It’s been a fun vacation so far in the US, but it’s almost time for me to turn my attention back home to London. This feels especially true because as I write this it’s snowing outside and I’m unprepared for this weather. It’s freaking March, and it’s snowing. I’m not kidding, the weather is better in London right now. Get yourself together DC.

Anyway, on a cold day like this it’s always nice to have something warm and comforting… like roasted potatoes. These potatoes are a classic English style of potatoes and what you get when you have Sunday roasts. Specifically, this recipe is from my friend Sarah’s mom, who we’ll call Mrs. P. Sarah’s dad calls her mom Mrs. P, and I thought it was the cutest thing so I’m going to roll with it.

Anyway, I had Mrs. P’s potatoes when I had an amazingly beautiful mini-vacation in Dorset. The Sunday I was there, Sarah’s whole family gathered together for a big delicious roast lunch. Everything was really tasty and nothing is more comforting and satisfying than a warm lunch with family. It was wonderful to be included. And even though the meat, dessert and vegetables were all amazing – I was most intrigued with the potatoes.

What makes these potatoes awesome is they have a crunchy outer skin and a creamy buttery soft inside. It’s fantastic. Every time I’ve ever made roasted potatoes before, they just came out soft all over. What was the secret to the crunchy/soft combo?! So I asked Sarah to ask her mom – and I was worried it’d be a family recipe that couldn’t be shared. But luckily Mrs. P shared, and said I could share the recipe with all of you. So here it is, your opportunity to escape where you are and have a little taste of England.

One final note: the type of potatoes is important. Mrs. P calls for Maris Piper potatoes, and when I did some comparative research on similar recipes, everyone else called for the same kind too. So, stick with tradition if you can and try to buy Maris Piper potatoes. However, this is an Irish breed of potatoes and can be hard to find outside the UK. So, if you’re in the US and can’t find Maris Piper, my research says use Yukon Gold and then if you can’t find that try Russets.

Messy level: I find peeling potatoes fairly messy. I always think it shouldn’t be, but I end up with a big mound of peelings that take over my cutting board and fall on the floor. What’s most important to know though, is that this recipe has two cooking steps. First on the stove, then in the oven – and that’s where the dishes come in. Process wise it’s easy, but you’ll have a medium amount of dishes in the end.

Goose Fat Roasted Potatoes

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 40 mins

Total time

1 hour 55 mins

 

Author: Mrs. P

Ingredients

• 1.5kg/ 3.3 lbs Maris Piper potatoes
• 150g/ 5oz/slightly more than ½ cup goose fat
• salt (optional)

Instructions

1. Peel the Maris Piper potatoes and cut them in half, or in quarters if especially large. Most importantly, you want the potato pieces to be about the same size so they will cook evenly.
2. Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water.
3. Bring the water to a boil and boil the potatoes for 5-10 minutes. (This is called parboiling and is done just to cook and soften them a little, not cook them all the way through.) You can season the water with salt if you like.
4. Preheat the oven to 390°F/200°C. Put the goose fat into your roasting pan, and put in the pan in the oven. You want the fat to be super hot for when you add in the potatoes.
5. Drain the potatoes. Put the lid back on your pot and swirl it around. This is to roughen up the edges of the potatoes - this is what leads to the crispy skin. I felt my potatoes were "roughed up" enough when they looked a little shredded and frizzy on the edges. (Note: if you've over boiled the potatoes, you'll end up with mash potatoes at this point)
6. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven, and carefully add the potatoes. If you can, try to turn the potatoes around a little bit so they get all coated in the fat. Return to the oven.
7. Cook the potatoes for 1-1½ hours. Turn the potatoes a few times during cooking (I went with turning them every 20 minutes) They are done when you can easily stick a fork into the potato.
8. Remove from the oven. If you feel they are too coated in duck fat, you can pat them dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt if you like. I didn't because I think this recipe is good as-is.
9. Serve immediately! I found these are best the day off. They are still good reheated, but the crispy skin is best when fresh.

3.2.2925

The post Goose Fat Roasted Potatoes appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Warning: This post is a little sappy.

This recipe for cinnamon glazed sweet potatoes, simply called “yams” in my family, is one of my Mom’s signature holiday recipes. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can always count on my mom to make an apple pie and this recipe. Sure, she can makes other things too, but those are staples. It’s a really nice dish. It’s sweet, and a lovely hybrid between baked and mashed potatoes. But, to be honest, it’s not my favorite Thanksgiving food, but it is my brother’s favorite. Eric’s Thanksgiving plate is usually 50% baked ham and 50% yams. He loves this stuff. And so today’s post is dedicated to him.

I’ve been thinking about Eric a bunch recently. It started at work the other day. I was playing on a piano thing with a little boy and his mom. All of a sudden, this slightly taller little girl (who turned out to be his sister) ran up to him, semi-violently grabbed his face, kissed him on the cheek, then ran away. Mom was very touched. I thought it was hilarious. And the boy was completely unfazed. It was that somewhat violent and tender moment that made me think of Eric.

See, he doesn’t mind if I squash him

It made me think of Eric because although he has been bigger and stronger than me for over ten years, he still lets me be the big dog. He lets me poke him, tickle him, squash him, tease him, and put my cold hands on his neck – and he is unbothered by all of it. Like that little boy, Eric accepts all my pestering and understands that it is meant to show affection. I’m lucky that Eric and I get along so well. We have a really similar sense of humor, sometimes he says exactly what I’m thinking, and of course he lets me pretend I’m the dominant sibling.

