Cooking for Jack with Tommy Baratta

Cooking for Jack

The first time he tasted one of Tommy's pasta recipes at an impromptu gathering in Aspen, Jack asked, "Why can't I eat this way all the time?" Several dinners later, Jack recommended Brooklyn-born-and-bred Tommy as a background consultant and cook to director John Huston while filming "Prizzi's Honor." Tommy's been cooking for Jack ever since-whenever the actor is on location, and for several months each year at his Beverly Hills home.

To help Jack slim down, Tommy drew on the philosophy that fine Italian food means fresh ingredients, simply prepared, and he created a powerhouse repertoire of quick, full-flavored dishes that are low in fat and calories. Eating Tommy's way, Jack dropped those extra pounds-and so did Tommy

COOKING FOR JACK includes more than one hundred of the recipes that keep Jack lean and energized, from breakfasts such as "Basic Frittata" and "No Problem French Toast" to his favorite dessert, a luscious but light "Rice Pudding" with rum-soaked raisins.

You'll enjoy hearty soups like " Herbed Corn and Potato Chowder" and "Danny DeVito's Escarole and Bean Soup." Of course there are dozens of pasta dishes, from the "Tomato-Basil Sauce" that first won Jack's heart to "Cavatelli with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage, Fusilli with Red Bell Pepper Sauce, " the dramatic-looking "Shrimp with Tomato Sauce and Black Fettucine," and the "Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs" that Tommy's mom taught Anjelica Huston to make during the filming of "Prizzi's Honor."

In addition to wonderful fish and chicken dishes, from "Fillet of Salmon with Ginger-Basil Sauce" to "Lemon 'n' Lime Chicken," Michelle Pfeiffer's favorite meal on the set of "Wolf," you'll find glorious, no-guilt meat dishes like "Kathleen Turner's Sicilian Steak Giardiniera," for love of which Kathleen dubbed Tommy a "Sicilian diet guru."

Complete with festive snacks and appetizers-watch for the secret ingredient in "Aunt Margaret's Caponata"-and side dishes like "Marylou's Low-fat Home Fries," COOKING FOR JACK makes low-fat eating easy, fast, and fun.