Volume II: Potatoes Cooked in Duck Fat

Recipe: Potatoes Cooked in Duck Fat

I had started cooking some of the earlier recipes earlier this year before I got around to posting, and this was one of the first ones I did.  These potatoes were amazing, and I cannot wait to make them again!  Relatively simple and only took me about an hour from the start of prep to the completion of clean up.  I had heard some phenomenal reviews from Nana's current taste testers (Mom and Dad) and going into this could only hope mine came out half as good....

Thank you Nana for the duck fat!

Thanks go to Nana for lending me some of her leftover duck fat!  The only deviation from the recipe was that I used Yukon Gold potatoes as I had them lying around and the book mentioned they could serve as a suitable substitute.  I cooked 3lbs of potatoes and used two pans to accommodate all of the potatoes.

The increase to 3lbs of potatoes required the use of two pans.  Different cooking materials but performed the same way.

The main lesson learned here was to completely prepare all of the ingredients BEFORE beginning to cook.  Overexcited and slightly overconfident about the simplicity of the recipe, I left my garlic un-diced and planned to knock this out while the potatoes were cooking.  Once the potatoes had been turned to ensure they wouldn't stick, I began to search for the garlic (thanks roommates....) and started peeling.  Along the way I came across a few distractions, and an overestimation of my knife skills left me cutting and dicing for much longer than I anticipated.  This led to me adding the salt a few minutes after the point suggested by the recipe and prevented me from turning the potatoes as often as I should have to brown them evenly.

Lessons learned... over prep and stay humble!

Overall, the potatoes came out fairly well.  Some burned sides and the under-sized pieces did not fare as well...

Overall, I am giving myself a passing grade on this one.  While there is room for improvement and definitely some lessons learned I think that the final product was salvaged (and I have 3 additional reviews to back me up!)  I did hoard most of these for myself, and mixed them with a couple of meals as a side.  They worked as a breakfast potato paired with eggs, but were far better fresh and as a dinner side with the rest of the meal I prepared that evening.

The final product - some pieces cooked a lot quicker than others but overall positive reviews!

I paired the potatoes with a few meals but this one was by far the best pairing and having them fresh was much better than as a leftover (though still great!).