{"id":1191,"date":"2014-11-27T23:32:41","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T23:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecherryplumkitchen.com\/?p=1191"},"modified":"2014-11-27T23:32:41","modified_gmt":"2014-11-27T23:32:41","slug":"roast-potatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecherryplumkitchen.com\/?p=1191","title":{"rendered":"Roast Potatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If your roast potatoes are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside the ‘game’ is already won. \u00a0The second mortgage you’ve taken out to get a big enough piece of meat to feed the family, particularly if you’ve wanted the animal ethically reared, is largely wasted.<\/p>\n

\"Roast<\/a><\/p>\n

Last weekend I had a fuller-than-usual table for Sunday lunch – it was Great-Auntie Mary’s 82nd birthday. \u00a0In accordance with ‘family tradition’, it was her choice of birthday food. \u00a0So we had roast chicken(s) plural, stuffing, gravy, cabbage, carrots, mixed root vegetable puree and roast potatoes.<\/p>\n

On average, I suppose I cook a full ‘roast’ once a month. \u00a0Maybe. \u00a0For my mum it was a weekly event with the ‘meat’ rotated – chicken, lamb, beef, pork. \u00a0My grandparents’ too. \u00a0Monday was ‘wash day’ and ‘leftovers’. \u00a0Leftovers were cold meat, ‘bubble and squeak’ and piccalilli.<\/p>\n

\"Roast<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a great ‘roastie’ cooked outside of a home kitchen. \u00a0The thing is, they just don’t hang around. \u00a0For utter perfection, they need to go from oven to table with no intervening anything. \u00a0Maybe just the time it takes to sprinkle with coarse sea salt \u2026 but that is it. \u00a0“Keep warm uncovered”, is a lie. \u00a0You lose the crispy.<\/p>\n

\"aRoast<\/a><\/p>\n

To get the fluffy centre you need a ‘floury’ potato. \u00a0Maris Piper, Desir\u00e9e, Romano and King Edward are all great UK choices.<\/p>\n

\"aRoast<\/a><\/p>\n

Peel – and cut into even pieces. \u00a0I aim for 5cm\/2\u00bd” pieces. \u00a0The straight ‘cut’ sides are actually a good thing.<\/p>\n

\"aRoast<\/a><\/p>\n

Place your potato into cold salted water and bring to the boil. \u00a0Aim to have the potato in the water for a maximum of 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Roast<\/a><\/p>\n

You are not aiming to boil to a mush – just soften the edges. \u00a0My mum used to ‘fork’ her potatoes to break up the surface but I just – roughly – drain and tip back into the saucepan. \u00a0It should be enough to break up the edges of the potato so it will catch the fat and give a lovely crispy finish.<\/p>\n

I listened to an Italian TV chef on Food network this week who said once you’d roasted your cut-into-smallish-cubes potato in olive oil, garlic and rosemary you’d never par-boil again. \u00a0Rubbish. \u00a0It’s an entirely different thing. \u00a0His point was that par-boiling makes the potato soggy and a soggy potato will never crisp \u00a0up. \u00a0I’ve finished spluttering now, but he’s cooking his roast potatoes wrong.<\/p>\n

Once you’ve par-boiled, you need to dry your potatoes off. \u00a0That’s probably on the lowest of low heat, then air dry. \u00a0Mine sit on the warming plate of my Aga. \u00a0But ‘dry’ is the key to a crispy potato. \u00a0There’s no need to add semolina or flour, you just need to wait until your potato is dry.<\/p>\n

\"Roast<\/a><\/p>\n

The next ‘secret’ is the oven temperature. \u00a0You want to whack your oven up to the hottest you can get it. \u00a0Your fat needs to be as hot as hell itself.<\/p>\n

And the fat \u2026<\/p>\n

My fat of choice is goose fat. \u00a0Duck fat coming a close second. \u00a0Oddly I don’t really like beef dripping, even when I’m cooking beef. \u00a0It seemed illogical – and then Liddy said it was because they “taste like chips<\/a>“. \u00a0So, that explained it..! \u00a0Yes, they do – and I don’t like that.<\/p>\n

So, your goose fat needs to be screamingly hot. \u00a0Conveniently, any meaty joint needs to ‘rest’ to allow all those juices to re-absorb – and that’s the time to cook your potatoes. \u00a0My mum used to roast hers around the joint while we were at church …<\/p>\n

Nope. \u00a0I won the roast potato war. \u00a0Wait until your joint is out of the oven and whack the temperature up as high as your oven will go.<\/p>\n

\"Roast<\/a><\/p>\n

One hour or thereabouts, your potatoes are ready to rush to the table.<\/p>\n

Eat.<\/p>\n

\"Roast<\/a>Roast Potatoes<\/strong> – there is never enough<\/em><\/p>\n