Roast potatoes are a typical component of the traditional Sunday roast dinner and other British dishes. In my house, roast tatties usually find their way onto the table at least once a week and as they’re such a versatile additional to any meat dish, definitely not just on Sundays.
In order to make the perfect roast potatoes every time, consider the following very easy recipe. You’ll need around 90 minutes of cooking and preparation time all told.
You Will Need:
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A quantity of large potatoes (how many depends on how hungry you are)
A little olive oil, lard or vegetable oil.
A pot for boiling.
An oven tray for baking.
A colander or strainer.
A little salt.
Peel the potatoes and cut in half, or quarters…or thirds if you please. You want reasonable sized chunks (about the size of a large egg) so halve smaller potatoes and quarter the big fellas. For best results, you’ll want to choose a flowery potato like King Edward or Cara as these will give the best crunchy coatings.
Toss these in a pan of very lightly salted water and boil (ignore the salt if you choose) for around 10 minutes. Your time will vary depending upon heat and the type of potato you are using. You want to wait until the potato is cooked but not all the way through. You don’t want them falling apart and disintegrating in the next stage but you do want the outer skin to be soft enough to be scruffed up in the following stage.
Meanwhile, start preheating your oven to around 425 degree fahrenheit / 220 degrees Centrigrade…higher or lower doesn’t matter too much, so if you’ve got some meat roasting in there already, then no biggie, just adjust your cooking time respectively.
Drain the potatoes into a collander or strainer and allow to cool. Then rough them up a little - this gives the crunchy outer coating you’ll find on perfect roast spuds. Swirl them around a little in your strainer or rough them up with a fork if that doesn’t work to give a fluffy, floury outer surface. You can sprinkle with a little salt at this time if you desire.
Now, add some lard or oil to your roasting pan (lard works best in my opinion) and if you happen to be roasting a joint at the same time, add some of the juices from the meat to the pan as well, it adds some great additional flavour. Put the pan in the oven and heat the oil until sizzling. You’ll need enough oil to comfortably baste all your potatoes.
Now, remove the pan and add the potatoes carefully to the still sizzling oil. Baste them thoroughly in the oil as this seals them quickly and stops them becoming greasy and return the pan to the oven for around 45 minutes…give or take a little time as this will depend upon the type of potato you are roasting. You’ll need to turn the potatoes at least once during the roasting time to ensure a brown, crispy coating on all side.
When they are nicely brown on all sides, remove from the oven and serve your perfect roast potatoes. An excellent way to serve your roast potatoes is as part of a traditional Sunday lunch with roast beef, parnsips, yorkshire pudding and cabbage, cauliflower or brussel sprouts along with lashings of bisto gravy.
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