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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.
The goal was (picture from the internet):
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.
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.
