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I know it’s a bold statement, but this is the best damn crab cake you’re ever gonna eat! Unlike most recipes, this one doesn’t depend on bread crumbs or any other filler to hold the crab together. Sweet, succulent crab is mixed with not much more than butter and cream, which, when chilled, binds the crab cake together beautifully. When panfried, the outside gets crisp and brown while the butter melts inside, and what you bite into are warm lumps of luscious crab. When you want to pull out all the stops, this dish is impressive, elegant, and looks and tastes fantastic. The crab cake mixture is best if made ahead so it has sufficient time to chill and harden. For an hors d’oeuvre, form the crab mixture into mini cakes. The super simple carrot butter sauce adds not only a bit more richness but also a subtle sweetness and vibrant color. Try it with grilled fish, too.

A few years ago my wife, Tamara, and I started raising chickens in our backyard in Miami. It’s been a really funexperience and today we have eleven hens! With the coop comes lots of fresh eggs, so I’m always trying to find ways to use them creatively. This hearty onion soup is absolutely transcendent with a poached egg on top. When you cut into the egg, the runny yolk oozes into the soup, making it extra luxurious.

With only a handful of ingredients, this Tuscan peasant soup is deceptively simple, but tastes so rich and decadent, you’d swear there was cream in it. Heads up: blending the soup with olive oil is an important step to produce its velvety texture. The bread becomes suspended—almost like a custard—in the silky tomatoes; the basil adds a subtle perfume. Paired with nutty, gooey-smooth Fontina cheese sandwiches, this comfort food classic pushes all the right buttons.

Falafel, usually tucked into pita bread with lettuce, tomato, and tahini sauce, is one of the best-known Middle Eastern street foods. At home, falafels make a rustic hot hors d’oeuvre, with a bowl of creamy tahini sauce for dipping. These fry up just right: crunchy on the outside and fluffy in the middle. The baking powder gives the falafels a little lift so they don’t sit in your stomach like belly bombs! All the fresh herbs make for a vibrant flavor and super green color. The chickpeas need to soak for a bit, so plan accordingly. The falafels are amazing with Quick Pickled Vegetables (page 235).

I know what you are thinking . . . kimchi quesadilla?! It may sound strange, but trust me: spicy kimchi and gooey cheese is a killer combo. You can assemble these quesadillas ahead of time and simply cook ’em up when you need them. Served with a simple salad, these also make a terrific light lunch.

Cooking and cleaning pigs’ heads all day gave me a powerful hunger for chicken. This is an especially aromatic roasted chicken with an all-in-one sauce and side dish.

Choucroute garnie traditionally combines sausages and thick chunks of bacon with larger cuts of meat like smoked pork chops and even hunks of pork shoulder. This faster version includes only sausages and bacon. The grated potato adds body and silkiness to the sauerkraut, which, if not homemade (see page 143), should be purchased refrigerated (not canned).

Carolina Gold rice “grits” from Anson Mills are short, uneven pieces of rice that have been broken during the threshing process. They cook up creamier than long-grain white rice, which can be substituted in this recipe: pulse it in batches in a spice mill or clean coffee grinder for 5 seconds to create the same effect.

On the few nights that he is not at Lantern, Miguel cooks Mexican at home. He has not seen his family since moving to North Carolina in 1999, and the goal of his home cooking is to make his dishes taste as close to his mother’s and grandmother’s as possible with the ingredients he can get here. He thinks that he is getting close with these carnitas.

Billy Cotter devised this delicious meaty sandwich for his vegetarian wife, Kelli, at their restaurant Toast, in downtown Durham.