Crunchy Roast Potatoes

Preheat the oven at 200˚C, 180˚C Fan, 400F, Gas 6.

Peel the potatoes, divide in half, if large, and cook in boiling salted water for about 8-10 minutes. Holding the lid over the pot, drain the potatoes well and then shake the saucepan vigorously a few times until the edges of the potatoes become fluffy.

Preheat a roasting tin in the oven for about 5 minutes with the duck or goose fat. Add the potatoes and season. Turn them in the fat so that the potatoes are coated and return to the oven. Alternatively, if you have a heavy cast-iron roasting dish that goes on the hob, heat a layer of duck or goose fat in the bottom of the dish. When hot, add the par-boiled potatoes, season and allow to colour lightly for a few minutes, then turn them over to get them coated in the fat. Transfer to the oven.

Continue cooking the potatoes for about 1 hour or until they are a rich golden colour all over. Turn the potatoes a few times during the cooking. You may turn the oven up to 220˚C, 200˚C Fan, 425˚F, Gas 7 towards the end of the cooking if you wish to speed up the process.

Roast potatoes do not hold their crunchiness for very long after they have been removed from the oven so plan your timing accordingly.