Ingredients

• 1.2kg Mini New Potatoes (washed and cleaned)
• 400g Streaky Bacon (sliced)
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 3 Sprigs Thyme
• 3 Spring Onions (cleaned, trimmed and sliced)

Instructions

1. Cut any larger potatoes you have in half so that their all roughly the same size and cook evenly.
2. Place your potatoes in a large pot, fill with cold water till their completely covering the potatoes.  Add your bay leaves, thyme and plenty of salt.  Cook the potatoes under medium high heat until your potatoes are cooked through.
3. Place your sliced bacon in a large saute pan, and cook over low heat until all the fat has rendered and your bacon is crispy (approximately 15mins). Remove your bacon from the pan and leave 2-3tbsp of the rendered bacon fat in the pan.
4. When your potatoes are ready, strain through a colander and remove the bay leaves and thyme.  Let stand for a few mins to allow the steam/water to evaporate from the potatoes.
5. In the saute pan used for cooking your bacon, turn the heat onto high until your pan is sizzling hot.  Carefully add your potatoes into your pan into a single layer and cook for 5-8mins until your potatoes are crisp and golden brown all over.  Return your bacon to the pan to warm through and add your spring onions and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper, toss through before placing everything into a serving dish.

Notes:

• This is a simple, cheap and delicious dish that I often serve as a side during BBQ’s and even holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.  You can easily make this dish ahead of time and reheat in the oven before serving.  If you do, omit the spring onions and add them after they’ve been reheated to prevent them from wilting and discolouring from the heat.
• It’s important to try to make your potatoes as uniform as possible and cut the larger ones in half or even into thirds so that they all cook evenly.  If their size and shape is uneven, they’ll also cook unevenly.
• Whenever you’re rendering the fat of a fatty item such as bacon or duck breast, it’s important to always start in a cold pan and cook over low heat.  People often make the mistake of cooking bacon under high heat, thinking that’s the best way to achieve crispy bacon.  This is not true.  You need to use low heat to gradually render out all the fat before cooking at a higher heat to make the bacon crispy.  Otherwise if you start with a hot pan and use high heat, the bacon will scorch before all the fat has rendered causing you to have tough chewy bacon strips with uneven crispy edges.
• Ensure that your potatoes are well drained and have been given enough time for the steam to evaporate before dropping them into your saute pan.  If you have any residual water on the potatoes, the water will interact with the hot fat/oil which will spit and spat all over you and your kitchen stove.
• If your pan isn’t large enough to cook all your potatoes in a single layer, do it in batches instead.  If you try cooking all your potatoes in one go, they won’t be able to cook and saute evenly.