Now you may be thinking, what a pig! How rude to be that ungrateful! But This Little Pig feels that if you’re going to go to all that effort to make a potato salad, make it a fabulous ones piglets! It’s not hard to increase it to superstar status, just a few shavings of crispy bacon, the odd free range egg and a drizzle of aioli will turn your sorrowful salad into a party in your mouth.
So tuck into the recipe below and repeat after This Little Pig, “I will never again take a disappointing salad to a party and I will always hit the dance floor if one starts up.
Side note: This Little Pig made this recipe with what it describes as 'the god amongst all frypans' - The Scanpan Maitre'D Induction Compatible Frypan. Now whilst this was gifted to these fine swines, one would think it would make them biased but no piglets, this was love at first sight no matter how it arrived. It heated up so quickly, cooked the bacon in a flash, cleaned like a dream and on top of it all just looked visually beautiful against This Little Pigs splashback #aesthetics - This Little Pig can 10/10 recommend and may mention it a few times in the below blog. Please excuse us we can't help ourselves.
Oink.”
Creamy Dill & Aioli Potato Salad with Free Range Egg & Fresh Corn.
Feeds: 8-10 Hungry Piglets (as a side).
Prep Time: 20 Mins. Cooking Time: 20 Mins.
Ingredients of Glory:
200g x Free Range Bacon
3 x Free Range Eggs
2 x Corn Cobs
1 x Spring Onion Bunch
1 x Brown Onion
2 x Garlic Cloves
12 x Ruby Lou Potatoes
1 x Dill Bunch
200g x Aioli (This Little Pig likes Paul Newman’s one)
1 x Tbs Gourmet Stock
1 x Tbs Olive oil
Method of Glory:
- Pop your eggs into a pot with cold water and a sprinkling of salt and bring to the boil with its lid on. *Handy hint: This Little Pig’s grandma recommends using eggs that are a little older as these are easier to peel.
- As soon as the water starts to boil, take off the heat and leave to sit for 4 minutes – for a slightly soft boiled egg. After the 4 minutes are up run under cold water to stop the boiling process.
- Chop your potatoes (this little pig likes to keep their skin on) into bite sized chunks and place in a large pot with your gourmet stock (1 Tbs) and cover with cold water.
- Bring to the boil and cook until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a knife. Be sure to not overcook these little spuds however, as otherwise you may end up with a mashed potato salad on your hands – you want them al dente – cooked but still firm.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and place into your large salad bowl for dressing later.
- Place your corn cobs, with their skins on, into the microwave for 4 mins or until when you peek under his jacket he is a lovely bright golden colour. Set aside to cool or you will burn your trotters off and have no trotter available to eat with.
- Finely dice your spring onion and dill.
- Skin and finely dice your garlic and brown onion.
- A small trick with chopping your onion piglets:Chop the top off your onion.
- Cut your onion in half longways and peel back the skin.
- Place the onion half face down and face the root end away from you.
- Carefully cut vertical stripes into the onion – being sure to leave the root section intact to hold the onion together.
- Turn the onion 90 degrees and then very finely chop across the onion.
- Tada! The onion falls apart into beautiful little squares.
- Or simply watch this great video by Jamie Oliver to view great onion cutting skills https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQZtCVkypAo
Anyway…we digress..
- Finely dice your bacon – This Little Pig likes tiny crispy bits of bacon so try and make them reeeeallly small. We also left a few slightly larger pieces (around 7ish 5cm strips) to crisp up and pop on top in the middle as a feature.
- Heat up a large frypan with your olive oil and then, once hot to trot, add your bacon and cook until starting to crisp. Watch out piglets bacon spits out at you in a wild and uncontrollable way and whilst This Little Pig loves the idea of bacon leaping around the kitchen, it can be quite painful when hitting open skin and sizzling upon there – so stand back fine swine and keep a beady eye on this wild beautiful thang.
- Once your bacon is almost crispy, add in the onion and garlic and cook for a few mins until it is translucent.
- Pour your lovely sizzling bacon into the potato bowl, along with your dill and spring onion (save a small bit of both for the final dressing visual) + your larger crispy bacon bits if you went for that vibe.
- Take your cooled off corn cobs and run down the cob with a sharp knife, cutting all the lovely golden gems of corn off (watch out this can get a little messy piglets so do it on a big board and go slowly). Throw your corn into the potato bowl.
- Pour your aioli over the potato salad and after a good scrunch of pepper, gently mix your aioli through the potato salad, ensuring all the ingredients are mixed well.
- Take your cooled down boiled eggs and gently peel, making sure to keep the egg white intact. Slice in half width ways and then chop them in half - this seems to hold the yolk in them better.
- Lay your beautiful boiled egg quarters over the top of your potato salad and artfully scatter the last of your dill, spring onion and any crisp bacon bits.
- Briskly walk to your party with a smug grin and an air of confidence, knowing that you have just made the best potato salad in the land. Oink.
