English Roast potatoes...

I saw this recipe a couple of weeks ago on TV, and since then, I've had these on three occasions.

Peel your potatoes (use as many as you think you need), and rinse them under cold water for a few minutes to get rid of the starch.

Then boil the potatoes in salted water... (don't forget the salt, it will help in the color and texture of the final product).

Once the potatoes start to break around the edges, they should be ready for transfer.

Have a roasting pan on a burner, with some olive oil in there pre-heated.

Transfer the potatoes from the water to the pan, and dont worry about dropping any of the little broken bits in. They will help soak up the olive oil and leave some nice crispy bits at the end.

When you do get all of the potatoes into the hot oil (don't over do it)... make sure you get all sides of the potatoes covered in the oilive oil.

Season them with salt and pepper (I use oregano too) ... and put them into a preheated oven of 375 degrees fahrenheit (190 degrees celcius) until they are golden brown.

The end result, is a nice crispy outside, with a soft inside.

Awesome.

Enjoy

My mom makes these a lot. They are my favorite "form" of potato, next to mashed. Man im getting hungry just reading your thread!

olive oil my wing nuts!!

Lard is where it's at!!

Also if these are true English Roasties they will be served with some cabbage that has had the living hell boiled out of it for a couple of hours!!

Funny how Greece is a huge olive oil producer, not to many olive bushes in England!

Lard Lard Lard it has to be Lard



MonKey

I always thought that goose fat was the best for good roasters. Gio do you have a metal coulinder?? If you do have one, after you've boiled the potatoes place in them in the coulinder and give them a shake, this will slightly break up the edges of the potatoes, which makes crispier edges when roasted.

Hahaaaa!

Good ole lard baby! :-)

I actually got the recipe from an artsy fartsy show that tries to perfect English meals, down to the finest detail. I think the show is called "In Search of Perfection..." or something like that. That's where I got the whole olive oil bit, lol. I found it a bit odd, becaue as traditional English roasties, where did they find olive oil en masse 50-60 years ago!?

I have some vegetable fat here, but perhaps Ill pick up some lard and give it a shot :-)

"olive oil my wing nuts!!" - ChiKeyMonKey

That made me laugh my ass off bro lol.

Thanks for the coulinder trick 'Kourakage', I'll be trying that very soon.

reply to post by ChiKeyMonKey


Lard is THE LAW!

Afraid got to disagree about the cabbage though, all veg's have to be crispy.

Ok, ok, lard it is! You guys have set me straight, it has to be lard next time.

I'm sure it will be easier to find than goose fat, although that sounds sexy too.

I can't wait until I have these again... no wonder I'm getting fat.

No football, all food.

Goddamn these Canadian winters. :-)

Lard, goose fat, olive oil, oh my.........

Bacon fat is the way to go if you really want the flavour that will slam your arteries shut.

But to the OP, I'll be giving this a try.
I do mine in a frying pan to get that golden crunchy exterior, but thanks for the recipe, I'll definitely do it your way next time I make them.

You're welcome bro!

Enjoy them :-)

Next time I cook some fatty bacon for breakfast, ill make sure to have some fatty potatoes that night lol :-)

Sounds nasty to some, but it's not like we eat this type of food all the time.

Bacon Fat Fried Roasted Potatoes can't be eaten too often...

(drools...)

[edit on 6-1-2008 by GioTheGreek]

Any kind of fat will do niceley for roast potatoes. Beef dripping is also another one to try.

I'm suprised that olive oil would be reccommended by a chef on TV, as goose fat seems to be the in thing with TV chefs...but if its on In Search Of Perfection, and its Heston Blumenthal doing the reccommending, then its worth paying attention to. The man is a genius, up there with Gordon Ramsay with 3 michelin stars.

I've never tried taters this way but does it sound
yummy, oh yes! Can't wait to give it a try and will be
using bacon drippings for the first go round.

I take baby new potatoes, and put them into a roasting tray, sprinkle with mixed herbs, black pepper and salt and plent of olive oil and cook slowly (about 150 C) for as long as they take, turning/shaking every 30 minutes or so to ensure a nice even crisp.

The result?
A crispy new potato which explodes in the mouth when chewed - yummy.

No lard monkey - sorry.

Mmm roast potatoes! Best ones are always done in Goose Fat though. Where I live in France you can buy specials jars of it in the Supermarkets just for roasting them

I was a non believer, and always went the Olive/Solid Veg oil route... but after this xmas when I tried the Goose method, I am a believer!

I think next time I make it to a specialty store, I will be buying some goose fat. I can't find the bloody stuff around here.

I wonder if this would be any good with sweet potatoes?

Has anyone ever tried them this way?

Originally posted by GioTheGreek

I wonder if this would be any good with sweet potatoes?

Has anyone ever tried them this way?

Yeah it works a treat, as does pretty much any root vegetable. You dont need to par boil sweet potatoes though, as they go a bit too soft if overdone.
Anyone in Britain will tell you that the best roast vegetable is the mighty Parsnip.

Originally posted by Paul

Originally posted by GioTheGreek

I wonder if this would be any good with sweet potatoes?

Has anyone ever tried them this way?

Yeah it works a treat, as does pretty much any root vegetable. You dont need to par boil sweet potatoes though, as they go a bit too soft if overdone.
Anyone in Britain will tell you that the best roast vegetable is the mighty Parsnip.

The mighty Parsnip indeed!

I always roast some carrots and parsnips in with the potatoes if I can... can't be beaten!

Originally posted by GioTheGreek
I think next time I make it to a specialty store, I will be buying some goose fat. I can't find the bloody stuff around here.

A really good supply of goose fat can be found on a goose.

Just roast a nice stuffed goose for dinner some night and save the fat in a jar in the fridge. It keeps forever in a sealed glass jar.

Thanks for the tips gentlemen! Awesome stuff...

I'm goiong to be a bloody Roast potato connaiseur by the end of this thread..

I'm making a pot roast tonight... and I'm going to try out some new techniques. :-)

I guess this is what ATS and BTS is all about.

So how did your roasting experiments go?? Did you try roasting your veg, how did they come out?? Have you ever tried Yorkshire pudding (goes with a beef joint), this is great with roasted veg and potatoes and loads of gravy ummmmmmmmmmm!!

Yorkshire Puddings, Roast Tatties, Veg's, Roast Beef, Gravy.
All this talk about English food?

Wonder if this will help dispel the myth that British food is bland, boring and tasteless?