ECLECTIC FLAVOR STYLISH, CASUAL ENTERTAINING IS DESIGNER'S TRADEMARK.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor

With the summer season at its peak, now is the perfect time for alfresco dining. If you're looking for ways to entertain casually but with flair, take some tips from interior designer Ellen Wright, author of ``Bridgehampton Weekends, Easy Menus for Casual Entertaining'' (William Morrow; $30).

A hostess who enjoys her own parties, Wright transforms simple seasonal fare into something creative and wonderful tasting, like Tomato Phyllo Pizza, Chicago Corn Pudding, Rosemary-Marinated Lamb Chops With Apricot Chutney, Strawberry Shortcakes and more.

Don't be put off by the book's title. ``The Bridgehampton metaphor should not be limited to any area of the country or world,'' emphasizes Wright. It simply refers to casual entertaining.

``It could be in a ski cabin in Aspen, in a little shack on Lake Michigan or in Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; or anywhere. The same principles still apply.''

And if you think it is intimidating - or that the Hamptons are fancy - that couldn't be further from the truth. Wright has chosen to do the book her way, which means casual and low-key.

Her Bridgehampton house is a weekend and summer getaway where she has been going for years to enjoy the beauty of the land, beaches and sky, the ocean breezes and the charm of farm stands and picket fences, and vegetable and flower gardens.

Easy, casual and stylish are her trademarks. But she is quick to point out that she's not ``talking about egg crates and cinder blocks. We're talking about doing things tastefully. I believe that simple is better, casual is good, and home-cooked is best.''

Wright chose straightforward, user-friendly recipes (some, although not difficult, are more time consuming than others to prepare) to include in this, her first volume. She wanted them to be accessible and unintimidating and encourage people to cook more, not less. Many of the recipes - representing different countries - have been passed down by relatives and friends while others have been in her collection for years. You don't need professional training to cook her recipes.

When she designs a menu, she considers who is coming, what she feels like eating (and the season) and how much time she has to cook, all the while keeping it simple (her recurring theme).

Wright opts for adding a little bit of panache and a few different twists in the way she combines the menu to keep it and the recipes from being trite or mundane. But in whatever she does, she wants people to feel welcome and taken care of. Success lies in how all the parts come together, she stresses.

The author's exposure to good cooking started at an early age when she used to stand by her Russian grandmother, Bessie, in her kitchen as she made special sweet rolls. The first cooking demonstration she ever attended was a class on quiche by Julia Child in 1961 in San Francisco. And she has been experimenting in the kitchen ever since. ``I never had any fear of cooking - I was intuitive and brave in the kitchen,'' she notes.

Wright wants people to entertain and enjoy it. She keeps hearing that the 30-something crowd wants to have friends over but is afraid to cook.

``I find people overdo things and don't know when to stop. People stack the deck against themselves and make things complicated. The idea is to be a success. If you choose a menu that is doable, then you end up looking like the Queen of the May. When you do things that are too difficult, you're tense and fail. Everybody needs permission not to fuss.''

For fun and a change of pace, Wright favors serving different menu courses in different places in the house. For instance, try cocktails on the terrace and dessert in the living room. ``It gives guests the freedom to roam around and talk to people, and not sit in one place.''

Wright opts for short flower arrangements as centerpieces - no more than 5 or 6 inches tall - so you can see people across the table. Avoid using flowers that have a pronounced fragrance as they fight with the flavors of the food.

Float flowers in small dishes and use votive candles to decorate the table. Or try ceramic water pitchers in different sizes and colors but with the same kinds of flowers as table decorations.

Color themes, such as yellow and green, give a table a feeling of cohesiveness. Often, she picks flowers such as sunflowers from the garden and floats them in a big flat Mexican dish and uses yellow napkins and green plates.

``I get a theme and an idea going and one decision leads to the next thing. In the wintertime, I always have small earthenware pots of violets around (with saucers) and use them as centerpieces.''

Big bowls of either pine cones or lemons or shells on the table are other inexpensive possibilities. You don't have to spend lots of money.

Sometimes she uses a Pierre Deux fabric tablecloth, a gingham cloth or a quilt on the table; other times she simply opts for placemats on her pine table.

