Feast your senses with a new cookbook that blends history with recipes that Arizona icons and North Central restaurants shared while indulging in hearty and sweet dishes.
The non-profit organization Historical League of the Arizona Heritage Center recently published “Tastes & Treasures II: A Storytelling Cookbook of Historic Arizona.” It contains recipes from Phoenix historical figures, including Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, who grew up on the Lazy B Ranch near Duncan. The cookbook shares her recipe for Lazy B Beef Jerky, which is made with flank or round steak or other lean cuts of meat, as well as black pepper, soy sauce and crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper. According to the book, this was a favorite at O’Connor’s family’s ranch.
A recipe from the late Eddie Basha, Jr., who took over the grocery store chain after his father died in 1968, also is in the cookbook. Basha Jr. served on a school board in Chandler for many years and was appointed by then-Gov. Bruce Babbitt to the State Board of Education. He also was appointed by then-Gov. Rose Mofford to the Arizona Board of Regents. Basha’s widow, Nadine Mathis Basha, shared a recipe for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, which Basha loved eating after school as a child when his mother, E.N. “Essie” Basha, Sr. baked it.
Frank & Albert’s, a restaurant in the Arizona Biltmore, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, provided its recipe for its famous Kalamata olive dip, and Southwestern recipes are in the cookbook from other local restaurants including a tortilla soup from LON’s at The Hermosa Inn.
The cookbook is available for $30 or $240 for a box of 10. For more information or to purchase a book, visit www.historicalleague.org/shop.aspx.
