Recipes for Life (13 page)

W
HEN MY DREAM
marriage ended, my life was turned upside down, not only emotionally, but financially. I had no choice but to go back to work. I certainly wasn’t ready to date. My friends were persistent, not wanting me to be alone. They kept suggesting men that they thought would be right for me. One bachelor on several of their lists was a playboy named Stan Herman. Playboy? I don’t think so.

One evening at a very elegant dinner in Bel Air, one of my particularly persistent friends surreptitiously managed to seat Stan beside me. It was only after hours of delightful conversation that I found out who he was.

Luckily, I was just preparing to leave for location to do a film, so there was no chance for us to date, even if I decided to ignore my warning voices. But then he became remarkably attentive and thoughtful, sending notes and flowers to me on location. He even proved what a great sense of humor he had, because one day in front of my house (where I’d lived with John) there was a
For Sale
sign from his company, Stan Herman and Associates Realty.

Stan and me in Saint-Tropez.

I never intended to let myself fall in love with him, but I did when he said he’d waited his whole life for someone like me. I believed him.

Our wedding day with friends Dani and David Janssen and Polly Bergen.

We were married on the beach at his home in Malibu on the Fourth of July as the sun was setting. It was so beautiful; I ignored the fact that my friend Christina Belford’s mood ring turned black.

B
Y THE TIME
I met David Janssen, he was already a hero to me. My mother had watched every episode of
The Fugitive
. She was so taken by the show and David that she actually never locked the front door because she thought if the Fugitive wanted to hide somewhere he could stay at our house. Truth.

Sadly, my mother didn’t live to meet her Dr. Richard Kimble because I didn’t work with David until 1973, well after her death. I did a guest spot on his TV series
Harry O,
which we shot in San Diego, California.

Not long after that, we met again when I started seeing Stan. David was dating Dani Greco and the four of us soon became best friends. Because the four of us had so much fun together, and since David and Dani spent most weekends at our beach house, when the house next door came up for sale they bought it. By then, I’d married Stan, and Dani had married David. We were like family.

David and I even got to work together again on a movie of the week called
Nowhere to Run
. It couldn’t have been more perfect. Every morning, when the car came to take us to location, David would come out his front door just as I was coming out mine. Dani would kiss him good-bye, while Stan kissed me, and off we’d go.

I never met anyone who didn’t adore David. He had a brilliant quick wit and a mischievous sense of humor. I remember once, during a party in Beverly Hills, we were standing around in a large group, when someone commented how lovely I looked that evening. Without missing a beat, David said, “Of course Linda is beautiful, but have you ever seen her feet?” Naturally everyone turned to stare down at my feet. I was wearing high-heeled sandals, which didn’t hide the bunion on my left foot. “Yeah, she does have a flaw,” David said, shaking his head knowingly. I probably should have kicked him with my bunion, but I was laughing too hard.

One of a kind.

Dani and I also got to work together on a project called
Nakia,
starring Robert Forster. Before we did the picture, Dani and I had studied together with Lee Strasberg over the summer when he came to LA to teach. Knowing how bright and charismatic she is, I wasn’t surprised that Dani would also be an excellent actress. What the four of us shared was magical. Even after Stan and I broke up, we all remained good friends. Then tragically, we lost David and there was an enormous emptiness in all our lives. To this day, I still miss that guy; he was one of a kind.

Dani and I were often in the kitchen while David and Stan were playing backgammon. Every weekend, more and more friends would come to Malibu to hang out with us, so Dani and I would play around with new recipes to keep everyone happy. Here are two of Dani’s recipes that still get rave reviews.

1 egg

1 (2-ounce) can anchovy fillets

1 garlic clove, minced (about ½ to 1 teaspoon)

2 to 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

5 tablespoons olive oil

4 small heads romaine lettuce, preferably the hearts (approximately 12 cups)

½ to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I like Parmigiano-Reggiano), or more if you love cheese like I do

Coddle the egg by gently boiling it in water for 2 minutes, no longer.

Drain the anchovies (saving 1 tablespoon anchovy oil to mix in the dressing), then mash with the garlic in a small bowl until a paste is formed. Add the coddled egg yolk (discarding the white) and blend. Whisk in the red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Add olive oil and reserved oil from the anchovies in a slow steady stream, whisking constantly.

Wash, dry, and tear the romaine leaves into bite-sized pieces and put them in a salad bowl.

Toss the dressing, to taste, with the romaine and ¼ cup of the grated Parmesan. After distributing the salads on the plates, sprinkle Parmesan on top and serve immediately.

This has been one of my favorites. It is a crowd-pleaser that I’ve served many times. The leftovers are delicious, because the ham is so flavorful.

1 (13-pound) bone-in ham, skin on

1 (16-ounce) box dark brown sugar, plus 1 packed cup

3½ to 4 teaspoons ground cloves, divided

1 (16-ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice

6 tablespoons instant coffee, dissolved in 2 cups hot water

3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard, divided

2 teaspoons whole cloves

1 (16-ounce) can unsweetened pineapple rings, for garnish (drain and reserve juice)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 250°F and line a roasting pan with foil. Put one large brown paper bag inside another and set the doubled bag upright in the roasting pan.

Sit the ham, fat side up, down into the paper bag, and add the box of brown sugar, 1½ to 2 teaspoons of ground cloves, crushed pineapple with juice, coffee, and 2 tablespoons mustard. Close the bag and tie it shut with kitchen twine. Bake for 4½ hours. (If your ham is a slightly different weight from 13 pounds, bake it 20 minutes per pound.)

Remove from the oven and let cool 10 to 15 minutes. Increase the oven to 400°F.

Carefully cut the paper from the ham, slowly, being very cautious of escaping steam. Pick up the ham with oven mitts and place on a cutting board. Peel off the skin and trim the fat, leaving half an inch on the surface. Score the fat in a crisscross pattern, then place the whole cloves in the corners, pushing the cloves through the fat and into the meat. (If they’re not pushed in deep enough, they’ll pop out when you glaze the ham.)

To make the glaze, put the remaining sugar, ground cloves, and mustard and ⅛ to ¼ cup of reserved pineapple juice (from the pineapple rings) into a saucepan over medium-low heat and stir just until the sugar dissolves. Immediately remove from heat (do not overcook or it will get hard). Brush most of the glaze all over the ham. Set the remaining glaze aside for basting and finishing.

Add another layer of foil to the roasting pan and place the ham back in the pan. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes, until golden brown, basting the top every 10 minutes. (Reserve a few tablespoons of glaze to coat the pineapple slices.)

While the ham is baking, pat dry the pineapple slices. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan over medium heat and add the pineapple rings. Lightly brown the pineapple rings on both sides, then remove. Put some of the reserved glaze in the pan, adding a little more pineapple juice to thin it. Place the pineapple slices in the sauce, turning to coat them; cook for 3 to 4 minutes on low heat.

After the ham is done, allow it to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. When you have placed the sliced ham on a platter, place the pineapple rings around it and serve.

L
IFE WITH
S
TAN
was night and day from what I was used to. John kept his circle close but small; Stan’s spanned the world.