Celebrity chef Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson always revealed his secret to perfectly crispy roast potatoes, and even an amateur can achieve it.
Hewitson was a fixture on Australian television for decades thanks to her popular afternoon cooking shows, and now she’s made a surprise return to TikTok.
The beloved chef prefers mashed potatoes over French fries because they are “crunchy, crunchy and delicious.”
Hewitson’s simple recipe calls for baby potatoes, olive oil, sea salt and chopped herbs.
“First cook the young potatoes until they are tender and then mash them with a potato masher,” said the chef.
Next, lightly sprinkle sea salt, chopped thyme or rosemary, and a few drops of olive oil over each potato.
We put the dish in the oven at 220C for 30 minutes and then they will be ready to eat.
“If you want, you can add some finely sautéed bacon and a little sour cream on top,” Hewitson recommended.
Celebrity chef Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson revealed his secret to perfectly crispy roast potatoes
Hewitson’s simple recipe calls for baby potatoes, olive oil, sea salt and chopped herbs.
There are several tricks to get delicious roast potatoes; Jamie Oliver calls red wine vinegar her “secret ingredient.”
If you want to take your roast potatoes to the next level, a former MasterChef Australia contestant revealed that adding baking soda to parboiled potatoes before roasting them is a “game changer”.
Stephanie Joy de Sousa said, “All I do is add a teaspoon of baking soda to my potatoes while I boil them…and I can confirm that it works 100 percent.”
Cooks who already relied on the “old school” trick to get crispy roasted potatoes agreed that baking soda always made them “excellent.”
One explained that the baking soda created a larger surface area on the outside of the potato for the hot oil to adhere to, adding more crunch to the outer layer.
Others suggested that parboiling the potatoes the day before and leaving them in the refrigerator overnight would give similar “incredibly crispy” results.
But one cook takes a more low-key approach to making the perfect roast potatoes.
Home chef Alex Hird said she puts canned potatoes in a deep fryer for 20 minutes for the best batch of roast potatoes ever.
Hewitson began hosting the series Healthy, Wealthy and Wise in 1992 and went on to front the shows Huey’s Cooking Adventures (1997) and Huey’s Kitchen (2010).
Many younger Australians have spoken of their joy at stumbling upon Huey’s cooking videos online, saying they have “unlocked” fond memories of watching him as children.
Hewitson began hosting the series Healthy, Wealthy and Wise in 1992 and later fronted the shows Huey’s Cooking Adventures (1997) and Huey’s Kitchen (2010).
Her last new cooking episode aired free-to-air in 2014.
Since receiving the proverbial tap on the shoulder from commercial television bosses, the Melbourne-based New Zealand chef has kept a low profile.
The 75-year-old previously told FEMAIL he felt “humbled” by the instant success, adding that his philosophy on TikTok is no different to when he was on TV: inspire and teach others how to cook.
