Southampton - Inspired by a "Dead Celebrity Party" during his college years, Frank DeCaro thought the one thing missing from the event was the food of the dead. Since then, he's been collecting recipes of the stars and lucky for us, he's put them together in "The Dead Celebrity Cookbook: A Resurrection of Recipes from More Than 145 Stars of Stage and Screen" (HCI Books, $19.95).

DeCaro, who is best known for his nearly seven-year stint as the movie critic on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and now heard weekdays on his own call-in radio show, gives us a giggle while feeding us treats from Tinsel Town like: Liberace's Sticky Buns, Mae West's Fruit Compote, John Ritter's Favorite Fudge and Bea Arthur's Vegetarian Breakfast.

'The Dead Celebrity Cookbook' is here to remind you that before there were celebrity chefs, there were celebrities who fancied themselves as chefs. They were whipping up culinary delights, and sometimes sharing them with us on shows like Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas or even Johnny Carson. DeCaro gives us some entertaining and informative commentary before each section of recipes in chapters that include: "Talk Show Chow," "An All-Night Oscar Buff," and "I Lunch Lucy," a whole section dedicated to the red-haired TV goddess (and during the 60th anniversary of her show!)

Says DeCaro, "I miss those days when celebrities still had mystery about them, and a glimpse inside their radar ranges seemed, for any fan, like a window into the world of glamor and excitement, which is why I put together this book."

This book delivers recipes that the stars are dying for you to make.

Sample Recipe
(Peter Falk 1927-2011)
He was one of the great ones - appearing in films as disparate as "The Princess Bride" and "Wings of Desire" in the same year, 1987. But no matter what Peter Falk did (and he did a lot), he will always be remembered as the police detective in the rumpled raincoat on the mystery series "Columbo." The character, one he played for more than 30 years beginning in 1971, is one of TV's most indelible portraits. Among Falk's most beloved films were the cult hit "The In-Laws," the one-two Neil Simon punch of "Murder by Death" and "The Cheap Detective," and six pictures with his buddy, the director/actor John Cassavetes, including the 1974 classic "A Woman Under the Influence." The Emmy- and Oscar-nominated actor published his memoir "Just One More Thing" in 2006, and it wasn't a moment too soon. Falk was diagnosed with dementia two years later. Just one more thing: His pork chops are toothsome as he was.

Peter Falk's Pork Chops
 • Six pork chops
 • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
 • ¼ cup olive oil
 • ¼ cup white vinegar
 • Salt and pepper, to taste
 • 1 teaspoon thyme
 • 1 cup water
 • ½ cup liquid from jarred vinegar peppers
 • 1 cup (or more) vinegar peppers
 • 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350°. Brown pork chops in olive oil in a heavy frying pan and remove to a casserole. Cook onions until translucent in same oil and add to casserole. Deglaze pan by adding white vinegar and stirring up all brown bits. Add to casserole along with all remaining ingredients except vinegar peppers. Bake for 1½ hours. Add vinegar peppers and cook 15 minutes more. Remove pork chops and peppers to a warm serving plate. Add two teaspoons corn starch to pan drippings to make gravy. Pour over pork chops and peppers and serve.

Cutting Room Floor
You wouldn't know it to look at him, but Idris Elba, the hulking British actor best known as Stringer Bell on HBO's "The Wire," has said that his edgy detective character on Luther owes a debt to Falk. Luther, a childhood fan of "Columbo" and creator Neil Cross, explains that both the classic American mystery show and the smoking hot BBC crime series are "howcatchems" not whodunits, and no one did that better than Lt. Frank Columbo.

About The Author
Best known for his years as the flamboyant movie critic on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," DeCaro is heard each weekday morning on his live national call-in program The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. A writer and performer, DeCaro pens the "Icons" column for CBS Watch magazine. The author of the pioneering memoir "A Boy Named Phyllis," DeCaro previously wrote the "Style Over Substance" column for The New York Times.

The book is available online or at bookstores or to order directly from the publisher, contact 800-441-5569 or www.hcibooks.com.