Tips for Rescuing the Most Humble Dishes

This meat loaf is extra-delicious, thanks to a red wine glaze that caramelizes as it bakes.

Tossing cashews with fried sage and garlic elevates this classic snack.

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.

These waffles, from chef Michael Mina, go far beyond the ordinary. Cornmeal makes the waffles crispy; ricotta keeps them moist.

Here, sweet potatoes get a boost from fragrant vanilla beans.

Ferran Adrià credits the idea for this dish to one of his acolytes, Moreno Cedroni, the hyper-creative Italian chef at La Madonnina del Pescatore in Italy’s Marzocca di Senigallia. The method is very similar to risotto, but spaghetti fills in for the arborio rice: Adrià toasts it in a pan with a little oil, then adds hot clam juice until the pasta is fully cooked and loaded with briny flavor.

It may not be an obvious combination, but topping a bacon-wrapped hot dog with avocado and sour cream yields delicious results.

Ginger lends terrific flavor to this warming chicken soup.

Chocolate with cocoa nibs adds an ingenious twist to the classic chocolate chip cookie.

The Three-Pepper Bloody Mary in the meatball gravy acts like a tomato sauce and becomes a terrific, spicy glaze.