Chef Ben Vaughn agrees with many of his fans and readers – washing dirty dishes is the least enjoyable part of cooking. However, Chef Ben Vaughn admits that it is impossible to get any good cooking done without making a lot of dirty dishes. Chef Ben Vaughn’s least favorite items to wash are the pots and roasting pans. They usually have to be washed by hand and that can be a real drag when you are absorbed in the art of culinary creation. Here, Chef Ben Vaughn offers some of his unique kitchen wisdom about how to save a little washing labor.

Roasted potatoes use up large roasting pans, and Chef Ben Vaughn knows they are a real bear to wash. There is a way to roast potatoes without using a roasting pan at all, says Chef Ben Vaughn. It just takes a little imagination and aluminum foil. Cut each potato in half, instructs Chef Ben Vaughn, leaving the skin on. Cut the potatoes long ways so that you have the greatest exposed area of potato. Spread a little margarine on the cut half of each potato. Chef Ben Vaughn says you may also sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the potatoes. Now preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Next, says Chef Ben Vaughn, while your oven is preheating, place the buttered sides of the potatoes down on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Make sure the aluminum foil is large enough so that you can fold it over the potatoes after you’ve laid them out. What you want to do, says Chef Ben Vaughn, is make sure you can fold the foil over the potatoes and seal them into a pouch. Now place the potatoes in the preheated oven and bake them for half an hour.

When they’re done, unwrap the potatoes and you are ready to go. Throw out the foil and the mess is over. Chef Ben Vaughn reports that this is a simple and effective way to roast potatoes while saving arduous dish washing later. The other beauty of this method, mentions Chef Ben Vaughn, is that it uses much less fat than other methods of roasting potatoes. Enjoy!