“Real” Roast Potatoes

Submitted by: SARAH WARBURTON for New River Valley, VA TCI chapter

My husband,Tim, and I have just a few cultural differences. He says “jumper,” I say “sweater.” He says “football,” I say “soccer.” He says, “Top Gear,” and I say, “I’ll watch TV in another room.” The one thing that took me the longest to understand was what he meant by “real roast potatoes.” I did olive oil and rosemary red roast potatoes, mixed sweet and white roast potatoes, but nothing was right. After extensive interviewing of his Scottish friend, Colin, his best British friends Daren and Helen, and his mom, Penny, I am now (mostly) successful at turning out “real (British) roast potatoes” for every special occasion from Christmas Day to Sunday lunch. There are two important things to remember: 1) you want a floury potato so that after it’s boiled and before it’s roasted there are lots of loose bits hanging off and 2) roast these potatoes longer than you think you should. Penny always said that roasting them in goose fat is unbelievably good!

“Real” Roast Potatoes

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4-6 medium potatoes (or a little over 1 potato per person) peeled*

• salt

• vegetable oil

  *You can peel your potatoes ahead of time or after boiling, allow them to cool and pick the peels out.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut your potatoes into half lengthwise and again crosswise so you have four wedges. Boil your potatoes in a big pot of water until you can pierce them easily with a fork but they’re not falling apart. Drain them in a colander, shaking them a little (Jamie Oliver says to “chuff them up”).

Let the potatoes dry for 15 minutes. While they dry, put 1/4 inch of oil in a 13X9” pan and put it into the oven to heat up. Once the potatoes are dry, carefully tip them into the pan (it may spit a bit) and use a spoon to get a little oil over the tops of them.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn the potatoes over. Roast for another 20 min and turn them again. Repeat until the potatoes are your desired color.

Some people prefer light golden and crispy; Tim prefers mahogany-colored. Good with roast meats and our kids, Ben and Jane, love them with catsup.