• 2 T olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 large yellow onions, thin-sliced
• ½ green pepper, seeded and thin-sliced
• 2 or 3 stalks of celery, coarsely cut
• ½ pound ground beef
• 2 tins condensed tomato soup
• 1 small tin tomato paste
• ¼ pound of fresh mushroom stems, thin sliced
• 1 C water
• 1 tsp oregano

Saute onion, celery and green pepper in olive oil for 3 minutes. Add ground meat (the cheapest grade is advisable here—because its fat content adds to the cooking liquid). Brown and pull apart meat into crumbs with a fork.

Add soup, oregano, mushrooms and tomato paste—plus a little water if needed to keep the sauce from being too thick.

Cover and simmer over the lowest possible heat for 25 minutes, checking occasionally to be sure it does not stick to the pan.

Serve on thin spaghetti—which cooks while the sauce is maturing. Place plenty of grated Parmesan cheese on the table, to sprinkle on top.

This is the basis for your own invention. You may add a cup of mixed leftover cooked vegetables; this not only ex­tends the sauce for unexpected guests but also cleans out the refrigerator painlessly. Beans of all sorts, peas, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower . . . anything and everything is permissible in a good spaghetti sauce.

SPAGHETTI CARUSO substitutes ½ a pound of fresh chicken livers for the ground beef . . . and CLAM SAUCE is rapidly made by using a tin of minced clams (with their juice) instead of meat.
Cooked lobster meat, crabmeat, cleaned shrimps, or diced chicken can also be substituted for the raw ground beef— or you may use 2 dozen well scrubbed.

Cherrystone clams or fresh mussels, distributed atop the sauce for the final ten minutes of cooling.
Traditional seasoning is oregano, but marjoram, basil, rose­mary or summer savory will do equally well. A teaspoon of celery seeds can replace celery stalks, and ¼ tsp garlic powder can replace the minced garlic clove.

For the palate geared to hot seasonings, add a tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce, or a tablespoon of “hot” catsup.

Anything “farcis” means “stuffed”

Saute chopped mushroom stems in the butter for 10 min­utes, add garlic, parsley and seasonings. Mix with minced chicken, and lightly beaten eggs. Pile into mushroom caps. Dust the tops with a few bread crumbs, a teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese, and a dash of paprika. Place caps in a buttered baking pan, and cook 15 minutes in a moderate oven.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice, cooked and cold
• 1 tablespoon orange or lemon essense
• 1/6 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 whole eggs, beaten
• Granulated sugar (for garnish)

Mash the cup of cold rice well. Put the mashed rice through a
sieve. Season with the orange or lemon essence, cinnamon, and
butter. Add the egg yolks. Form the rice into small boulettes or
balls. Roll balls in a beaten egg. Fry to a golden brown. Sprinkle
well with granulated sugar. Serve hot. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1 tablespoon chives, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup crab meat

Combine cream cheese and sour cream thoroughly in mixing bowl. Add curry powder, capers, and chives. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Shred or chop crab meat very finely.

Combine the cheese mixture and the crab meat. Blend them
well. Serve as a spread with toasted crackers. Yields 2 cups.

Celeriac marinated in French dressing, and served with a mustard-mayonnaise, either by itself or as part of a typical French hors d’oeuvres plate.

Peel a celery knob and cut in julienne strips. Cover with plain French dressing (1 tablespoon of vinegar to 3 tablespoons of olive oil, plus salt and pepper). Mix thoroughly to coat every piece of the celeriac with dressing; cover tightly and chill overnight.

Drain off the marinade, and replace with Remoulade Sauce, mixing well until celery is completely coated.

Remoulade Sauce

Drain gherkins and capers; chop together finely and drain away any liquid. Combine all other ingredients and mix smoothly.

Variation:

Substitute 3 anchovy fillets for gherkins and a small tin of tomato paste for mustard. Substitute minced green pepper for 1 tablespoon of capers.

• Bread cut in 1-inch cubes (day-old French bread or Italian)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• ½ pound melted butter

Dunk the bread cubes in the butter—briefly, or they will absorb too much!—roll in grated Parmesan, and bake in the oven until golden brown—about 5 to 10 minutes in a very hot oven.

• 8 oysters

• Salt, pepper, paprika

• 8 thin slices of bacon

Sprinkle oysters with salt, pepper and paprika. Wrap each oyster in a thin slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Broil until bacon is crisp, turning once to brown evenly. Serve hot.

Anyone can make deviled eggs, but a gourmet cook is not content with the dull mustard-cayenne variety. Stuffed eggs are best prepared in advance and allowed to chill gently for a minimum of two hours before serving.

For a very special cocktail hour, provide two or even three different stuffing. All start with peeled, halved hardboiled eggs—place the yolks in a bowl and mash:

1. 6 mashed hardboiled egg yolks, 1 T curry, 1 T mayonnaise, 1 tsp prepared mustard, 4 T fish or chicken paste. Garnish with drained capers.

2. 6 egg yolks mashed, 2 T whipped cream cheese, ¼ tsp anchovy paste, 1 T mayonnaise, (This should be a stiffer paste.)

3. 6 egg yolks mashed, 1 tsp chili sauce and 2 T flaked crabmeat, shrimp or lobstermeat … place in the empty egg whites, and mask with the following mixture: 2 T mayonnaise, combined with 1 tsp curry powder. Garnish with an anchovy fillet.

4. 6 egg yolks mashed, 6 minced black olives, 2 T Roque­
   fort or Bleu cheese. Mash thoroughly, and thin with a
   few drops of milk if necessary. Garnish with toasted slivers of almonds, or pistachio nuts.

5. 6 egg yolks mashed, 2 T liver paste (or 2 mashed
   cooked chicken livers), 1 tsp curry powder, 1 T mayon­naise, salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley.

6. 6 egg yolks mashed, 3 T pate de foie gras, 1 tsp each of chervil, parsley and chives, salt and pepper. Garnish with a black olive.

A traditional south-of-the-border cocktail dip, to serve with sturdy potato chips or crisp crackers.

Mash the avocados through a sieve, add other ingredients, mix very smoothly and serve in a bowl lined with a few let­tuce leaves. Dust the top with paprika.

NOTES: Avocados quickly blacken with air; guacamole should never be made more than half an hour in advance— in which case, cover the bowl with Saran wrap and keep in the refrigerator until the final moment.

Guacamole variations: add 2 crumbled crisp-cooked cold bacon slices—or 2 tablespoons of ground nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts)—or a tablespoon of chili sauce—or a tablespoon of grated raw carrot—or a tablespoon of sherry and 6 minced black olives. . . .