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Yesterday I asked advice how to prepare nice potato parts. I was recommended to not remove the peel/skin and cut the potato in parts. I was also said to use the oven, instead of a pan and baking/cooking them in olive oil.

I cut up potatoes... I used the oven... I set it to 200 watt. It had to pre-heat for 5 minutes. Then I put in the potato parts for 25 minutes. When I tried to eat them, they were partially raw, and the outside seemed dry out.

Potato parts in the oven The goal was (picture from the internet): Potato parts

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    Given that they came out partially raw, they were obviously undercooked; you can't really expect there to be any browning at that point. (And the blog you got that picture from just doesn't seem terribly trustworthy - I don't see how those pictures could've come from those recipes.)
    – Cascabel
    Sep 20, 2012 at 15:44
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    What temperature is 200 watt? Recipes for roast potatos normally call for at least 425°F/220°C, higher is common.
    – derobert
    Sep 20, 2012 at 18:59
  • 200 Watts is tiny - I assume you mean 200°C?
    – NBenatar
    Sep 30, 2012 at 12:12

2 Answers 2

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That was bad advice. If you're not par-boiling the potatoes they will need at least 40 minutes, but to be honest you are much better off par-boiling.

Pre-heat the oven as before and place a roasting tin in to pre-heat as well.

Cut the potatoes as before, then place them in a large pan of salted water, bring it to the boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the pan and place it back on the heat for a little while to drive off the moisture in the pan and on the potatoes.

Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and drizzle generously with oil. Season well (you can add spices, smoked paprika is great), mix through, then place in the hot roasting tray and roast for 30-35 minutes.

The boiling process begins to cook and soften the potatoes, and then the dry heat of the oven carries on cooking them while also crisping the outside.

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To get ones as close to the second picture as possible...

They look very yellow: I have achieved this in the past by parboiling in saffron infused water.

They look crispy: parboiling will help get some rough edges to crisp up. If you go with roasting you'll need a pre heated thin-ish metal pan with pre heated oil; you could deep fry that would maximise the crispness; I'd probably go with sauteing in a heavy bottomed frying pan though.

They look seasoned: Garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and black pepper....... maybe. Don't add garlic too early, it will burn. If you deep fry toss in cooked seasoning when they are otherwise cooked.

So if I wanted potatoes that look like that picture. I'd cube potatoes into 3/4 inch pieces. Pop in a pan of boiling salted water with a fair bit of saffron for ~5 mins. Drain and return to the pan. Put the lid back on the pan and shake to rough up the edges.

Pour carefully into a heavy frying pan with hot vegetable oil and herbs, fry turning them over as few times as you can get away with without them burning. Add garlic and season a couple of mins before they are done.

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    Tumeric provides plenty of color without being so expensive as saffron (especially a "fair bit", plenty of which gets discarded with the water), and if you're seasoning with a bunch of other stuff, the subtle flavor of saffron isn't going to come through very well.
    – Cascabel
    Sep 20, 2012 at 15:44
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    True though roast potatoes with just saffron have a lovely buttery colour and taste.
    – vwiggins
    Sep 21, 2012 at 9:06

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