GREAT HOME COOKS : Mrs. Z in the Kitchen

“Go ahead, just put the pot down,” says Valerie Williams airily. “That’s a door, it won’t burn.”

So that’s why the table top looks funny; it’s a door mounted on legs. Williams is going through a divorce, and her furniture selection is currently a little spotty. Her father has helped out by making her this oddball table.

All the dishes on the table are a little spotty too--decorated with spots, that is, in tribute to her 10-year-old Dalmatian. In fact, once you start paying attention, you realize a whole lot of things around this little Sunland cottage have Dalmatian-type spots.

Add a collection of 200 puppets (marionettes and hand puppets, including one of a Dalmatian) and the covey of antique garden trolls in the front yard, and you have a downright quaint environment. Williams’ second-grade students at John C. Fremont School in Glendale, who know her from her former married name as Mrs. Z, have told her they understand that she’s not a grown-up, just a “tall child.”

Her ex-husband is a high-school sports coach, so she’s had a lot of experience feeding big appetites, particularly on sports-watching holidays such as Memorial Day. A look at her bookshelf shows meat-and-potatoes stuff like Betty Crocker, “The Joy of Cooking,” a lot of Frugal Gourmet and Family Circle cookbooks, a few books she inherited from her English grandmother; nothing very exotic. But there’s more to her cooking than this.

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“I start with cookbooks,” she says, “but I’m too stubborn to follow the recipes exactly. I always improvise.” For instance, she uses the Frugal Gourmet’s recipe for fried ravioli in blue cheese dressing but substitutes bow tie pastas because they hold sauce better. Her Parmesan bread is based on a simple pull-apart cinnamon bread often taught in preschool.

Her exotic specialty is Jamaican. She has visited Jamaica five times, and each time she’s brought back a lot of her favorite jerk spice mixtures. “I make jerk chicken and jerk ribs,” she says, “and after football games, the parties always go overtime, I think because of the jerk spices I put in my chili.”

She uses a lot of canned ingredients, but she also raises a lot of her own produce, particularly tomatoes--she was harvesting from last year’s plants as late as March this year. She is serious enough about desserts to have taken a cake-decorating class. (Her dessert-making, like the rest of her repertoire, is somewhat limited by her dietary need to avoid eggs, bananas and salt; and, for that matter, fish.)

Williams doesn’t suffer from the recipe anxiety a lot of American cooks have. “In my opinion,” she says firmly, “it’s difficult to screw up a recipe.”

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It may seem odd to cook canned beans--which are quite edible just warmed up--for as long as 24 hours, but the result is very mellow, with a thick, silky broth. This recipe calls for the largest size of slow cooker.

JAMAICAN TOP DOG CHILI 1 (15-ounce) can black beans 1 (15-ounce) can Great Northern beans 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans with jalapenos 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans 1 (15-ounce) can white beans 1 (15-ounce) can pork and beans 1 (15-ounce) can chili beans 2 (1-ounce) packages chili seasoning mix 1 teaspoon imported Jamaican jerk seasoning or 2 teaspoons bottled Jamaican marinade 1 pound ground beef, crumbled, browned and drained 1 medium onion, chopped and browned 6 cloves garlic, chopped and browned 1 small green chile, such as serrano, chopped 8 to 10 small mushrooms, sliced

In large slow cooker put canned black beans, Great Northern beans, pinto beans, pinto beans with jalapenos, kidney beans and white beans. Add pork and beans and chili beans with sauce. Add chili seasoning and jerk seasoning. Stir in ground beef, onion, garlic, chile and mushrooms.

Cook in slow cooker on high 8 hours or on low 24 hours. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Each of 8 servings contains about: 586 calories; 1,490 mg sodium; 41 mg cholesterol; 14 grams fat; 85 grams carbohydrates; 35 grams protein; 9.5 grams fiber.

GARLIC-CHEESE MONKEY BREAD 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 4 dashes salad dressing mix Dash garlic powder Dash dried parsley 3 (7 1/2-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuit dough 1/4 cup butter or margarine In small bowl mix Parmesan, salad dressing mix, garlic and parsley.

Open biscuit dough cans by unrolling and pop out biscuit lumps. Roll in Parmesan mixture and layer lumps in bundt pan. Melt butter and mix in remaining Parmesan mixture. Stir and pour over top of biscuits.

Bake at 325 degrees 30 minutes. Invert on plate and let pan stand several minutes to loosen. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Each of 4 servings contains about: 358 calories; 1,097 mg sodium; 27 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams protein; 0.01 gram fiber.

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A rather mildly spiced version of jerk chicken. The best part is the orange slices, which brown irregularly and develop a marmalade-like intensity of flavor.

JAMAICAN JERK-STYLE CHICKEN 2 pounds chicken parts 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 orange, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons oil 1 teaspoon imported jerk seasoning or 2 teaspoons bottled Jamaican marinade 4 green onions, sliced

Arrange 1/2 onion slices in baking dish, then 1/2 orange slices. Place chicken pieces on top. Mix oil, jerk seasoning and green onions in bowl and brush most of sauce onto chicken pieces. Cover with remaining onion and orange slices.

Bake at 425 degrees 1/2 hour. Turn chicken pieces over, brush with remaining sauce, then cover again with onion and orange slices. Bake 1/2 hour longer. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about: 345 calories; 95 mg sodium; 100 mg cholesterol; 24 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 26 grams protein; 0.42 gram fiber.