Cured Meat

Chang's two restaurants cater decidedly to the pork lover, and this salad is no exception. Among the sweet, smoky, and tart notes tossed together, you'll get an occasional zing of heat from the chili nuts (which, served on their own, may very well become your new favorite bar snack).

Tiny bow-tie pasta takes this supreme comfort dish into another realm—it's kind of like fancy macaroni and cheese with bacon, and what could be better than that? At Zazu, the bacon is house-made and the eggs in the pasta and sauce come from their own hens. To stay true to that ideal, you might want to track down some local eggs and artisanal bacon when you make this dish at home.

Crème fraîche—a French heavy cream that's slightly sour—can be found in the dairy section of some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

If your toddler doesn't want the toast part, give him a more finger food–friendly bowl of cooked, unmashed beans. Four-star chefs wait all year for the same privilege.

Dried cracked corn, after being soaked and cooked, is mixed with milk and brown sugar to make a soupy sweet for indigenous peoples in the highlands of Colombia. Here it adds the thickening base that potatoes would in a traditional chowder. Chipotle and bacon mingle to form a low, smoky whisper of heat.

With the exception of beef and cheese, there is no burger combination more revered than beef and bacon. Here, we've improved on a classic by putting crumbled pieces of cooked bacon in the middle of the burger. It adds unexpected bits of crisp texture and diffuses smoky flavor throughout the beef.

Full of sweet corn, smoky bacon, and delightfully briny clams, this light summer chowder is like having a whole New England clambake in a bowl.

You'll find burrata cheese at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores, Italian markets, and cheese shops.

Why you'll make it: Because it's the simple version of the omelet, and works as well for breakfast as it does for lunch, a late dinner, even with drinks.

Tossing the potatoes first with salt and vinegar and then with bacon fat while they're still warm allows the flavors to really penetrate. Chopped chives add a delicate oniony scent.

This recipe alone is reason enough to grab your tote bag and head to the farmers market. Blackberry Farm dresses up the dish with parmesan foam and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar, but the ingredients stand on their own beautifully. Slip a fried egg on top, and you have an easy summer supper.

Bacon and a little cream give this chowder lashings of decadence — but, because there are no thickeners, it's surprisingly light.

Since these potatoes are "hasslebacked," or sliced accordion-style, before baking, the scallions and bacon fat really penetrate; the sour cream and bacon are the icing on the cake. (The dish has been known to elicit marriage proposals from strangers and tears from bacon lovers.)

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Mastering the Grill: The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking, by Andrew Schloss and David Joachim. You will need large hot dogs (knockwurst or foot-longs, take your choice) to hold all of the filling in this recipe. "The works" means anything and everything you like on a hot dog, so if there's something that works for you that we haven't included, bring it on; you can't mess it up. Whatever you do, the results will be over the top. One word of warning: Don't wrap the bacon too tightly, or it will break when the hot dogs swell during cooking.

Though they're a nod to the classic pairing of cooking greens with a ham hock, these gently bitter greens have several important differences: Because they are blanched rather than braised, they hold their intense color; bacon crumbled over the top, rather than cooked with the greens, retains its crispness; and smoky chipotle gives the dish an alluring heat.

The pork belly needs to cure overnight, so start this one day ahead. If you can't find pork belly, use bacon instead. Mix 12 ounces diced browned bacon, 2 tablespoons drippings, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 cup chicken broth, and 1/4 cup dry white wine in large skillet. Bring to simmer; keep warm. Cook pasta; proceed with recipe.