Artichokes

If you've never tried microwaving artichokes, you're in for a treat. Not only do they cook faster than you would have dreamed possible, they taste terrific. That's because they steam in their own fragrant vapor and don't get waterlogged in a kettle of boiling water. Here's the basic method plus an elegant stuffed artichoke recipe that's perfect for a first course. Choose 6- to 8-ounce globe artichokes, cut stems flush with bottoms, snip off prickly petal tips and rub cut edges with lemon.

About the only drawback to fine-tasting, low-calorie, fun-to-eat artichokes is the time they require to cook. But not if done in the microwave oven. With a microwave oven, you can cook four whole artichokes in about 15 minutes, rather than the usual hour required on a conventional stove. And in a few minutes more, you can squeeze in a couple of toppings, as well. In the first recipe below, the final dish needs no sauce. Instead, whole artichokes are cooked with a good handful of garlic and 4 tablespoons of olive oil that moisten and flavor them as they cook.

A young woman finds herself in a confused state, sprawled half-nude in a bed of thistles. The police recognize the face and nod knowingly. Meantime, amid angry recriminations, the headlines swirl. And we wonder why. How does a middle-class girl wind up this way? How else? It began as an experiment - wide-eyed kids looking for an exotic thrill. But soon it was an obsession. Looking back, Joanne Gallaher can scarcely believe how quickly she was hooked: "It was in junior high school or high school," says the Kansas native, now 33 and living in Tucson, Ariz.

Q. How can I keep garlic powder from turning into one solid chunk? I keep it on a spice shelf above the stove for easy acess and use it often. I tried adding dry rice to it but no luck. Mrs. G.H.M. Sarasota, Fla. A. Although keeping spices on a shelf over the stove for easy access seems like a good idea, it's actually the worst place to store them. In such a place the spices are subjected to three conditions which cause them to deteriorate in one way or another: heat, moisture and light.

Many people don't know the top of an artichoke from its bottom, let alone where its heart is. Some don't realize that the heart can be eaten only when the artichoke is very young; others are confused about what to do with the petals. Artichoke bewilderment reigns so supreme that more than one person has wished aloud that this vegetable came with an instruction booklet dangling from its petals. People who pass up the artichoke are missing out on a delightful, sweet, nutty flavor that's deliciously compatible with numerous sauces.

They are the two botanical wonders of springtime: the delectable pine-cone- shaped artichoke and the sleek, elegant asparagus. They're regal, exotic and tempting, and viewed by many - and rightly so - as the aristocrats of the vegetable kingdom. It only heightens the wonder to know that, botanically speaking, the artichoke is a member of the thistle family. The asparagus is a member of the lily family. This includes not only onions, garlic and leeks, but tulips and hyacinths as well.

Truth to tell, I am a total failure at growing artichokes (Cynara scolymus). The year Charlotte Elsner and her mother and I decided to have a artichoke growing competition, mine got some dread disease or other and died. Last year all my seedlings damped-off. Last month I killed all the seedlings. They were in tiny pots on my new propagating mat and dried out and died before a person could say, "artichoke. " No matter, I've got a new packet of "Violetto" which will have purple artichokes (if it lives)

If you are accustomed to airport restaurants that serve desultory food with little apparent care for their customers, you will find the largely undiscovered General's Quarters at the Mercer County Airport to be a pleasant surprise. Not that the food will set culinary records, but the dishes show some imagination, the ingredients are of good quality and the level of accomplishment is far above that of most other restaurants. Big picture windows crowned with hanging plants afford a clear view of the runways; at day's end the little airport fairly bustles with private planes coming in for the night and commercial commuter flights taxiing right up to the restaurant.

The Restaurant School in Philadelphia was the first school in the country to train its students specifically for the small, fine restaurant. Now 13 years old, it is constantly expanding to meet needs created by the nation's growing interest in dining out. In nine- and 12-month programs, students learn about wines, service and even legal aspects of the restaurant business. They also learn a great deal about food. Lou Sackett is one of the school's chef-instructors, and when she cooks, she illustrates a textbook's worth of techniques.

For owners of microwave ovens who still have questions about their appliance, there's a good chance that most of them are answered in the Step- by-Step Microwave Cookbook (Barron's, $12.95). Cecilia Norman, director of London's Microwave Cooking School, is the author, and she lifts the microwave from the realm of a mere reheating appliance to a tool for actual cooking. This book is complete with microwave basics, from how the ovens actually work to the proper working utensils and general safety factors.