Kenji's "Best roast potatoes ever"

[Robin Garr]

kenji-potatoes.jpg

Kenji Lopez-Alt, the food guru behind Serious Eats and, in my mind, "the next Alton Brown," posted this recipe recently for "the best roast potatoes ever." I made them last night, with roast asparagus on the side, and I have to agree. His process, a variation on pre-boiling, then roasting, involves both salt and baking soda to make the potato-boiling water alkaline in order to soften the edges of large potato chunks, and using garlic- and herb-scented olive oil to infuse the potatoes with flavor. Mary and I loved them so much we couldn't stop eating until they were gone: Glass-crisp on the outside, feather-light within, and breathing delicious garlic-herb aromas.

The article, typical of Kenji, is long and detailed, but it's worth a read:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016 ... oes%20Ever

That looks good, but while I like crispy/fluffy potatoes, my favourites are softer and somewhat fat-infused.

I use new potatoes, up to 2-3 inches in diameter. Cut them in half or, for the largest, in quarters. put them in a roasting pan, pour over duck fat and season with salt and pepper. Roast in a moderate oven (350-375°F) until very soft. Halfway through, shake up the pan to rotate the potatoes, and toss in lots of peeled whole garlic cloves and serve with the potatoes.

A nice variation is to used olive oil instead of duck fat, and toss in several large sprigs of fresh rosemary with the potatoes.

[Jenise]

Robin, entirely coincidentally, I used baking soda and a Kenji recipe last night that had nothing to do with potatoes. I actually went into the kitchen about 5:30 to assemble the enchilada pie I'd planned to make with the leftover roast turkey and then discovered that the turkey (roasted the day after Thanksgiving) was not usable, so I had no plan at all. Open fridge, see yellow chives, a whole packet purchased at an Asian market in Vancouver and a rare find. In the freezer I knew I had a packet of thinly shaved pork leg meat from a Japanese market in Seattle. Together, the two would be dinner. But what about using a recipe instead of relying on guts, maybe I'd learn something knew. So I googled 'pork yellow chives' and up came this Kenji recipe which used baking soda in the meat marinade. In spite of the fact that the meat would only marinate for about an hour, I went with it, and boy could I tell the difference. The meat was noticeably velvety! I'll never again prep meat for a stir-fry without it.

[Robin Garr]

Robin, entirely coincidentally, I used baking soda and a Kenji recipe last night that had nothing to do with potatoes.

Kenji is quite a guy. I put him on the spectrum about midway between Alton Brown and Harold McGee - easier-going than Harold but less goofy than Alton. I like him.

I've never looked up his bio, but one of these days I'll get curious enough to check out his very multi-ethnic moniker.

[David M. Bueker]

I like the idea of the pre-cooked potatoes, but I am not infusing and straining oil. Too much mess.

Just ate these. They are quite good, and I'll roast my potatoes this way from now on. The infusion wasn't a problem at all, although I ended up forgetting to put the garlic and rosemary bits back into the potatoes. I also needed to salt them more when they were tossed with the oil. Otherwise excellent.

Oh, dear, the Kenji Worship continues here, too. He's good but he also misses.

As my mother would say: He puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like every other man.

[Robin Garr]

I like the idea of the pre-cooked potatoes, but I am not infusing and straining oil. Too much mess.

I didn't strain the oil. I simmered a couple of smashed but intact garlic cloves and a branch of sage leaves that I could easily pick out.

[Robin Garr]

Oh, dear, the Kenji Worship continues here, too. He's good but he also misses.

As my mother would say: He puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like every other man.

Ummm ... I just said I liked him, Jeff.

[Robin Garr]

Just ate these. They are quite good, and I'll roast my potatoes this way from now on. The infusion wasn't a problem at all, although I ended up forgetting to put the garlic and rosemary bits back into the potatoes. I also needed to salt them more when they were tossed with the oil. Otherwise excellent.

As I just mentioned to David, I altered that part of the recipe by using large chunks of smashed garlic and a sage branch that I could spoon out of the oil easily. And I just didn't like the idea of putting browned garlic back in. I thought it would add an overly dominant garlic flavor where I wanted subtle balance. (See, Jeff, I'm willing to pick and choose the Kenji bits that I like. )

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/12/the-best-roast-potatoes-ever-recipe.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Serious%20Eats&utm_content=Daily%20Serious%20Eats%20CID_cdd43c0f1dcd333bc6d68bea9096a526&utm_source=Email%20campaign&utm_term=The%20Best%20Roast%20Potatoes%20Ever

Interesting recipe. Seems like a long cooking time at fairly high temperatures, but I guess that is because the chunks are supposed to be so large. And the man has done his homework. Do you think it would work with smaller pieces for less cooking time?

