The Perfect Roast Potatoes

26th March 2020

A staple part the traditional British roast dinner. The roast potato has become a firm family favourite across dinner plates throughout nation, but with over 100 varieties of potato to choose from, finding the perfect roast potato recipe is no easy task.

Who better to catch up with than our very own Exec Chef, Chris Knights. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the in (we’re talking about the potatoes not Chris) it’s time to find out how to make the roasties with the mosties, with Chris’s secret recipe.

Ingredients

1.5kg of Maris Piper potatoes

3 tbsps of Gressingham goose fat

½ bunch of thyme

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

1 orange

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

Maldon or Cornish sea salt

Method

Wash and peel the potatoes, then cut into your preferred size (make sure they’re as similar in size as possible, not only will they roast better it will avoid any dinnertime arguments about who got the most).

Sink the potatoes into cold, salted water and bring to the boil then reduce the heat so the water is bubbling and cook the potatoes for 5-7 minutes.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and leave to stand for a few minutes. Give the potatoes a good shake until the outer edges are fluffy. This will act like a sponge for your oil and give them extra crispiness.

Pour your potatoes onto a tray that’s large enough for them not to be piled on top of one another then leave to air-dry for an hour.

Place the goose fat and vegetable oil into a roasting tray and heat in the oven at 180ºc for 4-5 minutes.

With great care, add the potatoes to the hot fat and gently coat, add the sea salt, garlic, sprigs of thyme and orange zest.

Roast through the oven until crisp – the trick is to turn them only once or twice while basting with the goose fat.