“The best way to get a nice crunchy crust on potatoes is to get the moisture out of them,” says Nick Stanton of Leonardo’s Pizza Palace in Melbourne. “Drying the potatoes the night before cooking starts to build the crust, and the third cooking time is where the fun comes in. It takes patience, but it’s easy to do. You can’t rush the good things in life.” Start the recipe a day ahead to dry the potatoes.
Ingredients
Method
1.Place potatoes in a medium-large saucepan, cover with cold water (about 4 litres), add salt, then bring to the boil and cook until very tender (45 minutes). Drain and allow to steam dry. Transfer to a tray lined with paper towels, and refrigerate uncovered for 24 hours to dry out.
2.Divide duck fat between two large frying pans and heat to 130°C. Add potatoes and cook, turning and moving potatoes around occasionally with tongs, until evenly light golden brown (25-35 minutes). Carefully remove potatoes and place on a tray lined with paper towels. Leave to cool and set (1 hour). Reserve duck fat.
3.Transfer all the duck fat to one pan and heat to 160°C. Fry potatoes in two batches, moving potatoes around occasionally, until deep golden brown (8-10 minutes). Drain on paper towels, season to taste and serve.
