Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 35

FAST FACTS ABOUT ARTICHOKES Purchase deep green artichokes that are heavy for their size If fT rem 'A TO SHARE TIPS, IDEAS: Contact; Lisa Wilson Jackson area: 961-7348 Toll free: 1-800-222-8015 Fax: 961-7211 ana nave a compaci leai lormaiion. Wash artichokes just before using, making sure to flush out all the dirt hiding between the leaves. The easiest method is to plunge the artichokes up and down in cold water. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1999 THE CLARION-LEDGER JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI Beyond jack-o'-lanterns Unlike Dracula, we could be up to our necks in garlic he ID ave iKanac From the time that I was allowed to stay up late and watch old movies, I have had a umpKins a-s? it tascination witn vampires iVr 1 identiiied with the Count. Perhaps it was his penchant for Food Writer -fc jar 1 Innovative dishes capitalize on the pumpkin's flavor and texture By Courtney Taylor Clarion-Ledger Food Writer Green Warted Hubbard.

Flat White Boer. Blue Kabocha. Jarrah-dale. Little Boo.Green Hokkaido. Wizards? Gangsters? Professional wrestlers? Pink, Banana.

White Swan. Butter Cup. Drag queens? Laundry detergents? No, this tangled QUJ patch of nomencla- Recipes, 3F ture is found in a very common place: the pumpkin patch, to be exact. Unfortunately, most of us have never held a Cinderella in our arms or gazed upon the porcelain flesh of a Lumina, thumped a Sweetmeat or tenderly slapped the skin of a Sweet Dumpling. Or if we have, we didn't know their names.

In fact, most of us pick our pumpkins, not for the various flavors that lay beneath their lumpy facades, but for the Stephen King-like silhouettes and contours of the squash. The average American sees a pumpkin and pictures a leering jack-o'-lantern. This tradition goes back hundreds of years in Irish history, and, like many legends, it is based upon a drunkard. As the story goes, Stingy Jack was a cruel and miserable old sot, so fond of playing nasty tricks that he went so far as to trick the devil himself. One evening, he tricked the devil into climbing a tree.

With Satan out on a limb, Stingy Jack carved crosses around the trunk of the tree, thereby capturing the devil. Stuck in a tree, the devil was coerced into promising not to take Jack's soul when he died. When the old drunk finally died, John Severson The Clarion-Ledger Go beyond the popular pie with innovative pumpkin dishes like pumpkin ravioli with pumpkin-tomato-basil sauce. Upon coming to America, Irish immigrants quickly discovered that pumpkins were larger and easier to carve out. So, the tradition of pumpkins as jack-o'-lanterns was born.

But the Irish weren't the first immigrants to make good use of the pumpkin. The big orange squash and its white, green and blue cousins have been part of the American culinary tradition since the first harvest of the Pilgrims. The pumpkin's longevity on the cellar shelf was invaluable to both American Indians and the New England settlers. In fact, folks in Massachusetts might never have survived to celebrate their first Thanksgiving had the friendly natives not shared their squash and seeds. Along with other squash, pumpkins are among the oldest edible plants grown by man in the Western hemisphere.

Fossilized seeds and rinds have been found in Andean sites believed to date back several millennia B.C. As Andean peoples migrated northward, they carried pumpkin seeds and planted them along the way, eventually making pumpkin a staple in the diet of Indian tribes throughout North America. Later, See PUMPKIN, 3F he went to the pearly gates and was turned away from heaven for his hedonistic and cruel ways. So, he went down to talk to the devil. The devil kept his loathsome promise and did not let Jack enter hell but tossed him an ember from its flames to help him light his way.

Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip and roamed the Earth for eternity with his crude lantern. On All Hallow's Eve, the Irish hollowed out turnips, gourds, potatoes and beets, and placed lights in them. This was to ward off evil spirits, including Stingy Jack. These were the original jack-o'-lanterns. formal dress or his fondness for opulent surroundings or his habit of sleeping late.