Pick up dishes, mats, napkins and decorations when you see them at garage sales and store them away until you entertain.

While Wright wants everything to look good - visuals do matter - ``I do not want the food and setup to look 'done.' Done is not my style, but subtle, understated and easy - these are words that describe my philosophy.''

Here's a sampling of creations selected from several different menus in the book for summer festivities.

BOB'S MARGARITAS

Really good margaritas like these are made one batch at a time

1 cup cracked ice (8 ounces)

1 (8-ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate

8 ounces tequila (silver OR gold)

2 ounces triple sec

3 to 4 tablespoons margarita salt

1 (3-inch) piece lemon peel

Put ice in a blender, add frozen limeade, tequila and triple sec, and blend until ice is chopped up.

Lay out a sheet of wax paper and put salt on it. Rub outside edge of each margarita glass with lemon peel. The lemon oil provides enough moisture to make salt stick. Press edge of each glass into salt and freeze until ready to use.

Pour drink into prepared glass and enjoy. Makes 6 servings.

GUACAMOLE

2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted (keep one of the pits)

1 medium ripe tomato, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Dash Tabasco sauce

In a medium-size bowl, mash avocados. Add tomato and onion to avocados and mix with a fork. Add lemon juice and season with salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Push reserved pit into mixture to keep it from turning brown. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with taco chips. Makes 6 servings.

TOMATO PHYLLO PIZZA

You can prepare this pizza a couple of hours ahead, leave it at room temperature and reheat it for only 10 minutes in a preheated 325-degree oven. You'll find that people want to make an entire meal of it. You will need a feather brush or a very soft pastry brush to prepare this recipe.

5 tablespoons butter, melted, plus extra for baking sheet

1 (17-ounce) package phyllo pastry, thawed to room temperature

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup thinly sliced onion

2 pounds ripe, medium-size tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Brush a large baking sheet with butter. Roll up 1/2 of the stack of phyllo, rewrap it tightly in plastic and return to refrigerator until you need it. Using remaining phyllo: Take 1 sheet and place it on a baking sheet. Butter with soft brush and melted butter. Add next sheet, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and continue buttering and sprinkling with Parmesan until you have 7 layers total. It is OK to overlap each layer to fit baking sheet. Crimp edges around so you form an edge.

Sprinkle top layer with mozzarella. Place tomato slices on top, creating a grid of tomatoes about 1 1/2 inches apart. Sprinkle onion slices over tomato and season with oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.

Bake in preheated 375-degree oven 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. Serve on a large tray or bread board, cutting squares with 1 tomato for each serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

CHEESE STRAWS

This is a very rich dough of Cheddar cheese, butter, flour and egg that bakes up into absolutely incredible sticks or cookie shapes. You can bake them in advance and freeza them when they are completely cool. You should reheat them before serving. They are really good served with drinks, or with a soup, a salad or as a snack.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch salt

Pinch Colman's dry mustard

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/3 cup shredded sharp yellow Cheddar cheese

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons sweet paprika 

In a large mixing bowl, stir flour, baking powder, salt and dry mustard together. Place dry ingredients with butter and cheese in bowl of a food processor and pulse to make a coarse meal. Add beaten egg, pulsing until a thick paste forms.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/4-inch thick and cut into 5-inch-long strips. Sprinkle lightly with paprika and place 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet.

You can twist strips and press down ends to make them more interesting.

Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 24 straws.

CHICKEN LIVER PATE WITH CORNICHONS

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1 tart apple, cored, peeled and chopped

1 pound chicken livers, trimmed of membranes

1/4 cup Calvados OR applejack brandy, warmed

2 to 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (to your taste)

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup cornichon pickles

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Add onion, shallots and apple and cook, stirring, until softened. Set aside.

Melt 3 more tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook chicken livers until medium cooked, about 7 minutes, turning several times. Add warmed Calvados and carefully light it with a long match, averting your face and keeping long hair and hanging sleeves out of the way. Let it flame out by itself.

