Rice & Grains

Pozole can refer to hominy, as well as to the name of the stew made with it.

Chunks of fresh cranberries and dark, milk, and white chocolate chips dress up oatmeal cookies for the holidays.

Top with pan juices from the Chicken with Olives, Caramelized Onions, and Sage .

A touch of cream Sherry amplifies the sweetness of the nuts and the squash.

A mini-processor comes in handy for making the pesto.

This dish, combining crunchy almonds and sweet apricots, tastes great with lamb or chicken.

Hachiya persimmon puree flavors the pudding; using arborio (the starchy, short-grained risotto rice) gives it an especially tender, creamy texture.

Fluffy texture (thanks to less-starchy converted rice) and the right balance of flavors (bay, thyme, and white pepper) earn this foolproof rice its name. This recipe is an accompaniment for Gumbo Z'Herbes.

Pearl-like sushi rice cooks up slightly moist and sticky, so it forms a cake easily. Chilling the cakes before browning helps them hold their shape.

This risotto is a delicious way to add vibrant color — and a bit of Italy — to the normally muted Thanksgiving table.

This dish is a wonderful alternative to more traditional dressing. It's normal for a crust to develop on the bottom of the pot — after scooping out most of the rice, you can cook the crust a bit longer, then chip off the tasty morsels.

A mixture of mushrooms gives these Mexican tamales a rich, almost meaty flavor.

Here, you only boil the rice briefly before combining it with the dried fruit and cooking it without water. We adapted this rice from a Persian method that yields a buttery crust (called tah-dig) on the bottom of the pan — later the crust is served with the rice. Usually you have to dip the pot in cold water at the end of cooking to release the crust, but a happy kitchen accident occurred when we tested this recipe. Food editor Ruth Cousineau let the rice stand for almost an hour (things can get hectic when you're preparing a holiday meal), and the crust came right out without the dipping. Using a heavy pot helps keep the rice hot, too.

Charles Alfonso of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, writes: "One of my favorite local restaurants is Dish Osteria and Bar, a place I discovered a few months ago. The food is so good that I go back nearly every weekend. The best dish I've had so far is the duck with polenta and lingonberry sauce." The restaurant serves the duck with a side of rapini sautéed in garlic and olive oil.