I used Charlotte potatoes and olive oil. The useful trick (thank you Waitrose magazine I think) was to put raw potatoes between two wooden chopsticks then make the ‘toastrack’ slices. Avoided accidentally chopping right through. Did this several hours ahead and left them soaking in cold water. Put in pieces of bay leaf, another time might add garlic slivers and or rosemary.

This was part of a Christmas Eve dinner, went with baked ham, baked red cabbage, cranberry sauce, green beans. The potatoes roasted, basting two or three times, (no pre-cooking) in a hot fan oven (200 C) for 30 minutes while the meat rested – would have been better if I’d rotated the pan halfway through.