Fry

This lighter take on the classic recipe will be gobbled up as quickly as the original—and is still best served with applesauce and sour cream.

The burger's undeniable appeal and infinite flexibility have inspired culinary luminaries like Bobby Flay and Laurent Tourondel to devote entire restaurants to the humble sandwich. And despite what purists might say, some of today’s best burgers aren't even made with beef. Patties made of lamb, bison, or seafood (like the crab burgers here) are increasingly popular. Toasted bread, a pita pocket, or even a lettuce leaf are fun standins for the traditional bun. In our homage to the modern burger, the crab patties are served open-face with a spicy red pepper dressing.

Tonkatsu—deep-fried breaded pork—is a European-inspired dish that evolved during the late 19th century in Japan. Here, the pork is pounded thin and simply panfried. Pickled carrots offer a cool bite.

It's delicious, but even better, it's deconstruct-ible. (You can remove any offensive elements for the kids without sacrificing your own dinner.)

This dish can pack a lot of heat—or not. If you like a lot of spice, feel free to up the amount of fiery bird's-eye chiles. If you prefer a slightly milder dish, you can remove the seeds from the chiles.

Jamón Serrano, a salty cured Spanish ham, is the traditional pairing for Manchego cheese. The ham is sold at specialty foods stores and at Spanish and Latin markets, and the cheese can be found at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

The word "meunière" is a reference to the miller of wheat, whose wife (acccording to French lore) cooked everything coated with flour. The original French style of trout meunière, then, was seasoned and floured, sautéd in butter, and then topped with the browned butter from the pan. This is still more or less how the dish is done in some restaurants—notably Galatoire's. There is a New Orleans twist on this, however, and I think it's better than the French classic. It was invented by "Count" Arnaud, who, while trying to standardize and stabilize the sauce so the fish could be fried instead of sautéd, added a bit of stock and roux to the butter and lemon. At its best, this sauce is incredibly good and works not just on trout but also on other fried seafood, notably oysters.

Polenta makes a supercrisp coating for panfried chicken breasts. Here, it's crowned with wilted escarole and dressed with a bright and briny sauce.

This is a true Italian feast: Little meatballs served with the antipasti come just before big meatballs in the ragù. Miraglia Eriquez's grandmother used to fry these snacks while her sauce simmered. As the meatballs spattered in the pan, the family would crowd into the kitchen to eat them hot. Your guests will do the same, whetting their appetites for the food to come.

Miraglia Eriquez's Aunt Dottie loved this indulgent appetizer, which was served at her favorite Italian-American restaurants. A talented, ambitious home cook, Dottie tinkered in her kitchen until she came up with her own version. We're glad she did. The lemon and capers in the anchovy-butter sauce cut through the richness of soft, stretchy mozzarella in a pocket of crisp fried bread.

Less expensive than crab but just as good.

Add a little color to the Festival of Lights with zucchini pancakes that shine green. Lighter than potato latkes, they're the Mediterranean cousins who've traveled north to visit family in eastern Europe.

Every family has its own (ahem, best) version of these savory potato pancakes. We’re offering you a classic formula, though not everyone drains the potato mixture before frying—we find this prevents the latkes from absorbing too much oil and allows them to crisp into golden disks. Maybe this will become the new family favorite.

In order to be kosher when served with meat, the risotto in these cakes is dairy-free. It gets its creaminess exclusively from the starchy rice, so it's important to cook it slowly, stirring continuously, to release as much starch as possible. If you don't need to avoid dairy, you could replace half the vegetable oil with melted unsalted butter and stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese with the mushrooms and thyme for extra flavor.

The tiniest latkes on the menu, these are flavored with creamy cauliflower and spicy Aleppo pepper (a Syrian seasoning). Serve them with the aioli or just sprinkle them with za'atar.