The Super Potato

for 2 people you will need:

• 2 big potatoes
• 2 Tbsp duck fat or lard
• fine salt
• rough sea salt

There is nothing at all to these potatoes, but once you have had the patience to prepare them, you will be rewarded with the best potatoes you’ve ever eaten!

Peel your potatoes and slice them into thick slices. Keep the sliced potatoes in water until you need them. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and blanch your potatoes in the bubbling water for exactly five minutes. The potatoes do not need to be fully cooked, so whether you slice them into rounds or into big cubes, just blanch for 5 minutes and not more.

Drain the potatoes and rinse under running water to stop them from cooking. Heat your oven to 180ºC. Drain the potatoes well, heat the duck fat in a cast iron dish and toss the potatoes in the fat to coat evenly. Try and keep the potatoes in one layer, as much as you can. A little overlap will be fine, but you don’t want to complete layers of potato, because then they won’t roast very well.

Stick the potatoes in the oven and roast for 20 minutes before turning them around. Roast another 20 minutes until golden brown, sprinkle with rough sea salt and serve piping hot.

You can roast these potatoes at the bottom of the oven while you roast something else at the top. They are very forgiving. If there is a lot of duck fat left after roasting, you may want to drain most of it to prevent the potatoes from becoming too oily. They will not get soggy, but they will slowly absorb all the fat in the dish…