Modern Variations on the Classics

This luxurious yet easy take on classic meat loaf gets stuffed with spinach, carrots, prosciutto and cheese. Mild and tangy caciocavallo cheese, made in Italy from cow’s milk, is excellent in the filling, but provolone is a fine substitute.

Sang Yoon first learned the benefits of making burgers with more than one kind of meat when he tried a beef-pork patty at a little corner stand in Atlanta. For his impressive version, he uses chopped smoky bacon to enrich ground pork. Just before the burgers are done, he tops them with Camembert (for creaminess) and Gorgonzola (for more creaminess, as well as pungency).

Anything big made small is ultrafun for cocktail parties, and these quick, one-bite mac and cheeses are the ultimate example. Cooked in mini muffin pans, the mini macs can be assembled early and baked just as guests arrive.

This decadent version of French toast, from Jamie West at The Mayflower Inn in Washington, Connecticut, is made with two slices of buttery brioche that are filled with creamy peanut butter, coated in crunchy cornflakes, toasted until crisp and topped with maple syrup and fresh berries.

In classic French cuisine, when the sauce for wine-braised boar or venison is flavored with red currant jelly and cream, the dish is called grand veneur. Beef and pork are delicious prepared in grand veneur style too.

Called socca in Nice and farinata in Genoa, this workingman’s morning snack is traditionally baked in brick ovens in pizza pans. This method calls for using a skillet on the stovetop, then moving the pizza to the broiler.

If you see sugar crystals on the sides of the pot while making caramel, dissolve them with a pastry brush that has been dipped in water until well moistened.