Mostly, I admired lus quiet dignity. He was the consummate host. Perpetually dressed in black-tie, he was ready, indeed eager, to receive guests at any time of night. Not easily ruffled, he had but few pet peeves: Sunshine and crosses, he found rather intimidating for obvious reasons. For reasons I cannot fathom, he found garlic loathsome.

While I love to twirl a black cape, and I have an overbite, the resemblance stops there. I need sunshine, find crosses comforting, and I adore garlic. Good for the soul To me, garlic is the very soul of my kitchen. It gives dishes a depth of flavor unparalleled by any other seasoning, and its blood-cleansing qualities are well-known. If given the choice between roaming the Earth eternally young and garlic, I'd have to choose life eternal.

(Sorry, guys, I just turned 40 and, for me, that eternally young line works.) But assuming my clock will continue to tick, I guess I'll have to settle for garlic. So, I better make the most of it. One of my favorite ways to cook with and serve garlic is baked. Some roast whole heads of garlic at high temperatures, but I have had better luck baking it. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

Cut the top of the garlic head off with one horizontal slice, exposing the tips of the individual cloves but leaving the head intact. Because these keep well refrigerated, you might want to bake 6 or 8 heads at a time. Arrange the heads on a baking dish just large enough to hold them and dot each one with a pat of butter. Pour about Mi cup of good olive oil over the heads and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt. Put thyme sprigs here and there.

Tasty and versatile Bake, covered for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and baste every 15 minutes. Bake for 1V4 hours more. The garlic will be very tender and sweet, with no overcooked taste. When the garlic is warm, transfer it to a serving platter deep enough to hold the oil. Serve it with goat cheese that you've softened by stirring in a bit of cream and warm peasant or French bread.

Dip the bread in the oil, spread on the cheese and squeeze on the garlic. For future munching, break apart leftover heads and place them in a large jar or crock with whole, firm, fresh goat cheeses, Vi cup Nicoise olives, 2 or 3 bay leaves and the leftover oil. Add enough extra virgin olive oil to cover. Cover the container completely, and store it in the refrigerator. Spread the cheese on bread or cut it in small pieces, and toss the cheese, oil and olives with hot pasta.

If you still have a head or two leftover, puree softened cloves in the food processor for a great addition to grilled chicken, steaks or pork. Spread the puree over grilled meat, and heat in the oven for about 5 minutes. Or, leave the puree in the food processor and use as a base for vinaigrette dressing. Add 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme or chopped fresh basil, about V4 cup red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, and, with the machine running, pour in 1 cup of reserved oil or extra virgin olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While garlic cooked this way is still guaranteed to repel vampires, most of the fumes which repel mortals have been tamed. Write Courtney Taylor at The Clarion-Ledger, Box 40, Jackson MS 39205-0040 or e-mail stylejackson.gannett.com. New Stage event helps play it cool Foods Fantastic lets you stock your freezer and support the arts By Paige Porter Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer There's frozen food, and then there's Foods Fantastic frozen food. Foods Fantastic is one of New Stage Theatre's largest annual fund-raising Traditional Italian dish quick to fix You may not get to Rao's in New York, but you can try the recipes at home By Jude Mahoney For AP Special Feature! The odds that the average American will ever be lucky enough to eat at Rao's, New York's legendary Italian restaurant, must be more than a million to one. Rao's was established in 1898, in a flourishing Italian neighborhood in East Harlem.

