How to roast potatoes so they're good

1. Select good potatoes. You want a 'floury' potato. In America the least bad I've found is the generic red potato, which unfortunately isn't great. I've seen other sites suggesting Yukon Gold, but they're not good. In the UK use Maris Piper or King Edward.
2. Depending on your preference, peel them. I don't care to myself.
3. Chop them into large pieces, like 2-3 bites per piece.
4. Parboil the potatoes. Put them in boiling salted water for 15-30 minutes - they're ready when a fork goes in quite easily but you wouldn't want to just eat them yet.
5. Drain the water, shake the pan with the lid on to 'scuff' the surface of the potatoes. This increases the surface area, making for a crispier outside. Leave the lid off, so more moisture can evaporate while you do the next steps. (Optionally leave it for half an hour in this state.)
6. In a baking tray, pour enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the tray just by tilting the tray (i.e. a thick layer of oil, not spread around by hand)
7. Put the tray of oil in the oven to heat, at 375F.
8. Once the oil is hot (about 5 minutes), carefully put the potatoes in the hot oil and roll them around with a fork so they're covered. Add some chopped fresh rosemary at this point if you like.
9. Put the tray back in the oven for 40-60 minutes. Turn the potatoes at 15-20 minute intervals so a different side is down, and so they get recoated in oil. They're done when they look done!
10. Take them out of the oven, use maybe a slotted spoon to pick them up, shake as much oil off as you can, and put them in a serving dish lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Shake them around to remove more oil.

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