Place apple mixture and chicken livers in a food processor and process until smooth, adding cream a little at a time to achieve consistency of sour cream. Add 1/2 cup butter and process again until smooth. Mix in lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. Spoon pate into a dish or container and top with melted butter to preserve color of pate. You will scrape this butter off when you serve it. Wrap tightly and refrigerate overnight. Serve with toast squares or your favorite crackers, and cornichons. Makes 6 servings.

NOTE: The pate can be frozen for up to 2 weeks if tightly wrapped.

CHICAGO CORN PUDDING

What's so good about this is that it is crunchy on top and creamy inside and gets a big boost of flavor from the green chiles.

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen corn kernels, slightly defrosted OR 7 ears leftover fresh corn, kernels cut off

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups dairy sour cream

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal 

1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese 

1 (4-ounce) can whole green chiles, drained, patted dry and cut into 1/2- inch-wide strips

2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Puree 1 package corn (or 1/2 of fresh corn) in a food processor with all but 1 tablespoon melted butter and transfer to a large bowl. Add eggs and sour cream and combine well. Fold in other 1/2 of corn. Set aside.

In a medium-size bowl, combine cornmeal, cheese, chiles and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Combine this with corn mixture and mix well.

Use remaining 1 tablespoon butter to grease a 2- or 3-quart casserole and pour in corn batter.

Bake in preheated 375-degree oven about 1 hour, until puffy and brown. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD 

If you are thinking of doubling this for a party, a word to the wise: Double everything but the chicken, which should be increased by half the original amount. If you double it outright, you will have too much chicken and not enough sauce.

CHICKEN:

4 whole chicken breasts (about 4 pounds), split into halves

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

SALAD:

2 cups vegetable oil

1 (5-ounce) package rice sticks

3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted until golden brown

6 green onions (white and green parts), cleaned and chopped

1 head iceberg lettuce, cored and sliced thin

SAUCE:

6 tablespoons red, white OR rice wine vinegar

6 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sesame oil

3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

For Chicken, in a large baking dish, marinate chicken in sesame oil and soy sauce, turning breasts several times, for a few hours or overnight, refrigerated.

Bake chicken in same dish in marinade in preheated 350-degree oven 25 to 30 minutes; let cool. Remove skin and bones and discard. Shred chicken into bite-size pieces. Set aside in fridge until assembly time.

For Salad, the morning of the dinner, heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Drop in a few rice sticks and watch them. They will puff up and turn white. Now put in rest of sticks in batches. Turn pile over and cook on other side. They should stay white and not turn brown. This takes only a few seconds on each side. When they stop making a sizzling noise, they are done. Drain on paper towels and set aside until assembling salad.

For Sauce, in a small bowl, whisk together all Sauce ingredients.

To assemble salad, wait until just before eating. In a large bowl or pot, combine chicken with toasted sesame seeds, chopped green onions and sliced lettuce. Pour sauce over salad and toss well. Place crispy noodles on a big platter and spoon tossed chicken salad on top of them. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES

These are old-fashioned Strawberry Shortcakes - baking powder biscuits that are split while they are still warm, then topped with sweet strawberries and spoonfuls of fresh whipped cream.

BERRIES:

2 pints fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and thinly sliced

1/2 cup sugar

BISCUITS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

6 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening

3/4 cup milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks

For Berries, place strawberries and sugar in a medium-size bowl and steep several hours, refrigerated.

For Biscuits, place flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. With a pastry cutter or two knives, cut cold shortening into dry ingredients, or use food processor, pulsing until dough looks like coarse meal. Add milk and mix lightly with a fork or pulse two or three times until dough comes together. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Knead very lightly for a few turns and pat into a 1 1/2-inch-thick piece.

Cut out 3-inch rounds and place on an ungreased baking sheet, spaced 1-inch apart.

Bake in preheated 450-degree oven 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly brown. Set aside on a wire rack to partially cool.

Split biscuits open while still warm and spoon several tablespoons of berries and juice over two halves. Place a generous dollop of whipped cream on berries and serve.

SPOTLIGHT ON ...

Ellen Wright

Age: 60

Profession: Interior designer/cookbook author.

Hometown: Cambridge, Mass.

