Roast potatoes by Mankimbo (original concept by Heston Blumenthal)

After seeing a FB status update 'having Chips & Gravy for lunch' I decided to try and make the best chips & gravy I could muster.  You Tube was extremely helpful and after checking out a few clips I changed my mind from chips with gravy to roasted potatoes. Who can go past Heston Blumenthal for finding the best of the best. The man is a genius. But he is no Jamie Oliver 30 minute man. So the next challenge was to find a spare 2 hours to make them. Luckily for me my wife also wanted to have them and she entertained a three week old and a two year old for an hour while I did the preparation. Note well, this is not an easy task especially with our playful son but Nicole is pretty amazing and made it seem very easy.

The end result was a roast potato with an amazing crispy outside and a soft, cloud-like centre.

Served with a slow cooked beef casserole I could have beaten any remaining contestant on Masterchef Australia!

Roast potatoes by Heston Blumenthal (Converted from video to text by mankimbo)

 Turn oven on to 190⁰C & have some boiling water ready to go

Wherever you can save time in making these then you should do it. Having a preheated oven and a pot of simmering water on the stove will save you at least 15minutes.

 Peel & cut potatoes leaving some edges (save peel)

The edges of the potatoes are going to break down once you boil them and will create extreme crispiness

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Run potatoes under cold water for 2 mins to get rid of starch

Starch has no place in this dish

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Simmer for 15-20 mins with skins in a muslin bag

The skins will infuse flavour into the potatoes as they boil. I did not have the water to a high enough temperature and it took about 30mins to get there.

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After 15 mins look for edges of potatoes to have broken up

This is dependent on what type of potatoes you have used. If they were waxy then the edges won’t break up until you touch them

Drain potatoes. Small bits that have broken off, keep for roasting

I scooped them out of the pot with a spaghetti server and placed them into the colander so I didn’t smash them into mush

 Rough up edges by shaking colander gently

The potatoes love it and so will you

Leave in colander for 10 mins for steam to evaporate and potatoes to dry out

The wetter the potato when you start roasting them more soggy they will be in the middle

Add to hot olive oil and coat all of potatoes in oil

The oil will crisp the skin as it roasts. This step is key but also the step I found a little difficult. You don’t want to mush the potatoes but any bare bits will dry out. Consider using an oil spray to finish off.

 Oven temp at 190⁰C

Cook for 45mins to an hour

The original recipe said an hour but use your own judgement here. Once they turn golden brown they are ready to come out. I left mine in a little long and they almost burned. Luckily I got them out in time. Next time I would also turn them over after 30 mins

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Add rosemary & garlic about 10minutes before end

They also need salt and this could be the time to add it. Otherwise wait till they come out.


Wait until they cool to eat them!!!! Serve with everything.