Best roasties I've ever had!!

Snake

I always shyed away from making them mostly from fear of screwing up! But they turned out really well, (my girlfriend agrees) soft and floury on the inside with a lovely crunch on the outside, so I decided to share what I done, here!

So these have NO animal fat so they're not only tasty - they're vegan and vegetarian friendly.

So you'll need:

Potatoes (peeled & washed) as many as you want!
Olive oil to cover all the potatoes, you'll need at least 50ml you can use any oil you have but olive oil would be best!
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole, these are for flavour, so leave them whole then take them out afterward (or eat them if you want)
Some rosemary, if you have it, if not - that's fine.

So preheat your oven to 220-230 (fan 220) gas 2-3
Peel the potatoes and slice them in half to an even size (smaller pieces cook faster)
Wash them and throw them into your roasting tin or baking tin, no need to dry them.
Fill about 2cm of your tin with olive oil, and coat the potatoes with the rest (remember the 50ml is a guideline depending on the size of your time how many potatoes your using etc, use your own judgment!)
Peel your garlic and place in the middle of your potatoes
Add your rosemary, at the sides
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
Roast for 25-30 minutes or until crispy and browned and soft all the way through


Suggested serving - bisto gravy and roast vegetables and meat if you're a meat eater. Or do like me and just eat them all from the tin!

dee_mc

Tip: if you don't peel the garlic it'll get really sweet, you can squeeze the garlic clove out of the skin once it's cooked (it becomes like a paste) and stir into gravy etc

Snake

dee_mc wrote: »

Tip: if you don't peel the garlic it'll get really sweet, you can squeeze the garlic clove out of the skin once it's cooked (it becomes like a paste) and stir into gravy etc

I'll try that, but the OH hates garlic :P it wasn't a strong taste but I'll try it with my gravy!

dee_mc

Just one clove in the gravy is probably plenty if she's not a big fan!

The Hill Billy

OP - I'm a bit confused...

Gas Mark 2 - 3 is only 150-160C. 220-230C would be gas mark 7 - 8.

Also, did you use a very small roasting tin? 50ml of olive oil would come nowhere near filling any roasting dish I have to a depth of 2cm.

Also, what sort of spuds did you use?

beertons

Ease up on the oil. Par boil the spuds for 20 minutes. Pour out the water and let them steam for 2/3 minutes. Put in a jar of Goose fat into your roasting tin, make sure the fat has been heated for 3/4 minutes. Pour the potatoes into the tray, and put in oven, at 200 for 25 minutes, turning them after 15 minutes.

ElleEm

dee_mc wrote: »

Tip: if you don't peel the garlic it'll get really sweet, you can squeeze the garlic clove out of the skin once it's cooked (it becomes like a paste) and stir into gravy etc

When I parboil my spuds before roasting, I throw the garlic in the water in it's skin. Then I use a fork to literally 'mash' the garlic out. I rub that beautiful paste all over the potatoes so it roasts into them. It's amazing!

Alun

beertons wrote: »

Par boil the spuds for 20 minutes

Par boiling for 20 mins? They'd be well and truly full boiled by then, surely? I only par boil mine for 5 mins max.

beertons

Have you super potatoes? They take 40 minutes in my house. I boil them for 20 minutes, till the outside of them in fluffy. Give them a little shake in the pot, then pour them into tray.

tfitzgerald

beertons wrote: »

Have you super potatoes? They take 40 minutes in my house. I boil them for 20 minutes, till the outside of them in fluffy. Give them a little shake in the pot, then pour them into tray.

That's the way nigella cooked them one night. On her programme and I think it's the best. I will try the clove of garlic in the roasting tin.

Snake

beertons wrote: »

Ease up on the oil. Par boil the spuds for 20 minutes. Pour out the water and let them steam for 2/3 minutes. Put in a jar of Goose fat into your roasting tin, make sure the fat has been heated for 3/4 minutes. Pour the potatoes into the tray, and put in oven, at 200 for 25 minutes, turning them after 15 minutes.

Can't use goose fat, my girlfriends a vegetarian I use two separate tins (only have two small ones)

Snake

The Hill Billy wrote: »

OP - I'm a bit confused...

Gas Mark 2 - 3 is only 150-160C. 220-230C would be gas mark 7 - 8.

Also, did you use a very small roasting tin? 50ml of olive oil would come nowhere near filling any roasting dish I have to a depth of 2cm.

Also, what sort of spuds did you use?

