Fondant Potatoes Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 as a side dish
Ingredients Needed
- 10-12 potatoes (1.2kgs/2.6lbs)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 40g/1.4oz ghee, melted
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2-1 cup chicken or beef stock
- 2 sprigs thyme
- Salt and pepper
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 POTATOES - Peel the potatoes and place in a large bowl of water. Cut out 4cm/1.6inch rounds using the metal cutter and trim to 1 inch thickness. Round off edges with a vegetable peeler and place in a bowl of water. Repeat with the remaining potatoes. Drain potatoes and pat dry with paper towels.
Step 2 CARAMELISE - Place a 25cm/9.8inch frying pan with heatproof handle on medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil and place the potatoes cut side down for 8 minutes or until potatoes have caramelised. Turn over and repeat the same for the other side for 6-7 minutes. In the meantime, preheat oven to 180C/350F fan forced or 200C/400F conventional.
Step 3 COOK - Add the ghee to the pan along with the garlic and thyme. Carefully pour some of the stock into the pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the potatoes and stand back (it will spit). Once it has stopped spitting, place the whole pan in the oven for 10 minutes. Then take out of the oven - use a teatowel and be very careful with the hot handle. Spoon ghee over the potatoes and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
Step 4 CRISP - When potatoes are ready, take out the pan with a teatowel and wrap it around the handle. Place the pan on medium high heat and remove the garlic. Fry the potatoes on each side until crispy, around 3-4 minutes. Serve in a dish with some of the melted ghee, the thyme and extra salt sprinkled on top.
Step 5 LEFTOVER POTATOES (OPTIONAL) - Boil the potato cut offs until soft and tender. Drain and then add the garlic that was cooking in the butter as well as some ghee from the pan, hot milk and salt!
Personal Note
I tested these fondant potatoes out so many times that I was determined to master them. While all attempts were tasty I wanted them to be perfect every single time. And once I got it right, I wanted to serve them in a nice oval tray (I have a thing for oval plates and trays vs round).
I went to buy one of these vintage dishes from a shop. They had several sizes available online and I was tossing up between the medium one and the larger one. But they only had the medium one on display. I brought it to the front counter and asked if they had the larger one. She looked on their website and found it, then took out a tape measure and then measured out 31cm on top of the medium one. "That's what it looks like," she said.
"Is there one I can look at?" Because while the length was longer, I couldn't tell what the width was and when things get bigger they sometimes get deeper too. I just wanted to compare the two visually against each other.
"We don't have any display ones," she said deadpan.
"Okay do you have any non display ones that I can just look at? I just want to see it" I asked.
"No, we don't have any display ones." she repeated again, staring back at me. I don't usually come across rude people so when I do, it's kind of jarring.
"Ok but what if I wanted to buy one? Could I just take a look at it?" I said because sometimes they can just open a box from stock and you can just see it.
"We don't have any in the store," she said finally.
I had to laugh because that word display was a crucial one that caused a lot of confusion on my end. And hopefully you'll find this recipe much clearer and easier!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like fondant potatoes? Do you have a cooking task that you hate (like peeling potatoes)?