You know how everyone has a few dishes in their repertoire that they have made the same way for as long as they can remember? Those dishes that you learned once, thought they tasted pretty good, and so you never wavered from the familiar way you were taught?

For me one of those dishes in potato salad. That old summertime picnic and barbecue standby. Since high school or college, I’ve made it in the exact same manner, tossing boiled potatoes with a mayo and dill dressing, maybe accented with a bit of lemon juice. Classic, comfortable, but not terribly mind-blowing, like that black sheath dress you wear to the office.

Well, I think I’ve found the smoking hot, slinky red dress equivalent of the potato salad. And it involves thickly cut bacon and tangy barbecue sauce.