Roasted Potatoes (the British way)

[Ishbel]

Sandyj...

Roast potatoes (the British way!)

Use 'fluffy' potatoes like King Edward or Maris Piper or Pentland. Par boil for about 8-12 minutes in boiling then drain really well.... shake the pan over a medium heat with a lid on - this causes the surface of the potatoes to become slightly roughened...

Then put into a hot oven in some HOT oil (pref sunflower) and cook in the usual way, ensuring that you baste the taters occasionally whilst cooking.

Result: crisp and golden on the outside, fluffy and cooked on the inside... The best accompaniment to a roast - whether lamb, beef, chicken or pork

 

[Von Glassoff]

Oh my....could you send us some of those kinds of potatoes to the U.S. I have never heard of them. Has anyone else? Sounds like a great way to make roasted potatoes too.

 

[Ishbel]

Oh my....could you send us some of those kinds of potatoes to the U.S. I have never heard of them. Has anyone else? Sounds like a great way to make roasted potatoes too.

Sorry - they are all what we term 'floury' type potatoes - ie not 'waxy'.... I'm sure there are American equivalents?

 

[Constance]

The British have a unique climate, and some of the varieties that flourish there don't work so well in many parts of the U.S. And vice versa.
I used to get a Thompson & Morgan seed catalogue every year (British), and loved looking at all the interesting varieties of vegies and flowers they offered.
It was then that I found that "corgettes" were English Zucchini.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Humm .... now, where did the UK get there 'taters from????

Von - here in America we would call those types of potato - Irish, Idaho, Russett, Burbank, or baking potatoes. Another "on the edge" type that would also work well would be a Yukon Gold - a little less starch and a more creamy "buttery" flavor - but would work just as well.

 

[jkath]

Thanks Michael~
I'll try that with my Yukons.

 

[Piccolina]

Hi all,

If there is any way on earth you can score some, take my word for it (calorie laden as it may be) baking your roast potatoes for the final lag of their journey in duck or goose fat is so sublime you'll wake up in the middle of the night craving them!!!

 

[Ishbel]

Michael, you are right - the UK got the potato from America - but the varieties we have here are quite distinct and different from those that I've eaten in the US. I think it must be our climate as Constance said.... Pink Fir Apple, Charlotte, Kerr's Pink, golden wonder, maris piper, King Edward, Jersey Royals, La Ratte (OK, I admit, they are a French variety!) and far too many others to list here.


and IC is right, when roasted in goose or duck fat they are very 'more-ish'..... but that treat is only for Christmas Day's blow-out in our household!

 

[Raven]

Do you peel the potatoes first? or bake them skin on?
Do you use small, medium or large potatoes?
What gas number do you use? (somewhere I found a Regulo-Farenhiedt conversion chart)
About how long do you leave them in the oven?

~ Raven ~

 

[Ishbel]

If they are main crop, floury potatoes such as King Edward or Maris Piper then I peel them and cut them into halves or quarters, depending on the size of the potatoes.

If I roast new potatoes, such as Jersey Royals or Nicola or Charlotte, then I scrub them clean and leave the skins on and roast tossed in a little olive oil, lots of fresh rosemary from the garden and maldon sea salt.

I cook them about Gas mark 7 for an hour or until they are brown and crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

But if I'm cooking them as part of a roast beef/yorkshire pudding type meal, then I cook them for longer, at whatever temp I'm cooking the beef, just turning up the heat for the last half hour or so when I put the Yorkshire pud in the oven..

 

[Sandyj]

Thank you!

Thank you Ishbel!- In reading your technique, I realized the step that I missed seeing in a Jamie Oliver show once was, after the potatoes are drained from the par-boiling, to shake them in the pan to roughen the surface - that would account for the crsispy bits (without coating with flour etc.).

My MIL does her roast potatoes almost exacly as you describe (makes sense, husband's family is of British extract, both sides went to South Africa with the 1820 settlars, and their customs are still very British). By this I mean, she heats up oil in the top half of her mom's old roasting pan in her oven, and cooks them in just in that oil. Her roast, meanwhile, is resting in the warming drawer still in the bottom half of the roasting pan. Everyone loves her roast potatoes.

