Potatoes, bless them, are not to be cooked quickly. It takes time for their hard, sour flesh to break down into soft mountains of fluffy comfort. The only way to make them cook faster - whether boiling, roasting or baking - is to make them smaller.

For all their everyday-ness, potatoes are rewarding creatures. At the least, all you have to do is bang them into a hot oven for an hour and drench in good butter (the secret to perfect baked potatoes is not to open the oven door while they are cooking, nor to switch the oven down and keep them warm - once cooked, they must be eaten immediately).

There are plenty of quick things that you can do during preparation for the sake of variety. Home-made oven chips take only a minute to make if you're cooking for two: cut into 1cm sticks, toss in plenty of olive oil and salt and, if you have them to hand, throw a couple of sprigs of rosemary and whole garlic cloves into the tin for good measure. Roast at 220C for half an hour in a large tin, remembering to scratch them off the bottom and toss a couple of times. They will come out delightfully inconsistent: some cooked to a deep, crunchy bronze, others still pale gold and giving. They are excellent with game.

A quicker way would be to cut them into wedges and do the same, though the cooking time will increase by ten minutes. Try tossing in cumin seeds and turmeric for an exotic flavour that is especially good with lamb.

Or cut them in half, toss a little oil in a roasting tin and sit them in an inch of good chicken stock. It will evaporate and absorb during cooking to leave you with glossy, melting potatoes worthy of the return of a Hungarian hunter after a long, cold day. These are particularly good when done alongside a roasting chicken (if it came with giblets, throw them in, too). You could make a warm potato salad, dress with olive oil, sherry vinegar and grainy mustard and toss with fried streaky bacon or pancetta, and chives. Or mash them with equal parts sweet potato (great over shepherd's pie) or celeriac, either of which makes them both lighter and bolder.

Whatever you choose to do, use the best potatoes that you can find (Arran Victory and Pink Fir Apple, for example); it will make all the difference. Then put them in the oven and don't hold your breath - some things are worth the wait.

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