New Jersey, Now Known for Rice

California and South Carolina are the usual sources for American-grown rice, but you can add New Jersey to the list. In Pennington, southwest of New Brunswick, Blue Moon Acres is cultivating assorted rices. There are medium- and long-grain brown rice; white sushi rice; a mix of short-grain brown and black rice, called black and tan,…

Add This Cheese to Your Party Board

Many more sheep than humans live on the windswept Croatian island of Pag in the Adriatic Sea. The sheep, a breed called paska ovka, graze on the landscape, and their milk takes on the briny tang of the environment in a local cheese called Paski Sir. This fairly firm-textured cheese, with a nutty aroma and…

A King Cake With a Raspberry Twist

This year Judith Norell, an owner of Silver Moon Bakery on the Upper West Side, has added a new twist, raspberry preserves, to her galette des rois, or king cake, the confection served for Epiphany on Jan. 6. It’s usually fashioned from puff pastry and filled with marzipan, with a good luck token hidden inside.…

Cacio e Pepe, Hold the Cheese

Cacio e pepe pasta — quite literally, cheese and pepper pasta — is as defined by its ingredients as peanut butter and jelly. Like many classic Italian dishes, it requires just a few good-quality items (pasta, cheese and pepper) and attention to technique (emulsifying grated cheese and starchy pasta water into a silky, salty sauce).…

The Way to Cook Now

Good morning. Is it time for resolutions yet, or are those only made on Wednesday morning in exchange for release from headaches and anxiety, sweat and abject fear? Me, I’d like there to be more plants on my plate in 2020, and smaller portions of meat. I’d like to cook with more nuts and seeds,…

Plan Your Play, Play Your Plan

Good morning. Straight talk, no malarkey: I don’t like New Year’s Eve. I grew up in New York City and work in Times Square, and my view of the holiday has always been informed by the crowds here and the fences that contain them, the way they wait and wait. Wake up, sheeple! It’s cold…