Cookbook:Roast Potatoes
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
(Redirected from Transwiki:Roast Potatoes)
Roast Potatoes also known colloquially as 'roasties'. Roast potatoes are usually used as the prime potato-based accompaniment to a roast dinner (usually made up of a roast meat and several different vegetables). Some people, however, prefer to make and eat them by themselves.
[edit] Ingredients
[edit] Procedure
In a nutshell: preheat oil, boil, shake, baste, roast.
- Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (425°F, gas mark 7).
- Pour enough oil into the bottom of the roasting tin to leave a thin layer on the bottom and put it in the oven.
- Peel the potatoes and slice them into quarters or eighths depending on the size of the potato. Smaller pieces tend to make crispier roast potatoes, larger pieces tend to make softer ones.
- Put the potatoes in a saucepan of water and add a pinch of salt if you wish.
- Cover, and bring the saucepan to the boil and then allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes.
- Replace the lid and shake the potatoes vigorously for 20-30 seconds.
- Remove the roasting tin from the oven – carefully, as it will be full of hot oil – and tip the potatoes from the saucepan into the tin.
- Baste potatoes in oil or fat, so evenly covered.
- Sprinkle salt over the top of the potatoes.
- Replace the roasting tin in the oven.
- Roast for 20–50 minutes – tastes and ovens differ – or until the potatoes are golden brown; remove them from the oven.
Serve hot; they can be kept warm in the oven, but should not be piled up much, if at all.
[edit] Variations
- Garlic and herbs may be added to the fat.
- Garlic should be crushed or minced.
- Commonly used herbs, which may be used singly or together, include basil, marjoram, thyme, oregano, parsley, or dill weed.
- Animal fat (fat from accompanying roast meat, goose fat, duck fat, or lard) is generally averred to give superior potatoes, but is alas not suitable for vegetarians.
[edit] Notes and tips
- Times & quantities are rough and can vary to suit individual tastes.
- The roughing up of the surface of the potatoes is key to a crispy surface – this is the purpose of the shaking, and can alternatively or additionally be accomplished by scraping the surface of the potatoes with a fork.
- The fat or oil must be hot before adding the potatoes, else they will be greasy rather than fluffy and crisp.
- Some advocate flipping the potatoes half-way through roasting, while others assert that this is unnecessary. You may also wish to baste with oil partway through the roast, to ensure an even coating; again, some find this necessary, while others do not.
- Potatoes can also be cooked in the same roasting tin as the meat if being included as part of a roast dinner; they should go in half an hour before the meal is to be served.
- Note that the roast may require or benefit from different cooking than the potatoes – both different temperature and different time – and hence it may be easier to cook them separately, or at least to take these differences into account.
- Using the fat from the roast requires a significant amount of fat on the roast and room – you will often find that cooking separately or with additional fat or oil is better.
[edit] Warnings
- The oil in the roasting tin will be well over 100°C. Be extremely careful when handling the tin.
