Bacon

Add the grated peel from half an orange to the dressing if you want a more intense orange flavor in the salad.

This dish is an excellent accompaniment to almost any Mexican meal. The beans should be whole, perfectly tender, and swimming in a generous amount of broth.

Transforming cabbage into sauerkraut was one way the Germans preserved summer's crop for the hard winter ahead. A combination of rinsing the kraut of its salty brine and baking it with dried fruit mellows its bite. Smoked pork chops can be substituted; just omit the browning step. Offer some dark and light German beers to drink.

If you can't find Yukon Gold potatoes, use russets instead.

Bacon was a staple meat for the pioneers. (They stored it in bags surrounded by bran for insulation.) As a result, the cured meat has found its way into a variety of heartland dishes. This all-American bird embellished with sage and bacon is a good example. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

I love cheeseburgers, but I think that I like this meatloaf even better, especially when served with sesame-seed rolls and french fries.

Favorite Danish ingredients get dressed up in pretty packages for the holidays. Complete the side dish offerings with some oven-roasted potatoes topped with butter and lightly sprinkled with caraway.

Redeye gravy is traditionally made from ham drippings, water, and coffee, the last being an optional ingredient. Here we've enriched the savory braising liquid from lamb shanks with bacon (instead of ham drippings) for a new twist on an old favorite.

Choucroute — the pickled cabbage that is a cornerstone of Alsatian cuisine — is similar to sauerkraut. One key difference is that choucroute is always cooked in wine. Here, sauerkraut is combined with smoked ham hocks, sausages and potatoes.

Vinegar adds some pleasant zip to this side dish, which gets its richness from the sautéed bacon and onions. Serve the kale with roast pork or chicken.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Water, rather than oil, serves as the counterpoint to vinegar in this rich and savory dressing, which is wonderful spooned over shredded Napa cabbage or cooked fish or cauliflower, or tossed with boiled sliced potatoes.

Coca-Cola was invented in the late 1800s by Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton, and it really hit its stride after the turn of the century. The company has introduced several variations over the years (Diet Coke, Cherry Coke and the short-lived New Coke), but Coca-Cola Classic has always been the big seller. And it has made its way into quite a few recipes, including a Coca-Cola cake and a Coke-glazed baked ham. Here it adds a sweet caramel note to a simple version of baked beans.

The dressing for this salad is based on an old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe.

Karla Medina of League City, Texas, writes: "At a food festival in downtown Houston, I had a sampler plate from Carmelo's Italian Restaurant. The eggplant Parmesan and spicy meatballs were very good, but the polenta was out of this world. I'd love to know how they prepared it."

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

In many parts of the country, pierogi, Eastern European dumplings, are sold fresh and frozen in supermarkets. Like premade egg rolls, they've become a convenience food for cooks with limited time. Served with the cabbage and bacon, they're all you need for dinner. These turnovers are typically deep-fried, or boiled and then panfried. Instead, we used a method often employed for cooking frozen Asian dumplings and found it works very well. If pierogi aren't sold in your supermarket, try a local Polish or Eastern European deli.