Observer Food Monthly's 20 best recipesPotatoesA simple dish with familiar ingredients, the potatoes come out with a crispy bottom and a soft top
I love recipes that are simple and use familiar ingredients, but that come out feeling unusual because of the technique used. I learned this dish from the Argentinian chef Francis Mallmann at Ballymaloe Litfest a couple of years ago. This is his signature potato dish and it has become a staple for my family here in the UK and also for my mum in Ukraine after I cooked it for her once. She makes it for extended family meals almost every Sunday. Mallmann cooked it on a massive plancha over fire for a couple of hours, but it can be made in a domestic oven too, in a shorter time. The potatoes come out with a crispy bottom and a soft top.
I have also tried cooking these potatoes in a pan where a chicken has been roasting. While the chicken rested the potatoes were cooked in the fat instead of oil and the result was rather good.
Use a good roasting potato such as king edward or maris piper.
Serves 3-6 people as a side depending on the rest of the meal
king edward potatoes 6 medium
sea salt and pepper
rapeseed or vegetable oil 4 tbsp
butter 100g, cubed
Put the whole potatoes, skin on, into a pan with cold water, season the water well and bring to the boil. Cook for about 20-25 minutes or until easily pierced by a knife. They should feel quite soft, but not completely falling apart. You will need to be able to squash them flat with your hand.
Let the potatoes cool down enough to handle on your work surface and put the palm of your hand over the potato. Now with the palm of your hand, squash each potato gently but firmly, trying to make it flat, but kept together, like a squashed potato patty. It should be flat at the bottom and slightly domed on top.
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Pour the oil into a large roasting tin and place in the hot oven. Leave the oil to heat up until sizzling.
Now with a large spatula, gently lift the potatoes and slide them carefully (the oil may spit) into the tray, flat side down. Do not overcrowd the roasting tray. Season them well with sea salt and pepper if you like, and put them into the oven. Cook without disturbing them for about 20 minutes, check if a thick crust is forming. Then drop in the butter over and around them, and cook for another 10 minutes. What you are looking for is a thick crusty bottom and soft tops. Serve with some baked fish or roast meat or as part of a big vegetarian feast.
Olia Hercules is a chef and food writer
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