These potatoes are simmered with lots of garlic and thyme to infuse them with flavour, then roasted over hot charcoal and oak wood chips with more garlic and thyme. This wonderful dish is brilliant straight from the grill.

Serves 4

800g Charlotte, Pink Fir Apple or other waxy potatoes
1 garlic bulb, cut in half, plus 4 extra garlic cloves, peeled
6 sprigs thyme
olive oil, for cooking
50g (31⁄2 tbsp) unsalted butter
sea salt and black pepper
For an extra-smoky flavour, you’ll also need some beech or oak chips

1 Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water and add the halved garlic bulb and three of the thyme sprigs. Bring to the boil on the stove and cook until tender. Drain well and leave to cool, then cut the cooled potatoes into bite-sized chunks.

2 Light the barbecue and set for direct/indirect cooking (see “Food from Fire”, on page 43 of July's The Simple Things). Throw a handful of wood chips onto the coals, if you like.

3 Take a roasting tin or ovenproof frying pan large enough to hold the potatoes and place in the direct heat zone. Add a good lug of olive oil and, when the oil starts to smoke, add the potatoes and season well. Toss the potatoes in the oil to coat, then close the lid of the barbecue.

4 Cook for 4 minutes before tossing the potatoes again and adding another handful of wood chips, if using, to the coals. Cook for a further three minutes, then add the butter, extra garlic cloves and the leaves from the remaining three thyme sprigs. Toss the potatoes again, then transfer to the indirect heat zone and cook for 2 minutes, or until they are crisp and golden brown.

5 Serve the potatoes immediately, spooning over the pan sauces.

Ben Tish is chef director at the Salt Yard Group, which runs four restaurants in London. Recipes are taken from his new book Grill Smoke BBQ (Quadrille)

Turn to page 39 of July's The Simple Things for more barbecue recipes, including

Beef bavette with smoky salad onions and salsa cruda
Barbecued mushrooms with rosemary and garlic
Wood-roasted potatoes
Charcoal-grilled chicory with pomegranate molasses
Crispy artichokes with lemon and sage
Smoky bitter-chocolate puddings with melting whipped cream