Vegetables. Sophie Grigson

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      The best fats to use are melted lard or dripping (without the jelly), olive oil or sunflower oil or, best of all, goose fat (available in cans and jars). I prefer to use either Cara potatoes, which have a smooth texture, or end-of-season large new potatoes, but for a fluffier interior head for the old faithfuls – King Edward, Maris Piper, Désirée, Estima and their kin.

      

      Serves 4

       1.3 kg (3 lb) large potatoes

       6 tablespoons goose fat, lard, olive oil or sunflower oil

       salt

      Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.

      Peel the potatoes and cut into medium-sized chunks – say about 5 cm (2 in) across. Cook in boiling salted water until three-quarters cooked – around 5–6 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Use a fork to scratch criss-cross lines all over the surfaces of each chunk of potato, roughing up the exterior so that it crisps perfectly.

      Put the fat in a large roasting tin and slide into the oven. Heat through for 5–8 minutes. Quickly take the tin out and add the potatoes. Turn so that they are all coated in hot fat. Return immediately to the oven. Roast for about 40–50 minutes, turning the potatoes after the first 25 minutes and then again once or twice more, until they are browned and crisp all over.

      Serve straightaway.

      Chips

      Who doesn’t love chips? And the best chips of all are those you make at home, from scratch. Frying up a batch of real chips is not something you will want to do every day, but as an occasional treat they’re worth every moment of standing over a hot pan.

      Chips are fried twice, the first time at a gentle heat to just soften them right through to the centre, the second time at a higher heat to brown the outside. You can do the first batch of frying ahead of time, but leave the second hot, hot, hot session until just before serving. If you use an electric deep-fryer the temperatures are easy to gauge. If you don’t then it is worth investing in a food thermometer.

      Good varieties for chips include King Edward, Maris Piper and Désirée. Cara give a slightly waxier texture which I love but if you prefer a fluffier centre stick with one of the first three.

      

      Serves 3–4

       3 large potatoes

       sunflower or vegetable oil for deep-frying

       salt

      Peel the potatoes and cut into slices about 1 cm (¹/₂ in) thick. Cut lengthways into batons of about the same thickness. Cover with cold water to prevent browning, until you are almost ready to cook them.

      Set the oil to heat up. The right heat for the first fry is 150°C/300°F. Drain the potatoes then dry them thoroughly on kitchen paper or clean tea-towels. Deep-fry in several batches so that the temperature of the oil is not lowered too much, allowing them to cook for about 4 minutes, without browning, until tender right through. Drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool.

      Just before serving, reheat the oil, this time to 180°C/350°F. Deep-fry the chips, again in batches, until golden brown.

      The only thing you need to do now is drain and salt the chips. The best way to do this is in a large brown paper bag. Yes, honestly. Tip the chips into the bag, add plenty of salt, fold over the top and shake – the bag absorbs excess fat, and the salt gets evenly distributed. If you don’t have a brown paper bag to hand, drain the chips briefly on a triple layer of kitchen paper, then sprinkle with salt. Serve straightaway while still good and hot.

      Baked potatoes

      Baked potatoes are fabulous comfort food, and so easy. Just pop them into a hot oven when you get home from work, go and have a bath or a glass of wine, or whatever unwinds you after a hard day, then an hour later they emerge, steaming hot, crisp outside and gorgeously tender inside. Whether you dish them up as the main part of a meal with a sumptuous topping, or as a side order, baked potatoes are warming and reassuring, and of course, they taste just fine too.

      For each person you need one large baking potato – any large maincrop potato will do the job nicely. Prick the skin all over with a fork to prevent it bursting during cooking. Now you have choices to make. You can a) leave the potato just as it is, or b) dampen it and rub salt into the skin – this gives a deliciously salty skin – or c) rub oil all over the skin, to make the skin crisper, or d) go for both oil and salt or e) wrap the potato in foil for a tender, soft-skinned potato.

      Once you’ve reached a decision and finished preparing your potato, bake for 50–60 minutes or until tender right through. Test by pushing a skewer into the centre. Once the potato is cooked, cover with a cloth and let it sit for 5 minutes before cutting open – this makes the flesh fluffier and lighter.

      One final point – if you’re rushed for time, push a skewer lengthways through the centre of the potato before putting it into the oven. The skewer conducts heat directly to the centre of the potato so that it cooks more quickly.

      Roast new potatoes with thyme and lemon

      Little new potatoes are delicious roasted in the oven. They cook to a wonderful, melting tenderness that is just irresistible. The sharpness of the lemon pieces is particularly good with them.

      

      Serves 4

       1 kg (21/4 lb) small new potatoes

       6 sprigs thyme

       1 lemon

       4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

       salt

      Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7. Put the potatoes and thyme in a roasting tin or ovenproof dish – it should be large enough to take them all in a single layer. Cut the lemon into 8 wedges, then cut each wedge into 3 pieces. Add them to the potatoes then drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Turn the potatoes and lemon until all are coated in oil.

      Bake for 40–45 minutes, stirring twice during that time, until the potatoes are patched with brown and very tender. Serve hot.

      Indian stuffed potato cakes

      Wow – these Indian potato cakes are so utterly wonderful, yet they are made with the most ordinary of vegetables: potatoes, carrots, peas and onions. Clever spicing is all it takes, that and a little ingenuity. They are easy to make, look good, and taste even better. I like them just as they are, but if you want to dress them up a little more, adding another beguiling layer of taste, make the sweet sour tamarind and date sauce overleaf to serve with them.

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