Mum wants me to make a roast in time for when she gets home, I know how to do the meat and veg but no idea how to do the roasties! Help!!

Oh and please dont take the piss, ive not cooked a roast before! Part of my sheltered upbringing!

Erm.....don't you put them in some sort of fat?



EDIT: Hang on, i'll go and ask

Peel, and boil potatoes for 15/20 mins til slighty soft..drain the water and put a lid on the pan and shake it so u fluff up the potatos as they crisp up better i find...then put in a roasting tray with oil i use spray oil but any will do the same job for about an hr!

My OH says - chop some tatties up, par boil em a bit and then glaze em in oil and shove em in oven

His spuds are usually good too Hope that helps a bit x

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/da...es_13801.shtml

xxx

I think 15-20 mins boiling would cook them too much, I do them just for 5 mins, then stick a lot of butter (assuming spuds for 4 people) - bout 50g - in, let it melt, stick the top on and shake vigorously until all covered and the surfaces of the spuds are fluffy then oven for 45-50mins at 220C

This is how I make mine and they always come out really fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside (My Nan taught me this way)

Peal (I tend to leave the skins on), slice each spud in to 4, or half if small.

If you are going to boil them, make sure you put salt in the water, this helps them brown in the oven (I tend to steam mine, I still add the salt)
Keep checking them. You want them so you can stick a knife in them, but they are still firm. You don't want them mushy. I tend to steam them because boiling them makes them more starchy and sticky. Moisture is your worse enemy when trying to crunch up spuds. Steaming normally takes 10 to 20 mins. Boiling 5 or 10 mins.

While they are boiling/steaming, put a baking tray with vegetable fat in the oven so it gets pipping hot. I set my oven to about 450 to achieve this (Gas mark 7 or 8 )

When 20 minutes is up, drain water if boiled, then place back in the saucepan, put the lid on and shake it a bit, so as to rough up the outsides (this makes them extra crunchy)

Take the fat out the oven, put them right in to the hot oil. It should fizzle. Turn the spuds over in the hot oil so it seals them, sprinkle some rosemary over them and put back in the oven, turn down to 400 and cook until crunchy and brown on the outside. Normally 30ish mins depending if you have a convection oven or not.

Good luck!!