6 long red-skinned potatoes, peeled and trimmed top and bottom to give flat ends
2 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
5 thyme sprigs, cut into 5cm spears
200ml chicken stock
flaky salt, to serve
Method
Stand each potato up on one of its flat ends and, using a 4cm round cookie cutter, press down from the top to create a cylinder. If you don't have a cookie cutter, neatly cut around the edges with a knife. Keep some of the chunky trimmings for later. Trim the potatoes to make sure they are all the same height (about 5-6cm tall) and the top and bottom of each is as level as possible.
Find a saucepan that's just big enough to fit the potatoes when they are standing on one end (it should be a tight squeeze) and tall enough to be able to cover the potatoes with liquid. Remove the potatoes again, and set aside.
Heat the oil in the empty saucepan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the potatoes, least attractive end down, and leave them to colour in the pan for 7-10 minutes, until golden. Using some kitchen tongs, flip them over on to the opposite flat end and add your melted, plant butter (this should come about halfway up the sides of the potatoes), crushed garlic and spears of thyme. If there are any gaps between the potatoes, push some of your potato trimmings into them. There should be no wiggle room. After about 5 minutes, add the stock to cover.
Leave the pan over a medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by around 1cm. Then, cover the potatoes snugly with a circle of baking parchment. Cook for 40 minutes, or until the potatoes have absorbed all of the liquid and butter and are tender. They should stick slightly to the base of the pan - don't worry. Leave them to cool a bit and they will wiggle free.
Turn them up the other way and sprinkle with flaky salt to serve.