I’m excited about Thanksgiving in London, but I’ll miss my family and Eric most of all (sorry guys). So, even though this recipe isn’t my favorite it will be part of our Thanksgiving meal so my brother can be with me in spirit.

Messy level: Two spoons. This is really straightforward in terms of prep – peel and cut sweet potatoes, make some glaze, pour on potatoes, bake. Easy and not messy.

Cinnamon Glazed Sweet Potatoes

 

Print

Cook time

2 hours 30 mins

Total time

2 hours 30 mins

 

Author: My Mom

Ingredients

• 6-8 medium sweet potatoes
• 4 oz butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375°F/190°C.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into circles that are 1.5-2" thick.
3. Place prepared sweet potatoes in a large tray - like a 9x13" pan with sides would be good.
4. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
5. Once the butter is melted, add in the water, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
6. Stir until sugar is dissolved, everything is well mixed. Heat until just about boiling.
7. Taste. Add more cinnamon or nutmeg if you like.
8. Pour the glaze over your prepared sweet potatoes.
9. Cover with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 2 hours, or until soft and can be easily pierced with a fork. Every 45-60 minutes, gently turn the potatoes and spoon sauce over them. Don't be too aggressive here or you'll turn this into mashed sweet potatoes.
10. Once the potatoes are soft remove the aluminium foil. Place back in the oven for 30-45 minutes more. It is ready when the liquid has begun to thicken and evaporate, and the potatoes are nicely coated.
11. Serve and spoon a little glaze from the pan over it before eating!

3.2.2807

The post Cinnamon Glazed Sweet Potatoes appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

And I’m serious when I said Papa’s the only cornmeal-maker in my family. Once when I was a kid, Mom made it for me and it came out lumpy. In college, I found a recipe online, and what I made came out as a dry and thick cornmeal lump. Papa is the one who makes the creamiest and tastiest cornmeal. So when I came to visit for the holidays I asked him to show me how. I’ll be honest with you that I’m still a bit intimidated. Papa showed me how to do it, but I think it’s going to take some practice before I’m on his level. So maybe that’ll be one of my New Year’s resolutions: to master Papa’s cornmeal.

Before we get started, let me provide a few of Papa’s tips for success.

1. He prefers Quaker brand cornmeal, but any regular cornmeal will do. He does not recommend ultra-fine cornmeal because he says it’s harder to work with.

2. This recipe is about finesse and whisking. It doesn’t take that long to make but you will need to be attentive and whisk constantly. You want the cornmeal to be smooth so you have to whisk a lot to keep it smooth. Lumps can happen, if you end up with a lot in the beginning then you’ll need to start over.

3. Think of this similar to how you think about making mashed potatoes. When you make mashed potatoes you add milk and butter until you get the desired creaminess. The same is true here. I’ve given amounts for ingredients, but you can add more butter and milk as you go until you get your desired consistency.

4. This whole thing takes about 20 minutes or less, but I don’t have specific times for these things. Next time I make it I’ll use a timer.

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 cup water, divided

2 cup milk

3 tbsp butter (plus more just in case)

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar (or more to your taste)

cinnamon for garnish

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix 1 cup water, milk, vanilla and salt. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally.

2. While that’s heating, in a small bowl mix together the cornmeal and 1 cup of water. Whisk so that all of the cornmeal gets wet. The cornmeal and water will never get completely smooth, but you want it to be mixed enough so that the cornmeal does not stick in the whisk. See the picture below to see the cornmeal mixture stuck in the whisk. You want the cornmeal mixture to still be a bit thick and lumpy, but when you take the whisk out of the liquid clumps of cornmeal mix easily fall off.

3. When the liquid in the saucepan is bubbling (but not boiling over) add the cornmeal. WHISK LIKE CRAZY!!! Whisk, whisk, whisk until everything is smooth and there are no lumps.

4. When the mixture is smooth add the sugar. KEEP WHISKING!

5. Lower the heat (or remove quickly from heat if mix is thickening too quickly) and whisk, whisk, whisk. Taste it! Does it taste buttery and creamy? If not, add a splash more milk and a sliver more of butter. Whisk, and taste. You can also add more sugar if you like things sweeter.

6. Keep whisking until you have the consistency of grits or non-runny oatmeal. You want some of the liquid to evaporate and thicken, but not so much that it makes the cornmeal dense. Think back to the idea of mashed potatoes, you want them light, creamy, and buttery – and that’s the same idea here.

7. Pour cornmeal onto plates. You know the cornmeal is ready to pour when you lift the whisk, the cornmeal should run off smoothly. (Another hint, Papa recommends heating your plates in a 225° oven so that you’re cornmeal will stay warm as you eat.)

8. Sprinkle cinnamon on top for taste and garnish.

9. Eat with a spoon. My family scrapes around the plate in circles from the inside to the middle, that way you’re eating the coolest part first. Enjoy!

Messy Level: This is a two spoon mess recipe. It really doesn’t create much mess because most of the work is done in a single saucepan. But, it can be a little drippy so that’s the only reason I’m giving it two spoons.

The post Papa’s Cornmeal appeared first on Cooking is Messy.