Roast potatoes taste the best when they are cooked with one ingredient, a cook has revealed. Roast potatoes are an essential part of a classic British dinner. How you cook them matters, and the seasonings and methods you use can drastically change the results of your efforts. For the very best roast potatoes, one expert says that beef drippings (or beef fat) is your best bet.
This works out well, as roast potatoes are often enjoyed with roast beef. So, you are simply utilising what you already have. Plus, it means there is less fat and grease you have to clean up when you have finished cooking everything. J. Kenji López-Alt, a culinary consultant at Serious Eats, shared his expert recipe for the very best roast potatoes, and the secret ingredient for making them taste amazing is beef drippings. “It’s simple, and it produces amazing results,” he said.
To make his roast potatoes, he uses:
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters, sixths, or eighths, depending on size
- 5 tablespoons (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, duck fat, goose fat, or beef fat
- A small handful of picked fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
- 3 medium cloves of garlic, minced
- Freshly ground black pepper
- A small handful of fresh parsley leaves, minced
To start, he heats his oven to 200C. While that is warming up, he adds two litres of water to a pot along with some kosher salt. He also adds his potatoes along with some baking soda, cooking the spuds until the knife meets “little resistance”.
After that, mix olive oil, duck fat or beef fat with rosemary, garlic and a few grinds of black pepper and place in a pan over a medium heat. Cook that until the garlic begins to turn golden. Drain the oil and set the other ingredients aside.
Once the potatoes have boiled enough, let them rest for 30 minutes before tossing them in the oil. Cook them for 20 minutes in the oven, then take them out and shake them. After that, cook for a further 30 or 40 minutes, shaking regularly.
Finally, before serving, toss the potatoes in the seasonings that were infused with the beef oil earlier.