Potatoes: Blanch Before Roasting?
September 10th, 2008
For years, I’ve been a high-low potato roaster. Start on really high heat to crisp and brown the outsides of the potatoes, then lower the heat so that the potatoes can cook for a long time without burning and get a nice pillowy texture inside.
Lately, I’ve been experimenting with the “Zuni Café method”, which calls for blanching the potatoes before roasting them so that the insides are well on their way to pillowy-ness well before they ever enter the oven.
Zuni’s Judy Rodgers didn’t invent this technique, of course, but a lot of people seem to know it from the Zuni cookbook. The blanching definitely helps with the interior texture of the potatoes, which come out almost creamy in the end.
But I kept having trouble getting a true crispy exterior. I tried jacking the heat up to 500F for longer periods of time, and I tried draining the potatoes for a little bit longer after blanching them. But I kept getting a slight, puffy softness to the outsides of the potatoes.
After lots of experimenting, two things seemed to make the most difference:
1 Preheating a cast-iron skillet in the 450F oven so that when your pour the potatoes into the skillet to put back in the oven, the sides in contact with the pan get an immediate char.
2 Broiling the potatoes on high for a few minutes just before taking them out of the oven. This guarantees a crackling crust even after you’ve let them cool for a few minutes before eating.
Recipe: Roasted Potatoes With Rosemary And Garlic (Cookthink)
September 10th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
In an English roast we always par-boil the peeled potatoes in salted water first. We use big floury spuds, not new potatoes like the ones in the picture, althought they look delicious. I cut the spuds down to new potato size, slicing them so they have a lot of angles because it’s the edges that go crispy. Meanwhile the oil, or ideally goose fat or beef dripping, is heating in a roasting pan on a hot oven. After draining the spuds I give the pan a shake to rough them up a bit - the rough surface crisps up better. Then into the pad with the oil for basting. They’re done when they look golden and delicious , about 30-45m. I baste at least once in this time. They are always delicious and however many I cook they will always get eaten.
Looks like this :
http://flickr.com/photos/openbyhand/2338459781/
September 10th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
putting a cookie sheet in the oven (while it’s being preheated) also helps a lot! my mom learned this tip on food network and I’ve been using it ever since.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:32 am
Reminds me of this nice way to prepare potatoes:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/
September 11th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Hi! These are great tips, thanks! I’ve always been pretty successful with the highish heat method without blanching them first but I may give this a try to see just how crispy I can get them!
September 11th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I find that the potatoes take longer to cook without the blanching and since I discovered the blanching method years ago, I’ve not done it any other way.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:00 am
[…] Chip’s blanch-before-roasting-potato post reminded me of a nice shortcut for browning potatoes that I learned from a friend’s Spanish boyfriend whose name I can no longer recall. […]
August 30th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
[…] + Judy Rodgers of Zuni Café blanches her potatoes before roasting them. With the colder temperature, this Roasted Potatoes With Rosemary And Garlic recipe looks yummy. Via Cookthink […]