The Secret to Roasting Potatoes

Life was so busy with a new baby, new farm animals to learn about and a new fledgling business we were stumbling our way though trying to figure out!

We just needed a simple meal that had loads of healthy calories and nutrients.

Enter Roasted Potatoes and Ground Beef - we pretty much lived on this. We didn't make it as fancy as the video shows, just made the potatoes and then while they were in the oven, we browned a pack of ground beef over high heat, tossing in a generous helping of sea salt and thyme.

This still is one of my favorite meals, without all the extra ingredients, you can really taste the difference of the beef and the high-heat cooking method.

In the video we used some left over pulled pork and beef that we threw into a crockpot on Sunday and left unseasoned in the fridge to use throughout the week. We just crisped it up in some butter to warm it quick and put on top of the potatoes.

Check out the video to see how easy this meal really is!

Use Fat

For most of us, fat isn't bad; it is an essential nutrient -- if you try to avoid one type of food, it should be sugar, not fat. Here's a good book about that.

Anyhow, fat allows veggies to roast and makes them taste really good. Without enough, the veggies just burn, not roast.

In this recipe we are using 1 stick of butter for 2.5-3lbs of red potato. Don't skimp.

The Right Pan

Avoid a non-stick pan. Just.... don't do it.

Good potatoes (and really any roasted veggies) work better WITHOUT a non-stick pan. Get a heavy cast iron pan for $25 or use some fancy stainless steel pans. Some sort of pan you can get hot, hot, hot.

Use Salt

If you can, add a generous amount of salt - not so much you can't eat it, but go for it. If you go to a restaurant, they have lots of salt (and fat) - that's why it tastes so much better than 'home cooked meals' on a non-stick (fat free) pan.

Hot Oven

Get the oven pre-heated to 425-450 and use convect if you can.

Make Cleanup Easy

If you've used enough fat, high enough heat and resit the temptation to stir your potatoes, you won't have much clean up to do. However, I highly recommend getting a chainmail scraping tool for your cast iron or stainless cookware (link below).