Recipes for Life (14 page)

While we were married, Stan became partners in Pips, a successful restaurant and disco/backgammon club in Beverly Hills. One of his partners was Hugh Hefner, who I’d known for years. While I was married to John, we’d often go to the Playboy Mansion for dinner and movies.

One Halloween, Ursula, Stan, and I were invited to the mansion for a costume party. Because of my recent breakup with John, there was a lot of press at the time about John’s wives, so Urs and I decided to have some fun with it. We dressed up like boxers, one of us with a shiner. The real joke was what great friends we were.

Battling it out at the Playboy Mansion.

The parties we had in Malibu were special to me because of the wonderful new people I was meeting. Almost every weekend, our house was filled to the brim with laughter and great conversations. It was so different from my life with John, where I’d spent most of my time alone with him. Now every night would usher in a new set of guests—friends like Suzanne Pleshette; Altovise and Sammy Davis Jr.; Ginny and Henry Mancini; Polly Bergen; Alana and George Hamilton; Ann and Richard Harris; Leslie and Tony Curtis; Liza Minnelli and Jack Haley Jr.; Bridget and David Hedison; Sandra and Tony Bennett. People would start dropping by at midday and often stay until the wee hours of the morning.

With Stan I experienced a lot of freedom. It didn’t bother him if I worked; he even encouraged me to work. It was such an incredible time of change. I adored this new life with Stan. It was so much more in-line with who I was.

Real-life dancing with the stars, with Tony and Leslie Curtis in Malibu.

We both loved being with people, and now I could always invite my friends over and cook their favorite meals for them. We’d have big buffets during the summer, but during the winter months the group would be smaller so we could eat around the fireplace in the living room.

Fireside friends Corinna and Freddie Fields, Dani, and David.

Another crowd-pleaser, this dish I invented can go a long way when you’re feeding a house full of invited and unexpected guests. (Just multiply the ingredients so that each diner has one breast, three shrimp, and two mushrooms.) Easy and delicious, this was always a favorite during my Stan days.

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 tablespoons melted butter for the mushrooms

6 tablespoons soy sauce

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced garlic

8 large white mushrooms

4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless

12 colossal raw shrimp (12 count to a pound), peeled, cleaned, and deveined

Make the seasoned butter: Place the room-temperature butter in the bowl of an electric mixer or food processor, and gradually beat in the soy sauce, lemon juice, and garlic, adding a few tablespoons at a time.

Preheat the broiler.

Spread a thin layer of the butter mixture on the bottom of three broiler-safe glass dishes (an 8 x 8-inch, a 12 x 9-inch, and an 11 x 7-inch).

Discard the mushroom stems and clean the caps by wiping them with a damp paper towel. Dip each mushroom in the melted butter to coat, and place them, hollow side up, in the prepared 8 x 8-inch dish. With a spoon, fill the mushroom caps with the seasoned butter.

Place the chicken breasts in the prepared 12 x 9-inch dish and spread them generously with the seasoned butter.

Place the cleaned shrimp in the prepared 11 x 7-inch dish and generously spread the seasoned butter over each.

Broil the mushrooms.

Cook them on one side only: 3 to 4 minutes for small ones, 4 to 6 minutes for large.

Broil the chicken. Cook small breasts on the first side for 4 minutes, 5 minutes for large. Spread a little more seasoned butter on the chicken after turning. Cook the second side for 3 minutes for small breasts, 4 minutes for large.

Broil the shrimp. Cook the first side for 2 minutes for small shrimp, 3 minutes for large shrimp. Spread a little more seasoned butter on the shrimp after turning. Cook the second side 1 to 2 minutes for small shrimp, 2 to 3 minutes for large.

Timing is the most important thing with this recipe; cook the items in this order, and don’t overcook. The butter not only keeps everything moist, it also continues to cook the food once it’s removed from the oven.

After they all come out of the broiler, some of the butter mixture will have separated. Spoon ¼ cup of butter from the chicken pan and put it into a small saucepan over the lowest heat possible on the stovetop. Heat briefly, remove promptly from the heat, and then whisk in about ¾ cup of the uncooked seasoned butter, which will then form a creamy sauce. Do not overheat, or it will separate again. Put the sauce in a gravy boat.

Put the chicken, shrimp, and mushrooms on a serving platter and pass the butter sauce separately.

N
EAR THE END
of summer when it became cooler in Malibu, friends would gather for lunch around the roaring fire in our living room. Often by sundown, it would become so packed with people, I’d find myself slipping upstairs for a tiny moment alone before shifting gears for dinner.

The upstairs master bedroom was a wonderful place to sit and relax, looking out over the ocean. I remember one evening walking into my bedroom and feeling like I wasn’t alone. As I rounded the corner, I saw Henry Mancini sitting on the bed, taking in the beauty of the moon as it cast its spell on the water. Like minds.

Dani Janssen, Anne Harris, Alana Stewart, and me
Dressed To Kill.

I quietly sat beside him. The next moment the door opened and Alana walked in. I chuckled as she sat on the other side of Henry. All three of us wanted to be alone. We sat silently enjoying the music that played throughout the house.

Then the most perfect thing happened: “Moon River” started playing. I flashed on Audrey Hepburn in
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
. Alana started singing and then Henry and I joined in. It was such a magical moment, sitting there with the composer of this beautiful classic. They didn’t even mind that I was off-key.

W
HEN
I
FIRST
met Nena she was this shy little lady from Belize who was hired to be our housekeeper. But I realized very quickly that she had great instincts for cooking. She did in fact become a great cook, as well as a part of my family for the next twenty-eight years.

I remember one of the first times Nena ever served drinks for us in Malibu. Stan asked her to go see if anyone in the Jacuzzi wanted a cocktail.

Off Nena went with her little silver tray, only to stop cold when she found Tony Curtis, Sammy Davis Jr., and Ted Kennedy in the bubbling water. The guys saw that she was flustered and sweetly told her they’d each like a Screwdriver.

Nena hurried to the kitchen to ask what to do. The cook, who was afraid Nena would one day replace her, promptly told her to go to the closet and look in the toolbox.

While Nena was wrestling with the enormous toolbox, Stan walked up wondering what the hell she was doing. Totally rattled, Nena blurted out the whole tale. After a good laugh, Stan taught her how to make a Screwdriver and sent her back to the Jacuzzi with her silver tray.

When she arrived, the three gentlemen stood up to get their drinks, which Nena nearly threw into the air, because all three were naked and saluting her. Somehow she managed to serve them, then beat a hasty retreat straight into the kitchen, where she informed the cook that if anyone else in the Jacuzzi wanted a drink, the cook could serve them herself.