Who watched Jamie’s Ultimate Christmas which was broadcasted on the 19th at 8pm on Channel 4?! He shares some of his ultimate Christmas recipes which he believes he has now perfected after years of cooking. The starting point of the show is what he calls ‘the three foundations of Christmas’ – the turkey, gravy and roast potatoes; and he shares recipes and methods for all three. He believes that if you perfect these three things, guests will forgive anything else. For those of us living a #lifewithoutmeat, we’re not so much interested in the turkey and batch of gravy made with meat juice, but Jamie does have some delicious vegetarian alternative Christmas recipes on his website. What we loved was his recipe and method for the best roast potatoes – they are so great that we had to tell you about it!
During the programme, he shows us how to make perfectly golden, crunchy and fluffy roasties that will get everyone talking. Christmas will be with us in no time, so we wanted to help you out by quickly summing up Jamie’s key tips and tricks to making perfect roast potatoes.
1. Quality:
Here at Life Without Meat, we love using King Edward or Maris Piper potatoes for roasting as they are the best variety of spud. They crisp up superbly and as Jamie explains, their floury texture and high-starch is what gives you the really light and fluffy centred roast potatoes. They’re a little bit more expensive than standard potatoes but the extra pennies are totally worth it – it’s Christmas after all!
2. ‘Chuff’ the potatoes:
Once you’ve boiled and drained your potatoes, Jamie advises to take time to toss them in the colander to roughen the edges and describes this process as ‘chuffing’. This is a great technique for crisping as it allows more oil to crisp around the surface of the potato.
3. Hot oil:
Make sure you heat the oil in the tray before the potatoes go into it. This is another way to help crisp the edges and makes them delightfully crunchy to bite into once cooked. Jamie uses goose fat in his recipe but you can use olive oil as an animal-friendly alternative!
4. Single Layer roasting:
When roasting, ensure that you keep your potatoes in a single layer rather than layered on top of each other. Use an extra tray if need be but by doing this, you will ensure the potatoes cook and crisp up nice and evenly.
5. Clever Twists:
Jamie pairs his roasties with some fresh sage, garlic, and shavings of clementine in his recipe. The citrus and woody herbs add depth to the flavour. Here at Life Without Meat, we also love using fresh rosemary but thyme and bay leaves are great choices too.
Roast potatoes are one of the key delights to any roast dinner – they really can “make or break your festive feast!” So, if you’re ready to have a go yourself, find Jamie’s recipe and method for making roast potatoes here.