A century later, the neighbor Restaurants that will be featured In Foods Fantastic 1999: Bon Ami, Bravo, Broad Street Baking Company, Primos, Elite, Magnolia Catering and Fine Foods, Nick's, Red Hot Blue, Iron Horse Grill, Piccadilly, Fenian's, Times Change, Grid-ley's, Scrooge's, Thomas Package Store Brick Oven Cafe, Hal Mai's, High Noon Cafe and Miii iihgii)MiMii-iirniii'i tlT'c John Severson The Clarion-Ledger Foods Fantastic organizers dramatize preparations for the annual fall fund-raiser for New Stage Theatre. Getting ready are (from left) Glenn Robinson, Karen Davis, Michael Summerlin, Margot Daniel and Becky Ivison. events. "Last year, we brought in about I Recipes, 7F $10,000 for the general operating budget of New Stage," said Margot Daniel, chair of this year's event. The event itself is impetus enough for saying so long to Stouffer's pizza and Lean Cuisine frozen dinners for a few weeks.

If you visit New Stage Theatre Saturday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., youH have a chance to go shopping in the freezers on loan from LuVel Stage Theatre Saturday will have a chance to do some "grocery shopping," according to McCarty. "Soups, chili and seafood gumbos are really popular," said McCarty. "You can dig through the freezers and find a great selection of gourmet foods to take home the kind of food you don't have time to make but always want to eat." energy to the cause. This is one of the fund-raising events on which New Stage Theatre depends," said Bill McCarty, vice president of the New Stage Theatre Board of Directors.

"We depend on corporate and individual sponsors and on fund-raisers like this to thrive as a theater and keep ticket prices low." Those who show up at New hood is mostly gone, but Rao's remains, its 10 tables booked Dairies for some gourmet frozen food. "We have some wonderful restaurants and great cooks behind this year's menus," said Daniel. Many of the supporters of New Stage have contributed their time, talent and kitchen I Recipe, 7F Use seasonal pecans with baked chicken 4v Of1 ZfLV'XiUa 1 P'a'oes Avocados lt If 1 'Artichokes Bagged It apples I If -Soni Hancock ll ik i Rankin County Extension Service months ahead by regulars who go there to savor what one critic has called "exquisitely simple Italian cooking." In the new Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking (Random House, $40) Frank Pellegrino, who inherited the restaurant from his aunt and uncle, says the chefs at Rao's use the same ingredients and follow the same recipes today as they did in 1898. High-quality ingredients and flawless execution are the keys to Rao's deceptively simple version of a Northern Italian classic, broiled lemon chicken. According to the recipe in the book, the chicken is broiled and ready in only about half an hour, plus a few minutes to heat with the sauce.

The sauce can be made ahead of time or while the chicken is broiling. 1 The Food Guide Pyramid diet can be sustained for the long haul. Food and Fitness, 2F Chili weather? When the days get cooler, it's time to get a big pot of chili simmering. Ask Away, 2F With a little planning ahead, leftovers can make a hearty meal. Eat for Life, 5F them into meal HUHMn to thicken stews, mixed them with Recipe, 7F vegetables and dried them for emergency rations or a tasty treat.

Advantages: Pecans are high in calories and rich in fats but also are a great source of protein. Selecting pecans: Pecans have a smooth, thin shell that should be undisturbed when purchased whole. The seed is covered with a golden brown parchmentlike skin. Pecans can be purchased with or without the shells, whole or broken into pieces. Preparing the chicken: Using a double chicken breast with the skin on, rinse thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels.

Mix the brine of sugar, salt and water. Add the chicken and refrigerate for 8 hours to add moisture and tenderize the meat. IhecooklngbeglnK Heat an ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add a bit of butter, and brown the chicken. Add the bourbon and maple syrup.

Transfer to the oven and continue cooking until done, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and coat the skin side with the pecan and spice mixture. Return to the oven crisp the coating. Pecans are high in fat and calories, but they're a great source of protein By Jimmy Schmidt Knight Rldder Newepapere The cool autumn air brings this year's crop of pecans to harvest. Though pecans are most commonly used in desserts, you also can pan-roast chicken with a crunchy pecan crust perfect for a hearty seasonal dinner.

The word "pecan" is derived from American Indian languages. Indians used them to produce oil for cooking. They also ground.