| Preparation Time | depends on quantity |
| Cooking Time | 1 hour |
| Oven Temp | 165°C |
| Oven Setting | Fan Forced |
| Freeze | No |
Basic Roast Potatoes
It's a fact that perfect roast potatoes are quite hard to find - they seldom work in restaurants because they don't like hanging around, and they're either too greasy or tough and leathery. But at home they can be perfect every time: all you need to do is follow these instructions and you'll never have a failure. My favourite variety of potato to use is Desirée, but Pontiacs, Colibans, and Sebagos also work well. Gourmets also roast beautifully. The secret to perfect potatoes is double cooking them, first by moist heat (simmering) then by roasting them. I also roughen up the edges of my potatoes before I roast them; this ensures crunchy edges with soft and fluffy centres.Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven.
- First place a baking tray with 3 Tbsp oil in it on the highest shelf for 5-10 minutes.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into even-sized pieces.
- Then place them in a saucepan, pour over boiling water from a kettle, just to cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Then lift one out with a skewer and see if the outer edge is fluffy. (You can test this by running the point of the skewer along the surface - if they still seems too smooth, give them a few more minutes).
- Drain off the water, place the lid back on the saucepan and shake it vigorously up and down. (What you are trying to achieve here is to roughen up the cooked edges of the potatoes to make them floury and fluffy.)
- Transfer the potatoes into the baking tray then spoon the hot oil over each potato to baste it so they're completely coated with oil. (This seals them immediately and prevents them sticking and becoming greasy, which is what happens when the fat is not hot enough).
- Now place them back on the highest shelf of the oven and leave them unattended for 40-50 minutes or until they are golden brown. There's no need to turn them over at half time - they will brown evenly by themselves.
- Sprinkle them with a little crushed salt before serving.
Variations
When you shake the potatoes just before placing them in the oven, add your choice of the following to vary the flavour...
- Rosemary Garlic - 1 Tbsp rosemary needles, 2 chopped bacon rashers or prosciutto, and 1 minced clove garlic.
- Sumac - 1 Tbsp sumac
- Lemon Pepper - 1 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
- Sweet Paprika - 1 Tbps sweet paprika
- Moroccan - 1 Tbsp ras el hanout
Potato Bites
Potatoes can also be made as hors d'oeuvres for entertaining. Follow the same preparation method as above, but instead fo cutting the potatoes into bitesize pieces, use a large melon baller to scoop out balls of potato from peeled whole potatoes. Boiling time should also be reduced to 5 minutes at most. Serve with toothpicks.
