Pretty Darn Good Roasted Potatoes

I am forever on the hunt for the perfect roasted potato. The kind that's slick and crisp outside and tender and fluffy on the inside. I'll try any way to get them: roasting in all butter, roasting in duck fat, boiling first then roasting, roasting big potato wedges and roasting the tiniest baby new potatoes I can get at the market - the list goes on and on.

This time I tried parboiling yukon golds before roasting in olive oil and the results were pretty darn good. It's a method that cuts down the roasting time (it's still a little warm out to have the oven on too long) yet still gives the potatoes a nice crackly skin and a middle that's creamy and fluffy and soften than had I just roasted.

Here's what you do: parboil the spuds for 10 minutes, then cut in half and toss with a good slug of olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and rosemary sprigs and roast in a 425° oven. About 30 minutes later there they're ready, like a shimmering mirage of tuber near-perfection. 

Oh, all right. They weren't really shimmering. Are they the perfect roast potatoes? Not quite- the crust could be thicker and crunchier. But they were good enough to merit a photo (see above), and a blog post. The search goes on!

Comments

[Kevin]

I wonder if chilling the potatoes thoroughly (say 4 - 6 hours in the fridge) before roasting would let you add another 5 - 10 minutes of roasting (crisping) time. Also, a saturated fat like butter, duck-fat, and lard crisp better than oil in my experience.

Meantime, I'm planning on some duck-fat/sour cream mashed potatoes tomorrow night to accompany horseradish/sour cream meatloaf.

[Melissa]

Kevin - I'll try that, and I love the lard idea. I've used duck fat, which didn't make that that crisp but then again I can't remember what oven temp I used...

[Lacey]

I've been on the same quest and I think Jamie Oliver's method works wonders. So similar to yours with one change...
at the end of your parboil, go ahead and pop your baking sheet in the hot oven, coated in oil. Let the oil/pan heat up while the potatoes drain and steam. then, once you can smell the olive oil, pull out the hot pan and add the potatoes and any seasoning (i love to do whole garlic cloves) and toss it all together. then, cook it and shake em up every once in a while. these are my favorite!

[Craig Relyea]

My Welsh mother in law, Audrey, taught me to make potatoes just the way you described. They are awesome, and go wonderfully with a nice roast! Thanks for sharing!

[Melissa]

Lacey - Thanks for the tip, will try that, with the garlic!

[KSS]

Sounds like Jamie Oliver "borrowed" from Delia Smith's long standing roast potato recipe:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/accompaniment/perfect-roast-potatoes.html

[Juno]

My dad, and his mother before him, parboils his potatoes, then cooks them in a low-sided roasting pan, preheated with neutral oil in the oven, *on the stovetop*. It is not a process for the faint of heart, but the result is - in my view anyway - the best "roasties" I've ever had. This is all the more impressive since the roasties, being a bit of a production, only get made once a year on Christmas day while the turkey rests and the rest of us are drunkenly belting out carols in the other room.