BACON AND POTATOES make a happy pair. For this simple side dish, I wanted to pair faintly browned potatoes and impossibly deep bacon flavor. After roasting, boiling, and frying my way through several existing recipes claiming to have strong bacon flavor, I determined that braising—cooking in a closed, moist environment—was the way to go.
Those early tests also showed me that while Yukon Gold, fingerling, and russet potatoes had their merits, red potatoes gave me the best-tasting results. What’s more, they looked great, too.
When we braise meat in the test kitchen, we usually begin by browning it over direct heat. We then add liquid, cover the pot, and finish it over a more modest heat. This method gives us soft, tender results with lovely brown edges. But when I…
