Bacon

Maple syrup, sherry vinegar and citrus combine to make a terrific glaze for thick slices of slab bacon in this simple, six-ingredient recipe.

Brooklyn butcher Tom Mylan likes wrapping sweet, juicy peaches in bacon and grilling them until they're nicely charred. The secret ingredient, he says, are the grilled scallions tucked into the peach pit nook, "for the win."

James Peisker and Chris Carter bake their delicious thick-cut bacon with sugar and chile powder so it comes out of the oven caramelized, crispy and utterly irresistible—the perfect topping for favorite Southern snacks like deviled eggs.

Instead of making a simple burger, chef and cookbook author Suvir Saran mixes ground beef chuck with bacon, scallions, mint and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for stellar flavor.

For this excellent appetizer, jumbo shrimp are marinated in chile-garlic oil, then wrapped with bacon and grilled. They're served with a house-made cocktail sauce that's spiked with a horseradish.

Grace Parisi uses packaged biscuit dough and thick-cut smoky bacon to reconfigure the classic pork-filled street food called gua bao (braised pork buns).

These “BLT” hot dogs are topped with crispy bacon, fresh tomatoes and crunchy lettuce dressed with a creamy caraway-pickle mayonnaise.

Crispy, sweet and salty, this three-ingredient snack is the ultimate cocktail party hors d’oeuvre.

“I’ve been making a version of our ‘hangover breakfast’ since before I was old enough to drink,” says Mark Canlis. He adds a little whisky to the bacon, along with brown sugar, to caramelize and flavor it. In Scotland, they use “rashers,” or ham-like Canadian bacon.

Clams and bacon form a delectable union enhanced by wine-flavored tomato sauce. We recommend chopped clams, which are sold in refrigerated containers in many fish shops and at supermarkets, but you can also use good-quality canned clams.

Pair chef James Tracey’s pea-bacon risotto with a Pinot Noir from Oregon.

Shea Gallante’s delectable sandwich is filled with crunchy bacon, sweet chunks of lobster (replacing the usual lettuce) and herb-spiked mayonnaise.

For a zippy version of a New England classic, Laurence Jossel bakes buttery Rancho Gordo Yellow Eye beans in a tangy-hot mixture of apple cider vinegar, molasses, brown sugar and crushed red pepper. Regular Italian cannellini or Great Northern beans can replace the Yellow Eyes.

This salad would also be delicious with Broccolini, which is similar to broccoli but with smaller florets and longer stems.

Few Americans eat pasta for breakfast, but this Greek-inspired recipe with orzo, leeks and bacon aims to make a few converts.

Wolfgang Puck uses both creamy grated corn and sautéed kernels to make this satisfying soup, which he serves with a chile-spiked cream.

Andrew Zimmern’s family loves this classic pasta. He amps up the tomato sauce with vodka and adds rich, smoky flavor with bacon.

“Oyster mushrooms are the awesomest,” says chef Kevin Willmann. To roast them, he makes a delicious garlic oil; save leftover oil for other uses.

“About 15 years ago, I was asked by a subscription recipe company to create 20 pie recipes, and to this day they are some of my best. Tested and re-tested, refined and polished, they are faultless and balanced. This is one of my favorites. It’s a bacon and onion filling bound with soft, ripened goat cheese and a ballsy Gruyère, poured fairly shallowly into a delicate pâte brisée. Pay attention while you make the tart crust; it’s one you can adapt for a thousand fillings. Add some sugar to the dough and prebake with pie weights, and you will be able to fill it all spring with lime curd and berries.”—Andrew Zimmern

Chef Laurent Tourondel shares this idea for a delicious bacon and tomato salad.

The combination of charred slabs of sweet onion, smoky bacon and juicy peaches makes this salad delightfully Southern.

Teres major is an ultra-lean steak that’s sometimes referred to as mock tender. Its similarity to the tenderloin makes it a great substitute for filet mignon.

Marcia Kiesel likes to feature corn in main courses because “it’s so substantial,” she says, so she uses it here as a base for a decadent cheese soufflé, enhanced with smoky bacon.

Katy Sparks likes to treat tuna steaks like beef. Here, she wraps them in bacon as she would a beef tenderloin, which not only adds a subtle smoky flavor to the fish but also keeps it moist.

A tangy, buttery white wine and grapefruit sauce with smoky bacon is the perfect accompaniment to sweet sea scallops.

The mayonnaise dressing for this potato salad gets pungency from mustard oil (store-bought spicy mustard works fine, too) and a hit of smoky-sweet flavor from bacon and bottled barbecue sauce.

Cheese curds are small chunks of just-made cheese that haven't been pressed into a shape. They’re milky and delicious in a grilled cheese sandwich like this one, which is spread with Joe Beef’s signature “chicken glace mayo,” made at the restaurant with chicken stock that Frédéric Morin says has been “reduced to oblivion.” He suggests substituting beef bouillon to replicate his uniquely savory mayonnaise.

Wedge salad (iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing and bacon) is a classic American dish. Here, James Holmes reconfigures it as a playful cocktail snack.

This ultra-creamy chowder is packed with plump oysters and tender fingerling potatoes, along with extra-smoky Benton’s bacon.

This terrific bacon-and-egg salad from Andrew Zimmern is the best combination of salty and sweet, hot and cold, soft and crunchy.

With a golden layer of puff pastry topped by caramelized onions, soft potatoes, bacon and tangy Reblochon cheese, this tart is lighter than the sum of its parts.

Brian Perrone was reluctant to put a burger on the Slows Bar BQ menu because he wanted to focus on barbecue. At the insistence of his partners, he came up with this patty melt-style burger topped with smoked Gouda, sweet house-made barbecue sauce and hot sauce-spiked onions. He’s glad he did: It was an instant hit.

When baking these bacon-and-scallion-flecked corn muffins—a great accompaniment to all kinds of barbecue—Nick Fauchald prefers the grill to a conventional oven for two reasons: The muffins absorb some of the grill’s great smoky flavors, and he can spend that much more time outside.

Make-ahead Tip: The pimento cheese can be prepared through step 1 and refrigerated for up to 3 days.