Shaun’s mum does the most amazing roast potatoes. They are full of flavour and beautifully crispy. And I really wanted to make them myself as well. I mean, how hard it can be? I asked Lyn for instructions, just to make sure I really do them the right way. And I made special effort to really follow these instructions, which is often the hardest part of cooking for me.
And… Well, I still managed to f*** them up! Big time. Shaun thought I served him mushrooms when I placed them onto his plate :(.
So where did I get wrong…
I boiled the potatoes for about 15 minutes, just as Lyn suggested. I drained the potatoes and let them rest for a few minutes. Just as Lyn said I should do. Then, however, the instructions said ‘whilst potatoes are drying, pre-heat oil, then add boiled potatoes to it and cook them for 1h – 1.5h, basting and turning them a few times’. And so I did. Just not in an oven, I put them in a pan instead…
Needless to say the kitchen was covered in smoke. I was basting (although I am still not sure what this word means) and turning them constantly. I even turned down the heat. The potatoes were however getting darker and darker. I took one out after half an hour, hoping that they might be done. All I could taste was charcoal.
I messaged Lyn afterwards, sending her a photo of my black potatoes. And here first question was: “How hot did you have the oven?”
“The oven? What oven? There was no oven mentioned in your instructions.”
“Oh, sorry, I assumed you’d know you ‘roast’ most foods in the oven :).”
I did think it was odd not putting them in the oven as I always imagined that she was making them in there, and not in the pan. I got, however, confused with the oil pre-heating. It seems more logical to do than in the pan, rather than in the oven. Also, she never mentioned any temperature to which I should set the oven and the options are… well, endless.
Furthermore, to my defence, in Slovenia, we eat a lot of potatoes. In all possible ways. We COOK potatoes in a pot full of boiling water. We FRY potatoes in a pan full of hot oil. We ROAST potatoes in a pan, usually with a little bit of oil and sauteed onion. This is actually quite a popular dish, it comes in about 100 different varieties, there is World Festival of Roast Potatoes each year in Slovenia (this year they had its 20th edition, although it looked a bit different due to Covid-19 restrictions) to showcase different types of cooking roast potatoes, and there is even a club of roast potatoes lovers in Slovenia. So naturally, I didn’t question roasting potatoes in a pan. When we put potatoes in an oven, we BAKE them. Yes, in Slovenia (or I should say in Slovenian language), we bake a cake, and we also bake potatoes and meat.
PS: Here is a recipe for one of the varieties of Slovenian roast potatoes. Unfortunately is in Slovenian only.
MAYHEM IN THE KITCHEN 
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