The one thing my family does differently is to roast the potatoes in with the meat, so that their surface absorbs the flavours of the meat. They get really brown, too. Often, when I do this, my potatoes either don't absorb enough of the concentrated brown flavour coming off the meat, or, if they do, they're not crisp on the outside (did they steam? did I put in too many?). I want it ALL! I want the brown stuff AND the crisp. I'm thinking I'll include the par-boil step, the shake-em-up step, and then, it's got to be all in the timing - stick the potatoes in with the roast, in a not-too-deep-pan (don't want to steam them) at just the right time. Or, maybe I'll take the roast out, plate it, cover it with foil and just take up the whole roasting pan with my taters (I'm always feeding a crowd).

Lastly - sometimes when I use the floury potatoes, they can crumble away to nothing (again with the timing, I suppose - they're being cooked too long?). I've actually had better luck with the red potatoes, which are supposed to not be the ideal ones, since they are said to be waxy.

For some reason, this whole potato thing is of intense interest to me, so forgive me for the long post. I have not had breakfast, and all of I sudden I'm getting a yen for hash browns! (I'd like to cook them perfectly too, crispy and brown on the outside and.....'nother story) -Sandyj

 

[Raven]

Thanks Ishbel, I will most certainly give these a try out

I've got recipes that I've collected from my Grandmother, from my next-door neighbor who's from Mexico and dosen't speak a word of English, and from my sister's best-friend's grandmother who still lives in Italy but until now I have had zero recipes from the UK.

(actually, someone gave me a recipe for Lancashire Hot Pot but I can't get ahold of lamb here)

I will defininatly begin my UK collection with this one

~ Raven ~

 

[Ishbel]

I prefer not to cook the potatoes round the joint as I usually (like you) cook for the five thousand (or so it seems) when I do a roast, and I find that 'crowding' the roasting dish means that they steam slightly, rather than roast..

Just a personal preference!

 

[CARO]

I do mine the same way, but maybe parboil for less time - it is a fine judgement - enough time so they go a bit floury round the edges when you shake them in the pan, but not enough so you end up with goo!

Dry them off over a low heat after draining, before you shake them around. I cook mine a shorter time and at slightly lower heat, as well. A flexible dish!! Yum yum yum!!!!!

 

[AlexR]

Great method, Ishbel

Hi Ishbel,

My wife is from England, and she taught me your simple, but tasty recipe.

We often do potatoes this way when cooking a roast.

Variations:
- use olive oil
- add parsley and crushed garlic towards the end
- add above plus cep mushrooms

My wife and son are travelling through Scotland this week (Edinburgh, Inverness, then to Iona, where my daughter is working in the kitchen this summer).

Best regards,
Alex R.

 

[Ishbel]

I hope they enjoy their trip! The festivals have started in Edinburgh..... so many things to see and hear.

Caro - you are right - it's hard to say how long to parboil or to roast or even the temp - depends on size of tatties, how floury etc, doesn't it?!

 

[Ishbel]

Raven
You may not think you have any recipes from the UK, but I bet you do... if you eat

Appleor plum or gooseberry (add fruit of your choice here!) pie
custard
beef stews
venison
meatpies
jellies
trifles
and many, many more...


See what I mean?!

 

[Raven]

LOL! I do for a fact

When I was a kid my Mom used to make a Shepards Pie that I dearly loved (I think she got it from my Grandmother) but the tin that she kept all her recipes in disappeared years ago and a lot of old family recipes were lost. I've tried to find another but they all seem to use Suet (and I can't touch suet)

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but would you have a good recipe for Shepards Pie?

~ Raven ~

 

[Ishbel]

Shepherd's pie is made with minced lamb (hence shepherd) - if you use minced beef, it becomes cottage pie - and if you add cheese to the mashed potato layer and more veggies to the mincemeat layer, it becomes Cumberland pie! No suet in any version that I've ever seen, made or eaten!

Here's a thread where it was discussed, and my family recipe is in there on page 1, I think!

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4500&highlight=cottage

 

[CARO]

Re the roast potatoes again - these days I use very little oil - just a light spraying sometimes - and they are almost as good.