Last Harvest Supper

There has been a patch of potatoes in the corner of my garden that’s long overdue for harvest. I’ve looked out my window at it every morning with the thought that I needed to go and dig the potatoes up, but the never-ending Vancouver rain has prohibited me from doing so. Seeing no end to the wetness, I bit the bullet today and went out to pull the remaining spuds from the ground. I’m going to tell you now, gardening in the rain sucks, and trying to move wet soil is exhausting.

Because of the amount of effort it took to haul the potatoes out of the ground, I decided I would be “bad” and prepare some of them for dinner tonight in one of the unhealthiest ways I know how… Potato roasties.

Potato roasties are what the British call roasted potatoes. But because they’re British, it means you use a lot more fat than you would in the North American version. Most recipes call for duck or beef fat. Having neither on hand, I used a combination of olive oil and butter.

The recipe for deliciousness is pretty simple:

• Peel and cut potatoes into chunks (I didn’t peel mine because after a good scrub, there wasn’t much left of the skin).
• Put potatoes in a pot and cover them with water. Put the water on to boil, add salt and once it boils, cook for around 6 minutes.
• Put a pan into a 400° oven with a quarter cup of fat (olive oil, butter, animal fat).
• Drain the potatoes and let them steam off for  a minute. Bash the potatoes around so they fluff up a bit. Coat with a couple teaspoons of flour.
• Take the pan out of the oven and carefully put the potatoes in a single layer in the pan. Toss to coat with oil. Cook for 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown and crispy.
• Season with salt and pepper.

To accompany these delicious roasties, I cooked up a rack of lamb and some roasted cauliflower. Eating should always be this simple and taste so good.