I literally took a guess at it with the Gas. Don't use it :P thanks I'll edit it with that!! Roosters from tesco

highly1111

After I par boil mine for ten minutes, I throw in a spoon of plain flour, put on the saucepan lid - and shake!! they then go into hot lard (yes, we don't eat them that often!!) and in the oven for 40 minutes. Turning occasionally. The flour makes them crispy on the outside and they stay nice and fluffy on the inside. It's a nigella tip I picked up years ago and it's wonderful.

dee_mc

I coat mine in a little mustard powder, it gives the same crispy coating as flour but adds a little to the flavour, subtly. Also makes then brown really nicely

Swiper the fox

No offence but that recipe is crazy, those potatoes are still gonna be raw after 25 minutes. 2cm of oil? if you are planning on deep frying those spuds the oil will have to be hot before you put it in the oven.

I parboil for about 10 minutes, heat oil in the roasting tray and coat the potatoes by turning them in the hot oil for a few minutes, then I will roast them for at least 40 minutes shaking the tray from time to time.

duploelabs

You did yourself no favours in mentioning bisto in your recipe

the beer revolu

I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Like the previous poster said, really good roast spuds take 50 mins to 1 hour in a very hot oven. I see so many recipes and posts claiming 30 - 35 minutes and the like but I can't see anyone getting golden, crispy roasties in that time. 25 minutes is just wrong. I par boil for about 5 minutes.

Is it that people actually cook them for longer and don't take note of the time or are people having anaemic non crispy roasties:eek:?

Ponster

duploelabs wrote: »

You did yourself no favours in mentioning bisto in your recipe

The OP's SO is a vegetarian so no other handy way of making a gravy I presume.

duploelabs

Ponster wrote: »

The OP's SO is a vegetarian so no other handy way of making a gravy I presume.

Lots of ways to make veggie gravy without having to put that muck near it

Faith

Folks, belittling someone's attempt at making something is not in the spirit of this forum. So what if he used bisto/didn't cook them for as long as you think is necessary? Everyone starts out somewhere and it sounds like the OP did a great job for his first attempt.

Keep it to constructive criticism, please.

the beer revolu

Faith wrote: »

Folks, belittling someone's attempt at making something is not in the spirit of this forum. So what if he used bisto/didn't cook them for as long as you think is necessary? Everyone starts out somewhere and it sounds like the OP did a great job for his first attempt.

Keep it to constructive criticism, please.

Bringing up the Bisto was pointless but the OP is posting a recipe for others to use. I would have thought that pointing out problems with this recipe is very much in the spirit of this forum.

Faith

the beer revolu wrote: »

Bringing up the Bisto was pointless but the OP is posting a recipe for others to use. I would have thought that pointing out problems with this recipe is very much in the spirit of this forum.

Sure, in a constructive fashion, that's more than welcome. Saying "They'd be even better if you cooked them for 50-60 minutes" is constructive, for example. I'm asking people not to point out the problems, but to suggest improvements.

duploelabs

Faith wrote: »

Sure, in a constructive fashion, that's more than welcome. Saying "They'd be even better if you cooked them for 50-60 minutes" is constructive, for example. I'm asking people not to point out the problems, but to suggest improvements.

As is you can make better veggie gravy without having to use bisto

Faith

duploelabs wrote: »

As is you can make better veggie gravy without having to use bisto

That would be helpful, if that what was you actually said and had you included alternative recipes.

dipdip

When you criticise or belittle a poster's attempt at cooking, they can leave the forum feeling embarrassed or annoyed. When you encourage their attempt and include new methods, suggestions and ideas they can instead leave feeling enthused.

I for one would love a recipe for vegetarian gravy that doesn't involve bisto. I eat mostly vegetarian food and would like to know how to make a tasty, authentic gravy that doesn't require meat, if anyone can oblige?

Swiper the fox

dipdip wrote: »

When you criticise or belittle a poster's attempt at cooking, they can leave the forum feeling embarrassed or annoyed. When you encourage their attempt and include new methods, suggestions and ideas they can instead leave feeling enthused.

I for one would love a recipe for vegetarian gravy that doesn't involve bisto. I eat mostly vegetarian food and would like to know how to make a tasty, authentic gravy that doesn't require meat, if anyone can oblige?

I would hope that my contribution offended or annoyed nobody. But the recipe was posted so others could follow I presume, if you took potatoes out of the oven after 25 minutes that weren't par-boiled they may look edible but they're not going to be fully cooked or taste very nice.
The bisto thing is just snobbery, it would certainly be difficult to make a vegetarian gravy to go with roast potatoes.

OP, par boil the potatoes for 10 minutes and roast them for about 45 or 50 and they will definitely be better than what you've had already, good luck:)

duploelabs

Faith wrote: »

That would be helpful, if that what was you actually said and had you included alternative recipes.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/890639/makeahead-gravy

if your veggie is a pescetarian then I might suggest adding bonito flakes to add umami but I'd stay away from anything processed or ready made