I guess I tried cooking two new foods this week.
Our relatives gave us a jar of duck fat as a wedding gift last April. I carefully packed the jar during our move to Iowa and have felt nervous about using it.
It seemed so fancy and I wondered what duck fat would taste like. I’ve heard of restaurants frying french fries in duck fat, so I knew it would be good.
Some Twitter friends recommended I roast potatoes in the fat and pointed me towards Eating For England’s recipe for Perfect Roast Potatoes.
They were indeed perfect.
The duck fat lent a savory, poultry-flavored complexity and we didn’t have leftovers. Now, what to do with the rest of the jar. . .
Here’s how I made them:
Ingredients:
Russet potatoes, peeled (about four-five small potatoes)
Duck fat, enough to coat
Flour
Salt
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place a pan or baking dish in the oven. I covered a jelly roll pan with foil.
- When the oven is preheated, add enough duck fat to coat the potatoes into the pan. You don’t have to perfectly measure the amount.
- Cut peeled potatoes into similar sized chunks.
- Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 3 minutes.
- Drain potatoes in a strainer and shake them so they have a rough texture.
- Sprinkle them with a light dusting of flour and shake so they’re evenly coated.
- Place the flour-dusted potatoes on the hot, oiled pan in a single layer. Stand back in case the oil splatters. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Flip the potatoes and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Continue flipping the potatoes until all sides are golden brown. The outsides should be crisp and the insides fluffy and tender. I cooked them for about 45 minutes to an hour, total.
- Place the cooked potatoes on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with sea salt while they are hot.
These look amazing! We have a tub of duck fat in the fridge that my husband bought ages ago. Might be duck fat potatoes on the menu tonight I think…
A whole tub! They are so easy. I’ve baked potatoes in the oven before, but they were never crispy or fluffy enough. Boiling them for a short time really helps.
I never knew you could buy duck fat in a jar! One of our family get togethers always has duck. Duck gravy is pretty good too.
City kids like us get duck fat in jars from the mall:) I think you can buy this brand on Amazon, too or render your own. I can imagine duck gravy would be delicious.