Roast Potatoes
Roast potatoes brings to mind all the Sunday roasts my family had when I was growing up. The Sunday roast was a major production every week with Mum getting up and putting whatever meat we were having that day in the oven. Whatever it was, beef, chicken, pork, or lamb, it was always cooked first and then it would sit on the kitchen counter until about 1pm which is when we would sit down to eat. And before any of you start sucking in your breath, tut-tutting over the potential bacteria, just remember that meals where I grew up were really over-cooked to death and the sitting on the counter top would be for a very short time. There were 2 reasons to always cook the meat first, 1) room temperature meat could be sliced thinly making it go further, and 2) this is how Mum would get the meat drippings to roast the potatoes in.
My favorite roast potatoes are cooked in beef drippings so I had to do some additional work ahead of time to get the flavor I wanted for my Christmas dinner. My local grocery store, Albertson's, was happy to give me a pound of fat they had trimmed off their beef joints and steaks (after saying that nobody had requested beef fat in years). At home I put it in the crock pot on the low setting for about 7 hours. I ended up with about 3/4 cup of drippings. So with my fresh beef drippings I made the best roast potatoes to go with our Christmas dinner.
Mum's Roast Potatoes
4 - 6 large brown potatoes
Large pot of cold water
Salt (optional)
Beef drippings
Peel and quarter the potatoes, put into large pot of cold water, and salt if you want to. Bring water to boil and then cook for 10 minutes on a low boil (not quite low enough to be a simmer). Meantime heat the oven to 375 and put beef drippings into 2 roasting pans. Melt drippings in oven and when beginning to smoke add the boiled potatoes, round side down. Baste potatoes and then put in upper third of oven for 1/2 an hour. Turn them over and baste again and return to oven for 1/2 an hour or until done. They are done when golden brown and crispy on the bottom edges.
Serves 4 - 6
My favorite roast potatoes are cooked in beef drippings so I had to do some additional work ahead of time to get the flavor I wanted for my Christmas dinner. My local grocery store, Albertson's, was happy to give me a pound of fat they had trimmed off their beef joints and steaks (after saying that nobody had requested beef fat in years). At home I put it in the crock pot on the low setting for about 7 hours. I ended up with about 3/4 cup of drippings. So with my fresh beef drippings I made the best roast potatoes to go with our Christmas dinner.
Mum's Roast Potatoes
4 - 6 large brown potatoes
Large pot of cold water
Salt (optional)
Beef drippings
Peel and quarter the potatoes, put into large pot of cold water, and salt if you want to. Bring water to boil and then cook for 10 minutes on a low boil (not quite low enough to be a simmer). Meantime heat the oven to 375 and put beef drippings into 2 roasting pans. Melt drippings in oven and when beginning to smoke add the boiled potatoes, round side down. Baste potatoes and then put in upper third of oven for 1/2 an hour. Turn them over and baste again and return to oven for 1/2 an hour or until done. They are done when golden brown and crispy on the bottom edges.
Serves 4 - 6