The Exquisite 'Shallot Gold' Meal Cameron Diaz First Made For Her Husband
It's been said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. While we're generally inclined to brush that off as sexist and old-fashioned, the age-old adage apparently worked out for Cameron Diaz. The 50-year-old actress crafted her signature dish for her husband, Benji Madden, 43, the very first time she cooked for him. It's not so much a signature dish as a signature sauce or stir-in, which was how she used it in that fateful meal.
Diaz dishes that the meal is "the only reason why [my friends] come over" (per The Drew Barrymore Show). A fact gal pal Drew Barrymore confirmed when Diaz shared the details of the special meal, and the secret of how to make her fail safe "shallot gold" on Barrymore's talk show. Barrymore added, "None of us ever want to come over to the house without it being prepared or watch[ing] you make it."
Benji & Cameron's shallot gold meal
The secret behind Cameron Diaz's love potion "shallot gold" that she made the first time she cooked for her husband, Benji Madden, turns out to be easier than it sounds. When Diaz made that oh-so-important meal, she and Drew Barrymore had just returned from a two-day immersive cooking trip focusing on the cuisine of Northern and Southern Italy. Diaz was so inspired she had a heavily pregnant Barrymore drop her off at a supermarket so she could pick up some supplies to whip up some of what they'd learned for her new beau (per Twitter). Diaz went home and whipped up mediterranean-style lamb chops, couscous, broccoli, and sautéd zucchini. And where in that feast did she find room to fit in her secret weapon, shallot gold? She stirred it into the couscous.
Now here's how easy it is to make it. Heat a healthy portion of olive oil in the pan, drop a piece of shallot in to check if it "fizzles," if it does it's hot enough to add your chopped shallots (per The Drew Barrymore Show). You want to add a lot of shallots. In her demo, Diaz dumps out a 4-cup Pyrex worth. Now you really just want to let those bad boys cook down. Diaz recommends adding salt to help release the sugars. "It's chemistry ... it's science," Diaz says. Cook until both your shallots and your oil attain a beautiful golden brown color and you're set.