Roast Potatoes

There are a lot of things I love about Cook's Illustrated. At the top of the list is the way they find new techniques using the science of food to improve classic recipes. Their recipe for roast potatoes is a great example of this.

At home, in restaurants or at banquet halls I have always had roast potates with the potatoes quartered or cut into 1" pieces. Their technique to slice them allows for even cooking and shorter cooking times. They also recommend that the potatoes are parboiled and roughened up then cooked on a preheated cookie sheet so the potatoes sear and crisp faster while keeping the centers nice and soft.

Growing up we had roast potatoes at my parents' house pretty much every Sunday dinner from when I could eat solid food and they were all subtly different, crispier, softer, more browning, less browning... My mum always said that you never make the same roast potatoes twice. Now I have made this recipe a number of times with varying results all delicious. They have been perfectly crisp with tender centers or really crispy almost like very thickly cut potato chips. No matter how they end up they are always delicious.

I lost the original recipe from Cook's Illustrated but the key thing here is the technique.

Preheat the oven to 400F and place a large baking sheet in the oven to preheat.

1 medium potato per person

Slice the potatoes into 1/4" slices.

Bring a pot of water to boil and salt water to taste. Par boil the potatoes for 5 minutes just enough so that the surface of the potatoes are softened up.

1/4 tbsp of vegetable oil per potato

1/4 tsp of salt per potato very coarsely ground

Herbs and spices as needed

The spices should compliment the flavours of the main dish.

Drain the potatoes and place them in a lidded bowl or the pot you just used. Pour the oil salt and spices over top of the potatoes.

Add the lid and shake the potatoes in a circular motion. You are trying to use the salt and spices to scuff up the surface of the potatoes creating extra surface area so they brown really quickly.

Remove the preheated baking sheet from the oven and place the potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet. The potatoes should sizzle a bit when they hit the pan.

Bake for 45 minutes turning the potatoes half way through.

Remove from the oven and serve. You should have really crisp outsides and soft insides.