The Uncommon Fat You Should Use For Luxurious Holiday Potatoes
When you're planning your holiday meals, decisions have to be made. Generally, the main course is a choice between turkey, ham, beef, and sometimes lamb. The vegetable sides tend to vary, as do the desserts. With thousands of recipes that entice you in magazines, on the internet, and on social media, it's not unusual to want to try everything that looks good, so you try new things each year. But for one starchy side, you'll want to stick with a classic. Whatever you decide will go on your holiday table, there should always be a space for potatoes. Easter, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Christmas — potatoes belong to them all. They can be roasted, fried, mashed, or baked, but they are always there — and for good reason.
You likely have a few tried-and-true potato recipes that you pull out just for the holidays because they are special and probably loaded with calories. For the record, this is completely acceptable. But, would you believe it's actually possible to take your potatoes to the next level, and not just by adding cream, cheese, and butter? The secret lies in an elusive fat that you probably won't find at just any run-of-the-mill American supermarket.
This fat will add serious flavor to your potatoes
Chef and author Nigel Slater knows how to make a good holiday feast. A Brit, he is naturally familiar with the popular English tradition of having roast goose on Christmas, which is prized for its dark meat and rich flavor. It also has a large amount of fat that melts off during roasting and which Slater gathers and saves, according to The Guardian. On December 26 (Great Britain's Boxing Day), you will find Slater roasting thinly sliced potatoes with goose fat and rosemary, a recipe he shared with The Guardian. An amazing ingredient for all kinds of recipes, goose fat is not something to just throw away. Great British Chefs claims that goose fat is prized for its high smoking point, meaning it won't burn easily, and for giving foods, especially roasted potatoes, a delicious flavor.
Solid when cooled, goose fat is light in color and spreadable, and it surprisingly contains less saturated fat than butter or beef fat. It can keep for weeks in the refrigerator and even longer in the freezer. Roasting things like chicken and potatoes in it results in a crispy exterior and an unforgettable flavor.
If you're not crazy about the idea of roasting your own goose and saving the fat, it is also available in specialty shops and online. You'll find it to be more expensive than butter and many other oils, but, for the holidays, it's a treat worth splurging on.