SMASHED POTATOES

Fiona says if you haven’t ever cooked potatoes in duck fat, they taste incredible and become so, so crispy. Put it on your bucket list! 

serves 4-6 as a side dish

800g potatoes (sebagos or nicolas work beautifully)

8 garlic cloves

4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and, or thyme sprigs

1/3 cup duck or goose fat (our friends up the road at Cellar & Pantry stock it)

sea salt

Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).

Place potatoes in a medium saucepan with ½ teaspoon salt and cover with cold water.  Cover with lid and place over a high heat.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are just cooked through when pierced with knife.  Drain well and set aside potatoes for for 5 minutes to allow excess water to evapourate.

Pour fat into a large shallow roasting dish and place in oven to heat. 

Meanwhile, using a potato masher, press down on each potato to squash until the skins split. (don’t worry if pieces break off, they’ll be super crunchy). Remove roasting dish from the oven and add potatoes and garlic, turning each one to coat in fat.  Roast in oven for 10 minutes, then add the rosemary and return to oven.  Roast for another 10-15 minutes, until golden brown and skin is crunchy.

Transfer to a serving dish, scatter with sea salt and serve immediately,

NOTE: Duck or goose fat can be substituted with olive oil. 

Fiona Hammond © March 2018 

Recipe, photos and styling by Fiona Hammond. www.fionahammondfood.com