Love it or hate it, Chicago's largest food event is back for another 10 days of face-stuffing festivities. The Taste of Chicago starts Friday, which means hordes of hungry locals and tourists will descend on Grant Park for a bite or 12 of samplings from Chicago restaurants.

If sticky crowds aren't your thing, you can still indulge in some fried ravioli and frozen bananas from the comfort of your own home. Why not make it a potluck and invite friends to each bring a version of their favorite Taste treat? Tickets optional.

Check out the make-at-home recipes we've compiled...

• Can't get enough of Bella Luna Cafe's beer battered artichokes? Try this classic fried artichoke recipe from Gourmet, or spice it up with this pepper-jack-cheese-stuffed version.
• And while you're deep frying, you might as well channel Harry Caray's with a batch of toasted ravioli.
• The best barbecue rib sandwich at the Taste is up for debate, but we think Emeril's BBQ short rib sandwich looks pretty tasty.
• And speaking of barbecue, Grazie! Ristorante makes a mean BBQ buffalo burger, but Bobby Flay's version comes with mango ketchup and red slaw. Yum.
• Frozen chocolate bananas are standard Taste fare. Cookie magazine offers instructions for an easy do-it-yourself batch, which recommends topping them with granola, nuts or sprinkles.
• It wouldn't be the Taste without Eli's cheesecake on a stick, but we'd much rather munch on one of these cheesecake pops from Taste and Tell. The Daring Bakers tackled this challenge in April – check out photos of their adorable creations in their Flickr pool.

Related: Good Question: Buying a Deep Fryer


(Images: tonydolor and pink aura, licensed under Creative Commons)