920’s when Hollywood became the center of the universe for the movie industry. Along with their quest for the best and to keep their minds and bodies finely tuned, the stars have also craved the best natural and healthy foods available. Akasha Richmond’s new book, HOLLYWOOD DISH More Than 150 Delicious, Healthy Recipes From Hollywood’s Chef to the Stars (Avery/Penguin Group, January 2006) chronicles Hollywood’s love affair with natural and healthy foods from the beginning.

Richmond treats readers with the scoop on how Hollywood’s elite, from stars of the silver screen like Greta Garbo and Cary Grant, to today’s hottest celebs like Renée Zellweger and Tom Cruise dine and stay healthy. Having researched this fascinating subject extensively for three years, Richmond weaves a delicious history of healthy eating in Hollywood with tales of the stars’ favorite restaurants and recipes.

HOLLYWOOD DISH is filled with more than 150 of Richmond’s take on Hollywood’s best recipes, including favorites like Cinnamon French Toast with Apple and Cherry Compote, Sundance Chocolate Torte and one of Billy Bob Thornton's favorites Pimento Cheese Bites with Cream of Tomato Dip (recipes below). The recipes are easy and fun – perfect for everyday meals and special occasions. HOLLYWOOD DISH will delight and inform those interested in Hollywood’s exciting lifestyle to those interested in cooking healthful and creative fare for friends and family.

About the Author
Akasha Richmond is a Hollywood chef, caterer and food writer. She has cooked or catered parties for Billy Bob Thornton, Barbra Streisand, Al Pacino, Pierce Brosnan, Winona Ryder, and countless others. Her company Akasha’s Visionary Cuisine has catered events for the Sundance Film Festival, Farm Aid, the Oscars, and MTV. She is a contributing editor to Vegetarian Times magazine, is a national spokesperson for Silk Soymilk, and a consultant to natural food companies and the restaurant industry. She has appeared on Access Hollywood, HGTV and local NBC, ABC and Fox news programs in both LA and New York.

HOLLYWOOD DISH More Than 150 Delicious, Healthy Recipes From Hollywood’s Chef to the Stars (Avery/Penguin Group; January 2006) $24.95

RECIPES from HOLLYWOOD DISH
More Than 150 Delicious, Healthy Recipes From Hollywood’s Chef to the Stars
By Akasha Richmond
(Avery/Penguin Group, January 2006) - Used with permission.

Pimento Cheese Bites with Cream of Tomato Dip

When I catered Billy Bob Thornton’s Christmas party one year, he whipped up some of his special soy-based pimento cheese sandwiches for all of us cooking in the kitchen. The following summer when I catered Billy’s birthday, I made the sandwiches as an appetizer and served them with a cream of tomato dip-an idea that my friend Sergio Gomez gave me. When Emeril Lagasse made pimento cheese on his show, he told the audience that when you’re in the South as a guest in someone’s home, and they bring out the pimento cheese it’s a special thing, so I was really honored when Billy made this dish for me.

Note: Any leftover dip, can be thinned out a bit with more soymilk and served as soup

Makes 12 pimento cheese, serves 6 as an appetizer

Cream of Tomato Dip
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 large shallot, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 can (28-oz) can whole tomatoes in juice, chopped (retain juice)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon fresh
2 tablespoons white rice flour
1 cup plain soymilk
1/4 cup soymilk creamer
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pimento Cheese Bites
1 cup grated soy cheddar cheese, or cheese of your choice
2 tablespoons vegan or light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 cup diced pimentos, drained
1 tablespoon chopped green olives
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
6 slices spelt bread, whole wheat, or sliced sourdough bread
Canola cooking spray, olive oil or 1 tablespoon non-hydrogenated soy spread

To make the dip, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a 4-quart soup pot. Add the onions and shallots, and sauté until softened, and clear, about 8 minutes. Add the salt, tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato paste, broth, bay leaf, basil and thyme. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes. Mix the rice flour with the soymilk and the soy creamer. Whisk into the tomato mixture and simmer 5 minutes more. Remove the bay leaf. Puree the dip in 2 batches in a blender until smooth and creamy. At this point, taste the soup, if you think it needs to be sweeter, add the sugar, then season to taste with freshly ground pepper.

To make the Pimento Cheese Bites, mix the cheese, mayonnaise, green onion, pimento, olives, salt,
pepper and red pepper sauce in a small bowl. Divide equally among 3 slices of the bread and top
with the remaining bread slices. Heat a 10 or 12-inch non-stick sauté pan over medium heat.
Spray with the cooking spray. If your not watching your fat grams, add a tablespoon of the nonhydrogenated soy spread to the pan. Cook the sandwiches on each side until browned and cheese has melted. Add more spray or soy spread as you go along. Cut into quarters and serve with the dip.

Sundance Chocolate Torte

Hollywood should really be using Alice Medrich as a consultant when they make movies like Chocolat (2000) because no one knows more about chocolate than Alice. If she lived in Los Angeles, I'm sure she would be the “chocolatier to the Stars”, though to me she is, since I use her recipes all the time. This is my wheat-free, soy-enhanced version of Alice’s Chocolate Walnut Torte from Chocolate and The Art of Low-Fat Desserts (1994). When I catered my first events at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003, I took this recipe along, knowing the altitude wouldn’t really effect the texture. It was a huge hit at all of the parties, and I have been serving it every year.

1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts or almonds
3 tablespoons spelt or barley flour
2 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup plain soymilk
1 tablespoon rum or Kahlua
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 egg whites or 1/2 cup liquid egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze
4-ounces good quality semisweet chocolate, chopped into 1-inch pieces (about 2/3 cup)
3 tablespoons soymilk creamer

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch round springform pan or removable-bottom cake pan, and spray with cooking spray. Grind the nuts in a food processor with the flour until very fine.
Combine the chopped chocolate, cocoa and the 3/4 cup of sugar in a medium bowl.
Heat the soymilk and rum in a small sauce pan to scalding. Remove from the heat, pour it over the chocolate, and whisk until the mixture is completely smooth. Stir in the egg yolk and the vanilla.
With a handheld or freestanding heavy duty electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tarter
on medium spread until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and continue to beat until stiff but not dry. Fold the nut mixture into the chocolate. Fold a quarter of the egg whites in with a rubber spatula to lighten the mixture, then fold in the rest. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth to the edges with the rubber spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes Don’t overbake, it will dry out. Cool the torte on a rack. Slide a butter knife around the sides to release the torte. Removes the sides from the pan, invert the pan, remove paper liner from the bottom, and turn torte right side up onto a cake platter or large plate.

In a double boiler or stainless steel bowl set over gently simmering water (the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl), melt the chocolate, stirring. Turn off the heat and let stand over warm water until ready to use. Scald the soymilk in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Pour into the melted chocolate and whisk together. Pour the chocolate glaze over the cake and let cool before serving.

RECIPES from HOLLYWOOD DISH More Than 150 Delicious, Healthy Recipes From Hollywood’s Chef to the Stars By Akasha Richmond  (Avery/Penguin Group, January 2006) - Used with permission.

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