As households are gearing up to prepare for their Easter Sunday roast dinner preparations, one thing no one wants to flop on are the roasties. One of the most loved parts of any sunday roast, golden and crispy potatoes accompanied with some veggies and lamb is the perfect Easter dish, so it’s important to get it bang on.
However, one chef has shared some of the biggest mistakes cooks make when it comes to their spuds – and shared how they can be avoided. Marc Williams, the cookery school director at five-star hotel The Grand in York, said there is a trick to getting your potatoes as crispy as possible every time.
He told the Daily Record you should always wait for your potatoes to cool completely after parboiling them. Most of us will just drain them off and stick them in the roasting pan to go straight into the oven, but apparently, this is a big mistake.
The chef said: “To get the perfect potatoes, peel them, add them to cold water and bring them to a boil. Boil for around six minutes until the edges soften. Then, strain them and wait until the steam stops. You’ll never get a crisp result if they are full of water.”
Once you’ve let your potatoes fully drain and cool, there are a few other steps you should do to ensure you get the ultimate crisp on your spuds – including using seasoning and the right sort of fat.
Marc added: “Preheat your chosen fat in a hot oven – duck fat is my choice! Don’t forget to season the potatoes and then carefully add and baste them in the duck fat. Roast for around 20 minutes in a hot oven before turning them over; this allows a crust to form underneath, so you won’t leave half the potato stuck to the tray.”
And if you’re feeling a little adventurous this year, you could even ditch the oven altogether and opt to use an air fryer instead. The air fryer can be used for potatoes as well parsnips and can help free up space in your oven.
The chef said: “They are fantastic for roast potatoes and cut down cooking times drastically. The air fryers with two sections are great for cooking at different temperatures. Try honey-glazed parsnips on one side at 180C and roast potatoes on the other at 200C.”
To help minimise the stress of preparing the festive meal, Marc has also offered some advice on when you should be preparing each component and said potatoes should be cooked in the morning and then reheated when it’s time to serve. He explained: “Roast potatoes are done in the morning and heated back through.
“Make a prep list of roughly how you’d like to plan the day and do everything you can in advance. Most of the things I make the day before and just heat back through. The turkey should be resting for 30 minutes at least so you have plenty of time to get things back through the oven.”
An earlier version of this story was published in December 2023.
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