Potatoes roasted in duck fat: haz calohreez
This is one of the things that has led to dieting. It was worth it. One night we were to be seven at table and four ended up not being able to come. We remaining three ate most of the potatoes! They are crusty on the outside and creamy on the inside and I can't explain the flavor. You just have to try some.
It's a simple thing if done just right. There are only three ingredients: potatoes, salt and duck fat. Goose fat may be even tastier, but a goose is a bigger undertaking than a duck. They tell me that in British supermarkets you can buy tins of duck fat, and I call that civilized. Otherwise you can buy the back half of a duck and remove the considerable amount of fat from it and then render the fat at a low temperature. Pour it into a very clean hot glass jar and cap it. It will keep a long, long time. Or buy a whole duck, go crazy. Frozen duck fat has been found in Egyptian tombs and it still made great potatoes. Truth!
Potatoes Just Ducky
For four people
Before the potatoes are finished boiling, preheat the oven to about 175°C or 350°F
1 kilo (2 lb) potatoes, cleaned, peeled and cut into chunks
Boil the potatoes in salted water until they are tender, then drain them. Shake them about in the pan to rough them up.
Put about 70 g (1/3 cup) of duck fat in a wide and shallow baking dish. Add about 1 teaspoon herbed salt. I used the perfumed salt I called Summer in a Jar that I made in August. Throw the potatoes on top of the fat and stir them about as it melts, getting them all coated, all around.
Put the dish in the oven and cook them about an hour. It's more efficient to bake them when something else is in the oven, too, and they will easily accommodate a different temperature. Just adjust the time to reflect the new temperature.
When they are golden, just remove them to a platter with a spatula and stand back. Even my somewhat anorexic neighbor ate them.
That made my mouth water. I know what we\’re having with dinner tonight…
@Minnie:
That doesn’t sound so wicked to me!
I\’ve certainly seen goose fat sold in UK supermarkets.
Your potatoes look great – not sure I\’d relish ones cooked in fat from an egyptian tomb! Who thought, let\’s just cook a few potatoes in this?
What I would try is to roast the duck, drain off the fat half way through and use that for the spuds which had been previously par boiled. (See, I\’m rubbish at cakes, but I\’m a mean roaster.)
I may have exaggerated about the tomb fat.
I remove that far at the rear for rendering because I want it free of seasonings I put on the duck. I used to cook whole ducks, and one of my big hit French recipes is a duck recipe, but for Italian meals it generally works better for me to treat the back parts as braised and the sauce used for pasta. I then do various things with the breasts. I always have a big bunch of fat to render as well as skin and bones galore for broth/stock. It makes duck a reasonably priced buy for me.
Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Mouth-watering!
One could buy tins of duck fat in specialty food stores in Australia. Imported from France, hugely expensive, but worth every calorie.
I didn’t know dogs ate potatoes, but next time I see you, I’ll make you some of these.
Isn’t it odd that they do not sell duck and goose fat in ordinary supermarkets here but they do in GB and Oz? Ask any Italian what British food is like…
I’d eat dirt, as the local saying goes. But in Italian.
It is odd. Obviously there’s no call for it.