My usual roasted potatoes are 45-60 minutes at 375-385F, but with no pre-boiling.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/12/the-best-roast-potatoes-ever-recipe.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Serious%20Eats&utm_content=Daily%20Serious%20Eats%20CID_cdd43c0f1dcd333bc6d68bea9096a526&utm_source=Email%20campaign&utm_term=The%20Best%20Roast%20Potatoes%20Ever

Interesting recipe. Seems like a long cooking time at fairly high temperatures, but I guess that is because the chunks are supposed to be so large. And the man has done his homework. Do you think it would work with smaller pieces for less cooking time?

My usual roasted potatoes are 45-60 minutes at 375-385F, but with no pre-boiling.

This occurred to me as well, and my wife thought that she might like smaller ones better. One problem might come in after the parboiling, when you toss the potatoes with the oil. They're pretty soft at that point and you might just end up with a bunch of potato-oil paste if they were too small.

Just ate these. They are quite good, and I'll roast my potatoes this way from now on. The infusion wasn't a problem at all, although I ended up forgetting to put the garlic and rosemary bits back into the potatoes. I also needed to salt them more when they were tossed with the oil. Otherwise excellent.

As I just mentioned to David, I altered that part of the recipe by using large chunks of smashed garlic and a sage branch that I could spoon out of the oil easily. And I just didn't like the idea of putting browned garlic back in. I thought it would add an overly dominant garlic flavor where I wanted subtle balance. (See, Jeff, I'm willing to pick and choose the Kenji bits that I like. )

I normally wouldn't have wanted the extra garlic in there, either. I was careful not to let it brown, though, and there really wasn't much garlic or rosemary flavor that had come in through the oil. Don't know that I would have put all of the garlic bits in there, but some more of that flavor wouldn't have hurt.

[David M. Bueker]

I would rather do what I nor,ally do, which is slice a few cloves, and add them 2/3 through the baking.

[Robin Garr]

[This occurred to me as well, and my wife thought that she might like smaller ones better. One problem might come in after the parboiling, when you toss the potatoes with the oil. They're pretty soft at that point and you might just end up with a bunch of potato-oil paste if they were too small.

That's my instinct, too, or maybe Kenji actually mentioned that in the very long article. We thought the largish chunks gave a really good balance of crunchy and light, and smaller chunks might mess with that - if not fall apart entirely. Of course, thinking out loud, roasted mashed potatoes might be interesting, too.

[Jenise]

Oh, dear, the Kenji Worship continues here, too. He's good but he also misses.

Yes he does. And like the America's Test Kitchen people, he has a tendency to not let on/give credit for the fact that someone else somewhere has thought of anything even remotely like his idea as compared to making it sound like his idea is 100% original. I've been pre-boiling potatoes for roasting for 30 years, and I learned that from an older Hungarian friend who'd been doing it much longer. Michael Chiarello also demo-d it for potato wedges destined for a potato salad on his TV show. Kenji just takes the cook on the potatoes out to the nth degree. Btw, based on personal experience, lightly preheating the roasting pan before adding the potatoes reduces the chance of sticking.

[Jenise]

That's my instinct, too, or maybe Kenji actually mentioned that in the very long article. We thought the largish chunks gave a really good balance of crunchy and light, and smaller chunks might mess with that - if not fall apart entirely. Of course, thinking out loud, roasted mashed potatoes might be interesting, too.

Note that despite his calling for 2-3 inch hunks, the potatoes in the actual photo at the top are smaller. I think you can get away with smaller chunks if you use Yukons, which because they're waxier hold together longer than Russets.

That's my instinct, too, or maybe Kenji actually mentioned that in the very long article. We thought the largish chunks gave a really good balance of crunchy and light, and smaller chunks might mess with that - if not fall apart entirely. Of course, thinking out loud, roasted mashed potatoes might be interesting, too.

Note that despite his calling for 2-3 inch hunks, the potatoes in the actual photo at the top are smaller. I think you can get away with smaller chunks if you use Yukons, which because they're waxier hold together longer, than Russets.

That seems likely. I used russets and I don't think they'd have worked in anything smaller than 2" pieces.

[David M. Bueker]

Tried this New Year's Eve, and the interior of the potatoes was lovely.

The potatoes in the picture look DELICIOUS.

That looks really delicious. Great balance of peppers. It would definitely taste delicious.

I will give it a try and let you know how it goes.