The Hollywood Meal of Fame

If you can’t dine with the stars, you can make their recipes.

For a winter meal one chilly night, make believe that it’s still summer and start the dinner with a gazpacho recipe created by Frances Fisher, the red-haired actress who played Strawberry Alice in Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning film “Unforgiven.” Fisher knows something about food. She now co-stars as a waitress in the Fox-TV series “Strange Luck.”

Served at room temperature, Fisher’s gazpacho is a great warm-up act for James Cromwell’s fish dish. Cromwell, the lanky veteran actor who stars as the farmer who owns the talking pig in the film “Babe,” has a peppery cod recipe that preserves the tenderness of the fish while titillating the taste buds. You didn’t expect a pork recipe from Cromwell, did you?

The meal can be capped with a slice of Donna Mills’ cream cheese pie with apricot glaze. It’s as visually appealing as it is light and silky. Mills, the blue-eyed star of “Knots Landing” for nine years who went on to make many TV movies, says of her dessert, “I don’t make it too often, because it is fattening.”

You can forgive yourself, however, because the rest of this menu is relatively fat free.

Menu

Frances Fisher’s Gazpacho

James Cromwell’s Cod with Fennel

Donna Mills’ Cream Cheese Pie with Apricot Glaze

Staples

Olive oil

Salt

Black pepper

Garlic

Onion

Sugar

Butter

Eggs

Vanilla extract

Cornstarch

2 to 3 lemons

Shopping List

6 tomatoes

1 cucumber

Hot pepper sauce or chile oil

1 fennel bulb

4 cod steaks or 4 red snapper fillets

Graham crackers

4 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese

1/2 pint sour cream

Yellow and red food color

Game Plan:

Day before or morning before: Make the cream cheese pie.

One hour before: Start marinating the cod or snapper.

45 minutes before: Cook the fennel for the cod or snapper.

20 minutes before: Put the fish in the oven. Prepare the gazpacho.

FRANCES FISHER’S GAZPACHO

6 tomatoes

1 white onion

1 cucumber

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 dashes hot pepper sauce or chile oil

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Blanch tomatoes in boiling water, then peel and cut into quarters. Quarter onion. Peel and seed cucumber and cut into bite-sized pieces. Chop garlic.

Puree tomatoes, onion, cucumber, garlic, salt, pepper, hot sauce and olive oil in blender until almost smooth. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

88 calories; 315 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 1.79 grams fiber.

JAMES CROMWELL’S COD WITH FENNEL

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

4 (6- to 8-ounce) cod steaks or 4 cod fillets or 4 to 6 red snapper fillets

1 medium to large fennel bulb

Snipped fennel leaves

If you can’t find cod, substitute red snapper.

Place lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, crushed garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in bowl and mix thoroughly to make marinade. Place fish in marinade and turn it periodically for about 20 minutes.

Drizzle 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish.

Cut fennel into thin slices at an angle and layer about half of it in oiled dish, sprinkling 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper over fennel.

Drizzle remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil over fennel, top with layer of remaining fennel and sprinkle on remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes.

Drain marinade from fish. Lay fish on top of cooked fennel and place sheet of wax paper on top of fish. Replace foil.

Bake at 375 degrees until fish is translucent and flakes to the touch, about 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with small amount fennel leaves.

Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

273 calories; 711 mg sodium; 63 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 36 grams protein; 0.05 gram fiber.

* Note: As an option, you may place fresh tarragon and leeks, cut into thin strips, on top of oil at bottom of dish, then layer fennel as described.

DONNA MILLS’ CREAM CHEESE PIE WITH APRICOT GLAZE

CRUST

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 18 crackers)

Melt butter in saucepan. Combine sugar, graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in bowl and mix thoroughly. Press crust into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 300 degrees 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

FILLING

4 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon peel and beat until blended. Pour filling into crust.

Bake at 300 degrees until center of pie is no longer wet, about 40 minutes. Filling may crack around edge but should not brown. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes.

TOPPING

1 cup sour cream, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract and mix well. Spread topping evenly over top of pie. Return to 300-degree oven for 5 minutes.

Remove and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 5 hours before serving.

APRICOT GLAZE

1 (16-ounce) can apricot halves

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 drop each yellow and red food color

Drain apricots, reserving 3/4 cup syrup. Place sugar and cornstarch in small saucepan over medium heat and stir to remove lumps. Blend in reserved apricot syrup. Cook over medium heat until thickened and clear.

Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and 1 drop each yellow and red food color.

Place wax paper directly on top of hot glaze. Refrigerate until cool.

Arrange apricot halves, cut side down, in ring over surface of chilled cream cheese pie. Spoon cooled glaze over.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Each of 8 servings contains about:

639 calories; 487 mg sodium; 144 mg cholesterol; 37 grams fat; 74 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 0.51 gram fiber.

* Annie Glas bowl and plate from Feast, Pasadena.