Jamie Oliver Potato Bake Recipes

THE PERFECT POTATO GRATIN

Steps:

• I love roast potatoes and you'll always find them on my Christmas table. But, if you've got a big crowd for Christmas then this gratin is an exciting and quite luxurious way of serving potatoes. You could either make them instead of, or as well as, your roast potatoes.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Butter the inside of an ovenproof dish, around 30cm x 30cm, and at least 6cm deep.
• Pour the milk and cream into a wide pan with the bay leaves and garlic. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for a minute or two. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
• Add the potatoes and most of the thyme leaves and stir well. Spoon into the gratin dish and shake to even everything out. Sprinkle with the Parmesan then cover with an oiled piece of foil. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a little olive oil until crispy and golden. Add the remaining thyme and stir in the chestnuts. When your gratin is ready, remove the foil and spoon the bacon and chestnut mixture over the top. Pop it back in the oven for another 10 minutes until gorgeous and crispy on top.

BALSAMIC-BAKED ONIONS AND POTATOES WITH ROAST PORK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the potatoes into a pan of boiling, salted water and cook for around 8 minutes, then drain and return to the pan. Chuff them up a bit by shaking the pan.
• To prepare the meat, scatter a handful of finely chopped rosemary leaves over a large chopping board. Sprinkle over some salt and pepper and the ground fennel seeds. Roll the pork across the board, pressing down hard so all the flavorings stick to it.
• Get a large roasting pan that your pork will fit snugly into, and place it on a burner over a medium-high heat. Pour in a little olive oil and place the pork in, fat side down, sprinkled with any flavorings remaining on the board. After a few minutes, when the pork fat is lightly golden, turn it over and add the garlic cloves, onion, celery and bay leaves to the pan. Place on the bottom shelf of your preheated oven for 1 hour, basting it halfway through. (For the last 20 minutes of cooking, you may need to cover the pork with a bit of damp waxed paper to stop it coloring too much.)
• Get another roasting pan, into which you can fit the potatoes in 1 layer, and heat it on the stove. When hot, pour a glug of olive oil into it and add the butter, rosemary and garlic. Add the potatoes and toss them in all the flavors. Add the onions and all the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes on the burner to reduce the balsamic vinegar a little. Place the pan on the top shelf and cook for around 50 minutes, until the potatoes and onions are dark, sticky and crispy - removing the pan to toss the onions and potatoes halfway through.
• After 1 hour, the meat should be cooked. Prick it with a sharp knife - if the juices run clear, it's done; if not, pop it back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes, keeping the potatoes warm. Remove it from the oven and let it rest on a plate for 10 minutes. Pour away most of the fat from the pan and mash up the garlic and onion. Place the pan over the burner and add the white wine. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, scraping all the meaty, marmitey goodness off the bottom to make a tasty little sauce, and season if necessary. Pass through a sieve into a serving pitcher. Then slice the pork and serve it with your incredible baked onions and potatoes, drizzled with the pan juices. This meal goes great with some nice greens or an arugula salad.

OVEN-ROASTED POTATOES

Steps:

• When roasting a joint such as a leg of lamb, place the meat directly on the oven rack in a preheated 425 degree oven. Place a wide roasting pan on the rack beneath the joint to catch all the fat and drippings.
• Peel the potatoes and place them, whole, in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then drain. Shake the potatoes roughly in the colander to bruise their sides.
• After the roast has been in the oven at least 20 minutes so that fat and drippings have started to collect in the pan, dump the parboiled potatoes into the drippings. Strip the leaves off one or two sprigs of fresh rosemary and toss them over the potatoes along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Shake the pan well to coat the potatoes in fat and drippings. Continue to cook, occasionally turning the lamb and shaking the potatoes, for at least another hour and up to about 90 minutes, until the roast is cooked and the potatoes are crisply golden-brown outside and tender inside.

GARLIC, THYME AND ANCHOVY BAKED POTATOES

Steps:

• Pound the garlic and butter in a pestle and mortar until smooth. Season the garlic butter well with lots of pepper but just a little salt as the anchovy or bacon will act as a seasoning too.
• Cut each potato into 8 slices. Coat the slices of each potato with the butter mix then reassemble each potato on a piece of double-thick foil. Cut the anchovies or bacon into strips and put between the slices. Do the same with the thyme sprigs and carefully wrap up the potatoes.
• Lay the wrapped spuds on the cooler coals at the sides of the barbie for 1-1½ hours, depending on their size, turning every now and then, until tender. If you've got a gas barbie, put the potatoes right at the back over a low heat and give them plenty of time to cook. You might even want to give them half an hour's headstart in the oven first.

SCALLOPED POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
• Peel and cut the potatoes into 3mm-thick slices, then cook in a large pan of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain well, then transfer to a large baking dish.
• Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan on a medium heat, stir in the flour, followed slowly by the milk and cream, then simmer gently until thickened, stirring continuously.
• Remove from the heat, grate in and stir through most of the cheese, then season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper.
• Pour the sauce over the potatoes, grate over the remaining cheese, then bake for 45 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

JAMIE'S LYONNAISE POTATO CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees/Gas 6).
• Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the potatoes, and parboil them for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and set aside. Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the onions gently with the thyme leaves until meltingly soft. Add the balsamic vinegar and remove from heat. Remove onions to a plate.
• Using the same pan (no need to wash it), lay half the potatoes in the bottom and season with salt and pepper. Follow with the onions in 1 layer, seasoning again, then the rest of the potatoes. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

BROKEN POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water for about 15 minutes, or until your knife slides easily through them. Drain and leave for 5 minutes.
• Drizzle a roasting tray with a little olive oil and any handy pork fat. Season, then throw in the potatoes, and push down on each of them to break them up slightly. Then pound up the rosemary in a pestle and mortar to bruise and release its flavors. Add 4 good lugs of olive oil, stir around, and drizzle over the potatoes. Roast for 40 to 50 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C/gas 7) until crisp and golden.

BALSAMIC-BAKED ONIONS AND POTATOES (JAMIE OLIVER)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Put the potatoes into a pan of boiling, salted water and cook for around 8 minutes, then drain and return to the pan. Chuff them up a bit by shaking the pan.
• Get a roasting pan, into which you can fit the potatoes in 1 layer, and heat it on the stove.
• When hot, pour a glug of olive oil into it and add the butter, rosemary and garlic.
• Add the potatoes and toss them in all the flavors.
• Add the onions and all the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
• Cook for 5 minutes on the burner to reduce the balsamic vinegar a little.
• Place the pan on the top shelf and cook for around 50 minutes, until the potatoes and onions are dark, sticky and crispy - removing the pan to toss the onions and potatoes halfway through.