"The Crisp Is In The Prick!" - Real roast potatoes........

 ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #30      “The crisp is in the prick !”...

Making the bestest roast potatoes is an art…

Knowing HOW TO make the bestest roast potatoes is easy! …well that is, if you had a Granny Dolly  …..

Juicy rich 'n crispy roast potatoes

Granny Dolly lived in widowhood with spinstersister  Frances :  AKA “Auntie Frankie”  , as companion…NOW, WE’RE  TRULY  TALKING  EONS AGO..WHEN  MOST  OF  YOU  WEREN’T  YET  BORN,  and cooks were cooks…not showmen!

Rigid in her Victorian beliefs and Pseudo British manners, lunch was “dinner” and supper was, welllll…”supper”! ...and in Gran’s  house, ssssssupper-to-us, was served at 12noon…the main meal of the day - being her “dinner”!

Granny Dolly and   “Auntie Frankie”  lived across the street from Young ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ s  school….thus allowing the occasional clandestine  midday feast  – especially if  to be served-up, was a crown roast of lamb ribs and ROAST POTATOES!

Granny Dolly liked her food…while “Auntie Frankie” ,  bless her,  ate like a bird!

….and Frankie ?... She  bloomin’ smoked like a chimney!..a-and Me ?  ...I just LOVED My  ROAST POTATOES…AND STILL DO !

Visions of a memory of Granny Dolly come forth: She upright, mighty chested,  and rigid-of-back, white-powdered face, and deep-red , rose-painted  lips   , and of course, stylish hat with brim upturned  on one side, She  sitting side-by-side to her peak-capped-and-white-gloved chauffeur  - him driving her   cream-coloured 1958 Morris Minor 1000  on their excursion out, to the greengrocer’s shop!...well she had no choice, as poor vision was no-longer an excuse acceptable, for her to  drive though red traffic lights!

A CAR LIKE GRANNY DOLLY'S

And so to recipes……

Crisp and juicy decadently oily roast potatoes !

….… Mmm…More commonly described by friend Mel as :

 “ The crisp is in the prick ”…

       ˜ REAL  ROAST  POTATOES   ˜

                            

Quantities I shan’t give you -  as who knows what glutton you are ?

…or how many mouths you might be feeding?….

METHOD:

1) Boil your HOWEVERMANY quantity of potatoes in the skins till almost soft right through, using just a small amount of water, no need for a full pot, and add 2 teaspoons salt – this apparently helps the peels to come off more easily)

(‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’  steams them in the pressure cooker…from the moment the stove plate is switched-on…for 30 minutes start to finish )

2) Remove from pot, split skins with a sharp small knife, gently in one or two shallow slits around each potato’s circumference, then soak in cold water for about 2 minutes.

Easy then to peel off the skins.

3)Cut into halves or quarters…size-dependent.

I CHEAT!  …Yes! Easiest to do them on the stove…can you believe it!

4) Pour a 750ml bottle of sunflower oil into a pot and heat ‘till really nice and very hot.

5) Carefully place the pre-cooked potatoes one-by-one into the hot oil.

Bring the heat down to “medium”, and cook gently, pricking each potato with a small sharp knife, every 10 minutes, turning occasionally too, till crisp and juicy.

NOTE!....

You can pre-cook them till almost done a couple of hours prior to serving, then pop them back into hot oil for a minute-or-two just before serving.

         

CRISP AND JUICY ROAST POTATOES!

                   >>>>>>>>>ppppppppppppppppppotatoes<<<<<<<<<<

Have you ventured to read the DIVINE  " A FestiveBlog: Fanny Cradock "  - just go back to the top right of this page, and click on 2011...December !...it's worth it!


'till next time, 
        'COOKINGWITHMAVIS’