Food background: Over the years she has studied with many food experts including Lydie Marshall, Madhur Jaffrey and the late James Beard.

Cooking style: Casual and stylish. She likes clean food and uncomplicated tastes.

Most popular dish she makes: Chinese Chicken Salad (recipe included on this page).

Favorite junk food: Candied spearmint leaves.

Secret food passion: Double cream cheeses (any of various cow's milk cheeses that have been enriched with cream so they contain a minimum of 60 percent butterfat).

Pet peeve: Long cocktail hours.

Favorite kitchen gadget: Food processor.

Favorite cookbook: All of the Lee Bailey cookbooks.

Worst kitchen disaster: A long time ago, she attempted to make brioche for 22 people using 36 eggs and 6 pounds of butter. It required a lot of kneading, but the recipe didn't work and she had to throw it all out and start over. ``By the time dinner came, I could hardly lift a coffee cup, my arms hurt so much.''

Favorite restaurant: Leo Le Lion in Paris. It's a little bistro and a tiny jewel of a place. She also likes Caviar Kaspia in Paris, which serves all kinds of caviar and sturgeon and fabulous desserts.

Ideal vacation: Anyplace with good weather, nothing to do, no pressure and preferably no phone.

What does she do when she's not designing or cooking? She knits (sweaters) and plays golf and bridge.

If she couldn't be an interior designer, what would she be? A surgeon.

If she could dine with anyone (current or in history) who would it be? Jerry Seinfeld.

Family: She resides in Manhattan with her husband, Joe. She has three grown children and four grandchildren.

- Natalie Haughton

Make it easy on yourself

Ellen Wright, author of ``Bridgehampton Weekends,'' relies on the following principles, learned from experience, when she entertains:

--Keep it simple. That translates into stay focused and make it easy. You'll have more time and energy to enjoy your party.

--Avoid last-minute panic. Get organized relative to the details of the meal: where you'll be serving it, dishes and serving pieces, decorations, etc. Plan to make as much of the food in advance as possible - and take advantage of the freezer if feasible. You'll find recipe tips sprinkled throughout the book to guide you.

--Mix and match. That goes for dishes as well as guests. ``The more diverse the mix, the better the party,'' says Wright.

When it comes to serving, she combines elegant serving pieces such as platters with casual items like juice glasses - the yin and yang theory, she says.

Mix and match by course. For example, use Mexican mugs or demitasse cups for sipping soups as a first course, majolica (Italian ceramics) for salads or desserts and transfer ware for dinner entrees. Wright buys lots of funky dishes, Mexican ware, transfer ware and other serving pieces online at ebay.

Crackers or bread sticks served in an old-fashioned challice look great. Be imaginative and create new ways to use dishes and containers. ``Serve with flair, with a little irreverence thrown in.'' You don't need to put on airs or be pretentious. You want people to feel at home and comfortable when they eat.

--Get guests to help. Not only does it break the ice, but no matter how well-organized you are, a little assistance pouring wine or passing appetizers is welcome.

--Stay calm. Don't panic if something goes awry. Make the best of it.

--Keep the cocktail hour short.

--Less is more. Wright likes clean food and uncomplicated tastes. Don't put garlic, basil, dill and oregano in everything. And don't feel obligated to serve hors d'oeuvres.

- Natalie Haughton

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- 4 -- color) Clockwise from top left, Ellen Wright peruses her new cookbook for casual entertaining in a garden in Bel-Air during a recent visit to Los Angeles. Toast triangles spread with Chicken Liver Pate and squares of Tomato Phyllo Pizza, above, are great appetizer offerings. Guacamole is a simple favorite - just make sure the avocados are ripe before mashing. Chicken Liver Pate is a recipe from Wright's grandmother Bessie. It's rich and smooth.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(5 -- color) Chinese Chicken Salad is one of Ellen Wright's oft-requested recipes.

(6 -- color) Bob's Margaritas came from a longtime friend who is a heart surgeon, notes Wright in the book.

From ``Bridgehampton Weekends, Easy Menus for Casual Entertaining''

Box: (1) SPOTLIGHT ON ... Ellen Wright (See text)

(2) Make it easy on yourself (See text)