Originally appeared: March 2004.Do you have a minute to talk about rice?

, a favorite in eastern North Carolina where I come from.Thirty years later, F&W asked me to revisit that recipe.

I was more than up for the task since I love pickled shrimp, and since Ben and I have been friends for more than 40 years.. Ben and I first met when he and Karen and I all worked in the kitchen of La Residence in Chapel Hill in the early '80s.They moved on, first to The Fearrington House Inn out in Chatham County, and then to open Magnolia Grill in 1986.Magnolia Grill was among the first restaurants in North Carolina to embrace using local produce and cooking with the seasons.

Ben’s stellar cooking there put him on the map, and got him noticed by F&W — he’s a member of the 1993 class of... Ben Barker's Pork Chops on Creamy Hominy.

Magnolia Grill was also one of the first places where I saw an open kitchen.

This baffled me since it meant that you had to watch your language and couldn’t put ice down the back of each other’s pants while you worked.Brush a thin layer of jam on 24 of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies..

In a medium bowl, combine the almond paste with the confectioners’ sugar and knead until blended.Roll out the almond paste 1/8 inch thick between 2 sheets of parchment paper.

Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out 24 rounds.Brush the top of each cookie sandwich with another thin layer of jam and top with the rounds of almond paste..