Book Reviews: Recipes for Life

Recipes for Life: My Memories 

Luscious, Linda Evans, best known for her 1980’s role of Krystal Carrington, wife to Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) in “Dynasty” proves as elegant as many of her favorite fine dining recipes from her relatives and other famous celebrities and friends. Ms. Evans has always carried herself with elegance and grace, with an underlying vulnerability that gives her “the girl next door” label. Do not expect “dirt” or gossip from Linda Evans. Ms. Evans relates her semi-memoirs with great charm and grace.

Unlike most celebrity autobiographies, this one reflects humor, gratitude, and pivots around Ms. Evan’s friends, beloved sisters, ex-husbands, and their favorite recipes. From John Wayne’s crab dip, her mom’s hot dog stew, Barbara Stanwyck (Missy)’s Hobo Filet, and in honor of Steve McQueen, the Lose Your Figure Potatoes with Cheese and Garlic, this book shares sumptuous recipes with amazing pictures of the stas of the 80’s.

No whining, no complaining, no dissing exes, and no gossip enters into this delight of a book. Nor does Ms. Evans center the book around herself. The book spends more time on her friend Bunky, her family, the friendships she has maintained like Barbara Stanwyk, Ursula Andress, John Derek, Sean Derek, Bo Derek, David and Dani Janssen, Lee Majors – the list goes on and on.

Linda Evan’s professionalism, big heart, and her lifelong passion for cooking, friends, and spirituality permeates the book, a book that uplifts and crafts itself around recipes, cooking, and the gift of nurturing. I immediately slipped into my kitchen to try some! My favorite – Hell’s Kitchen Salmon from her winning appearance on the show in 2009.

Refreshing, and downright fun, Linda Evans Recipes for Life reveals a well rounded, classy and caring portrait that belies all the “dirt” we hear about Hollywood celebrities. A great book to settle into the arm chair with.

Hell’s Salmon

• ¼ cup clarified unsalted butter (see page 29)
• 6 (6oz) skinless salmon fillets – about ¾” thick
• 1 cup seasoned butter – at room temperature (see page 96)

Put the clarified butter into a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. After 2 minutes, when the butter is hot, add the salmon fillets. Let them sizzle, without moving them for 2½ minutes, then flip the fillets carefully and continue to cook for another 3 minutes.Place the salmon on a warmed serving plate.

Remove the pan from the heat. Wipe the pan with a paper towel to remove excess butter. In the still-warm pan, add a ¼ cup of the softened seasoned butter at a time, whisking constantly, until it forms a creamy sauce. If you need a bit more heat, hold the pan briefly over very low heat (only for a moment, then remove again), never letting the butter melt completely or the sauce with separate. (This sauce derives its velvet-like smoothness from whisking in the butter so it blends into and thickens the sauce, without melting outright). Put the sauce in a gravy boat, and serve separately.

If you’re not a soy sauce lover, you can make this salmon and use Julia Child’s Hollandaise sauce (page 80) instead.

Delicious! One more caveat. When I surfed the web for information on Linda Evans, sadly most of what I got was about Linda’s plastic surgery when she was 50. I felt appalled at the gossip and nasty remarks. I cannot envision having to look perfect 24/7 in order to keep my job. Linda has gone on record about this on Oprah and The Today Show. Who among us as women would not utilize plastic surgery if we could in a culture that throws women away after 50? I admire Linda Evan’s honesty, courage and integrity, and her portrait at the back of the book (and throughout her other pictures) shows a woman of 68 not only beautiful, but beyond beauty. She is amazing.

Recipes for Life: My Memories is available to purchase at your local bookseller and Amazon.com 

Ratings are based on a 5-star scale 
Overall: 5

Review by Broad “A” – Ava 

We received a copy of this title for our book review. All opinions are our own.