I made a Michelin star recipe for roast potatoes but one step absolutely threw me

The worst thing about a recipe is the longwinded, unnecessary introduction - so let's get into it! This roast potatoes recipe comes directly from award-winning chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen. She's been a staple of Michelin star Northcote Hotel in Lancashire, cooking up a storm for more than two decades.

If there's one thing we love it's good roast potatoes and Lisa serves them up quickly and easily to boot. All you'll need is chipping potatoes, duck fat, garlic and rosemary.

Explaining the first step, Lisa said: "I don't use just regular water, I take water, duck fat, a couple of garlic cloves crushed and tie some rosemary up, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for at least two hours or overnight to get a lot of flavour into the water.

When that's ready I put the potatoes in, bring it to boil and then simmer them until they're partially done, you should be able to just slip your knife through them. I then take them out and fluff them up. A great little tip here is to mix a bit of rice flour with garlic granules and dust them."

I brought everything together as instructed and it felt like making a Michelin star meal wouldn't be too much of a problem. Everything is running smoothly and as expected - it's the next step that threw me. Lisa added: "Then put them onto a tray and here is the secret.

Freeze them. Freezing them breaks down the carbohydrates inside them, which is going to help them turn out perfectly." After a moment of brief hesitation, I followed the instructions.

I placed an entire tray of freshly boiled potatoes into a Pyrex dish and into the freezer for a few hours until ice cold. Lisa then says: "When you bring them back, put a tray of duck fat into the oven, get it really nice and hot.

"When you put them in, they should really sizzle because you want them to fry, not boil. Alternatively, you can actually deep fry them.

Either way, they will be nice and crispy on the outside and really decadent and fluffy on the inside. That's what a good roast potato is all about. " I opted to fry the potatoes in duck fat.

An aromatic fragrance fills the kitchen enough to make anyone in the vicinity desperate for a bite - I certainly was. After plating the potatoes with lashings of gravy, it was time to dig in. I made sure to try Lisa's potatoes bare first to really take in the flavours.

Without being hyperbolic, I'll probably never cook potatoes normally ever again. They were delicious. Every bit fluffy as promised despite their stunning golden, crispy coats.

The freezing stage of the recipe is the hurdle but if you have time to spare you simply have to try them. Even my Irish grandmother would be obsessed with these. A must-have for every Christmas dinner and roast going forward.

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References

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