Flour, it's an old North Yorkshire farming tradition - my mother in law introduced it to us. I've never tasted roast potatoes as good, done that way.
Parboil and drain rigourously. That's all. You just need to increase the surface area of the spud so that it absorbs more oil, thus increasing the amount of potato which can then go on to become crispy. Get the oven dead hot. And move them about every 20 minutes. Chefs? I'll **** 'em. Surface area is important. It's why African elephants have big ears and why voles are ****ed in cold weather.
Good to see foodies on here ........ final tip for the perfect roast tattie - part way through roasting (in goose fat, obv) take them out ot th'oven and flatten the tops with a fork, this creates an extra crispy top to the spud. Try it gents!
Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Peel the potatoes and cut in half; if very large, cut into quarters, or leave whole if they are small. Tip into a saucepan, cover with cold water, then bring to the boil. Set the timer and boil for exactly 2 mins. Drain the potatoes well, then toss in the colander to fluff up their surfaces, sprinkling over the flour as you go. Above is from the BBC Good Food Guide
On the roast spud theme, no-one's mentioned yet the best type of spud. For me its Maris Piper, closely followed by King Ed's. I read recently that Waitrose were selling a new variety especially grown for roasting, Inca Bella I think... Anybody tried them?
Not tried Inca Bella, I'll be looking out for them though. When I've got them, I like Desiree for roasting - they have pretty good blight resistance and are about the only type I've had any real success with recently ....... as you say, you can't go wrong with pipers & King Ed's.
Erg. You know what Chazz, I'm ****ing sick of auto correct changing the abbreviation wtf into 'Erg' I'm just gonna post it that way from now on. I've got a new laptop though.
I've modified my post #316 to clarify what I mean by parboiling for SIX minutes (definitely NOT 2 mins.) The Idaho (russet-type) spuds we get here are very large (typically at least 1 lb. each, I would estimate). I get about six roasties from one spud. Over the years, Jamie Oliver has presented 3 or 4 variants on how to "increase the surface area" of the parboiled pieces. The best way is to vigorously bounce the hot pieces around in the colander, after completely draining.
If you're going to ruin your roasties by covering them in flour you may as well go and buy Aunt Bessies
