Cooking Lesson #61— English Oven Roasted Potatoes

English Oven Roasted Potatoes (with Spatchcocked Roasted Chicken; recipe to follow in future blogs)

How you doin’? I hope life is improving in your area and that your family is healthy and well. We’re hanging in there here in Los Angeles. It seems like there are changes every hour… never a dull moment!
 
I’ve been reading a lot about English cooking and potatoes as comfort foods. I started oven-roasting bakers for 2 hours at 400⁰ and found them to be the best baked potatoes ever—with a crisp, snappy skin and a light fluffy interior. Load it up with butter and cheese (or chili or vegetables and cheese) and it’s a meal-in-itself.
 
After discovering the English bakers I’ve been scouring sources for other great textured potato recipes— English or otherwise. The latest one I’ve seen is from a relative who lives in London. She claims that they are neat, crispy, roasted potatoes. The recipe promises crispy, lightly  browned potatoes with creamy insides with few ingredients and that’s good enough for me.
 
The recipe is as simple as any other roasted potato recipe, except this one has a couple of secrets—not Harry Potter secrets, but chef secrets. It’s more than chunks of boiled potatoes in oil, roasted in a hot oven—it’s much more.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Boil time:  8-9 minutes
Bake time:  45-60 minutes
Yield:  8 servings
 
Ingredients
1/3 cup light olive oil
3 to 5 quarts of boiling water
3 tablespoons table salt
3 to 5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 teaspoons flaky sea salt
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)
 
Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400⁰F.
2. While the oven is preheating, place a rimmed sheet pan on the middle shelf of the oven with 1/3 cup of olive oil spread over the surface.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a full boil. When the boiling starts, add the table salt.
4. Add the potato chunks and boil for 8 to 9 minutes, until just fork tender.
5. Using a colander, drain the potatoes well.
6. Put the drained potatoes back into the pot, put the lid on and “shake, shake, shake” to rough-up the edges of the potatoes a little—creating more surface area for browning and crispiness while keeping the insides sweet and creamy.
7. Transferred the potatoes to a rack set over a sheet pan to cool off and dry out for about 10 minutes (not the sheet pan from the oven).
8. Toss the potatoes onto the pre-heated, oil slick sheet pan. Cook the potatoes until browned and crisp about 45 to 60 minutes. Using a wide spatula, gently turn the potatoes occasionally while roasting until they are golden-brown and crisp on all sides.
9. After carefully removing the hot sheet pan from the oven, finish the potatoes by sprinkling with 2 teaspoons flaky salt and a tablespoon of minced parsley.

ChefSecret:  Don’t be a helicopter cook (don’t hover over your food), flip the potatoes only after 35 to 40 minutes after the bottoms are starting to brown. If they are not brow enough for you, continue to cook for another 15 minutes or so.

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