a good cow's milk cheddar should be at least a year old, with a pleasantly sharp tang and slightly crumbly texture |  | aged cheddar from grafton, cabot, and tillamook |  | alpine-style cheese like gruyere |  | waxed paper or specialized cheese paper is an ideal wrapping--use fresh plastic each time you wrap if you must use plastic |  | store cheese in it's own drawer, or in a plastic container |  | cheese absorbs flavors so keep cheese away from strong-scented foods like onions or olives |  | soft cheeses -- mozzarella, burrata, ricotta |  | burrata on its own with some olive oil and a sprinkle of salt |  | honey and ricotta for breakfast |  | cheeses from distefanocheese.com |  | store soft cheeses in their liquid in their original containers |  | canned tomato products |  | muir glen organic tomatoes for long-cooked dishes and bianco dinapoli for quick pizza and pasta dishes |  | buy whole canned tomatoes to control the final texture? |  | rarely use raw nuts. roast first, then finely or coarsely chop over salads or pastas or salsas |  | roast nuts without oil, for a long time in a fairly low oven, 325 to 250 |  | brine almonds in salted water before roasting |  | store nuts in the fridge for no longer than a month |  | add a jansson's temptation recipe |  | chile de arbol is the most versatile dried chile |  | bloom dried chile flakes in some olive oil during the first step of cooking |