We have a strangely orange-tinted light in our dining room. Great for mood lighting, not so great for food pics.

What is one to do with a lovely bag of small potatoes? I have no idea what kind of potato they were, but they were lovely and cute and small. So, I roasted them. Second question, who needs a recipe for roast potatoes? Well, even I can manage to roast potatoes on my own, and if I really need guidance, Nigella has quite a few. This recipe I found on Recipezaar, which has been quite absent from this blog of late - this baking thing has really gotten a hold on me. I loved this way of roasting potatoes, they came out perfectly done and beautifully crispy. I had left the skins on and this made them even crispier. Yum!

Best Roast Potatoes Ever
Adapted from Mrs B of Recipezaar.

1kg potatoes
2tbs goose fat
2tbs vegetable oil
3-4 bay leaves (optional)
sea salt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 F, 200 C, gas mark 6; peel the potatoes and cut them into evenly sized halves or chunks (my note: I left mine peeled)

Put the potatoes into a large saucepan, cover with cold salted water and bring to the boil; drain the water off as soon as it comes to the boil - this step isn’t to cook the potatoes: it heats them through so they start roasting more quickly - return the potatoes to the hot pan and dry them over the heat (it is important that the potatoes are dry for roasting, otherwise they are likely to stick to the baking tray).

Slide a large baking tray into the oven to heat up for a few minutes, add the vegetable fat to the potatoes in the hot pan and let it melt; turn the potatoes in the melted fat until they are shiny and well coated, then tip them onto the hot baking tray.

Place the tray in the oven for about 45 minutes; add the bay leaves, if using.

15 minutes into the cooking time; turn and baste the potatoes a few times during cooking.

To serve, lift the potatoes from the baking tray with a slotted spoon, sprinkle with sea salt if desired: NOTE - if you are unable to serve the potatoes immediately, do not cover them (they’ll loose their crispiness); instead keep them warm in the oven until you are ready.