How do we show our love? Often we express it through food.

Lani Parry of Waialae Nui Ridge shows she cares for her husband, Richard, by cooking the Sunday roast that he remembers from his youth growing up in Australia.

The roast was alternated between a leg of lamb, beef, pork and chicken.

“Chicken was the most expensive in those days, so it was the most rare and special,” Richard recalled.

Lani’s made the meal for years, but for a long while, there was one part of it she couldn’t get quite right.

“Richard yearned for the British- style roasted potatoes that were always served with Sunday roast, and although we would try to replicate them from what he remembered his late mother (doing), it just was not right,” she said.

Finally, when the Parrys visited Melbourne, a family friend from Great Britain showed Lani the British recipe. It was like nothing she had ever seen in Hawaii.

These peeled, halved, roasted potatoes are brown and crispy on the bottom like the best well-done french fries, yet the interior is as soft, creamy and delicate as the tastiest mashed potatoes. An attractive design on the rounded tops is created using the tines of a fork.

You could say the term “Sunday roast” refers to these potatoes.

To make them, russet potatoes are boiled and then scored. They are added to a baking tray of vegetable oil turned piping hot in the oven, and with a sprinkle of salt, a basting with the hot oil and 30 minutes of baking, they come to the dining table as the potatoes of Richard’s memory.

Or very close to it. Richard is sure his mother used tasty lard instead of healthier vegetable oil.

“Our Sunday lunch would be served about 1 in the afternoon and we would eat chicken, the roasted potatoes, gravy, some kind of cooked vegetable and prepared spicy Colman’s mustard, as a condiment for the chicken,” he reminisced.

“To finish, we would have ‘pudding,’ our generic term for any type of dessert.”

Lani roasts her chicken using a recipe from a Gourmet cookbook. Her technique is to rotate it on three sides every 20 to 25 minutes to deliver a bird with juicy meat and a uniformly browned skin.

The couple is perfectly matched to share poultry: She prefers dark meat and he likes white.

Lani finishes her work by using the pan drippings to make a gravy for her husband’s perfect meal. And she always makes sure there’s extra, just the way he likes it.

Isn’t that what love is all about?

PARRY’S BRITISH-STYLE ROASTED POTATOES

• 4 medium to large russet potatoes
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Peel potatoes and cut in half lengthwise.

In large pot, add potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt, and fill with cold water. Cover and bring to a boil, then cook 8 minutes. Potatoes will be firm, but not hard. Drain and set aside.

Pour oil on flat, rimmed baking sheet or 9-by-13-inch pan (do not use a nonstick pan) and heat in oven at least 10 minutes, so oil is very hot.

Using a fork, score the tops of potatoes to make ridges about 1/4-inch deep. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

When oil is ready, carefully remove pan from oven, place potatoes flat side down and baste tops with the hot oil.

Return to oven and bake 30 minutes or until top ridges and potato bottoms are browned and crispy. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving (based on medium potato): 480 calories, 21 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, greater than 1,000 mg sodium, 70 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, no sugar or protein

——

ROAST CHICKEN WITH PAN GRAVY

Adapted from recipe in “The Gourmet Cookbook,” edited by Ruth Reichl

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (5 to 5-1/2 pound) chicken, rinsed and patted dry
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

>> Gravy:

• 1-1/2 cups chicken stock or low- sodium broth
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed together with 3 tablespoons water
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place rack in middle of oven and heat to 400 degrees. To prepare chicken, in small cup, mix together salt and pepper, then rub all over chicken, inside and out.

Place chicken on rack in small, flameproof roasting pan and pour butter over it. Place chicken on one side. Roast 20 to 25 minutes. Baste with pan juices, then turn to the other side and roast another 20 to 25 minutes. Place breast side up and roast 5 to 20 minutes, until instant-read thermometer reads 170 degrees.

Remove pan from oven. Tilt chicken over roasting pan to drain juices from cavity. Transfer chicken to a platter, cover with foil and let stand 15 minutes.

To make gravy: Skim fat off drippings in pan. Put roasting pan on a burner over moderately high heat. Add stock and water and deglaze pan, stirring and scraping up brown bits for 1 minute. Bring to a boil.

Stir in cornstarch mixture and whisk until boiling. Continue to whisk gravy until slightly blackened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Cut chicken into serving pieces and serve with gravy and roasted potatoes. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving (with gravy and based on a 5-pound chicken): 910 calories, 461 g fat, 20 g saturated fat, 285 mg cholesterol, 850 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, no fiber, 2 g sugar, 80 g protein