# Your favourite jacket (baked) potatoes



## IrishSmiley (Jun 11, 2011)

Hi everyone,
I am new on this forum. I would like to get more information how popular jacket potatoes are. The country where I am from, it is not a popular dish but in UK and Ireland it is. I just wonder why...
And I would be interested what fillings you can do and how long it could take to make it.
Thanks a million!


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## justplainbill (Jun 11, 2011)

To my taste a good baking potato has a delicious and delicate flavor that is best enjoyed with a little butter and salt or some sour cream and chives.  The important thing is to have a crusty / crisp skin and a moist well cooked interior.  The problem in my area is that too many spuds have black spots in their interior.


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## joesfolk (Jun 11, 2011)

I agree with Bill. But for me the absolute best part is that cruchy skin.  I like to bake them till the interior is soft and the skin is crunchy.  Then I scoop out the potatoes and butter inside the skins, add tons of salt and pepper and gorge.  For me the skins are a real comfort food.  I would not think of cooking a steak without the baked potaoes for the skins.  Lots of times I just give the actual potato to DD and I just eat the skins.  (We are kind of like Jack Sprat and his wife, I love the skins he loves the potatoes.)


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## chopper (Jun 11, 2011)

joesfolk said:


> I agree with Bill. But for me the absolute best part is that cruchy skin. I like to bake them till the interior is soft and the skin is crunchy. Then I scoop out the potatoes and butter inside the skins, add tons of salt and pepper and gorge. For me the skins are a real comfort food. I would not think of cooking a steak without the baked potaoes for the skins. Lots of times I just give the actual potato to DD and I just eat the skins. (We are kind of like Jack Sprat and his wife, I love the skins he loves the potatoes.)


 I just love the skin too.  My dad never liked baked potatoes much because he didn't like the skin, and would scoop it and throw away the skin!  I was too shy as a kid to ask for his skin!


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## justplainbill (Jun 11, 2011)

joesfolk said:


> I agree with Bill. But for me the absolute best part is that cruchy skin.  I like to bake them till the interior is soft and the skin is crunchy.  Then I scoop out the potatoes and butter inside the skins, add tons of salt and pepper and gorge.  For me the skins are a real comfort food.  I would not think of cooking a steak without the baked potaoes for the skins.  Lots of times I just give the actual potato to DD and I just eat the skins.  (We are kind of like Jack Sprat and his wife, I love the skins he loves the potatoes.)


Have you been having any races around the pillow case?  I'm with you but I like some mashed potatoes to sop up the juices from my steak


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## justplainbill (Jun 11, 2011)

Sounds odd to me that a person withe a screen name that starts with Irish is asking for advice about potatoes.  Maybe they're pulling our leg?


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## pacanis (Jun 11, 2011)

Love the skin. All the better if they are cooked on the grill. I can count the baked potatoes I've cooked in the oven over the last ten years on one hand. Well, maybe two hands, but that's because I always make more than one 

A little trick is to roll the potato across the counter when it's done, before you cut into it. It helps to soften up the insides.


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## chopper (Jun 11, 2011)

pacanis said:


> Love the skin. All the better if they are cooked on the grill. I can count the baked potatoes I've cooked in the oven over the last ten years on one hand. Well, maybe two hands, but that's because I always make more than one
> 
> A little trick is to roll the potato across the counter when it's done, before you cut into it. It helps to soften up the insides.


 
What a great tip!  Thanks.  Never thought of that!


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## pacanis (Jun 11, 2011)

You're welcome, chopper. I saw it on a cooking show a while back.


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## IrishSmiley (Jun 11, 2011)

No, I am not pulling your leg. I am not Irish, but I am living in Ireland at the moment.


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## IrishSmiley (Jun 11, 2011)

Thank you for the replies so far.


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## purple.alien.giraffe (Jun 11, 2011)

I like them with a little blue cheese, cheddar, butter, cream cheese or sour cream mashed into the flesh. Any one of them is enough. A little black pepper or crumbled bacon is good too. The skins are great with a little butter, shredded cheddar or sour cream. Before my husband found out he was diabetic we used to bake a couple extras whenever we made them so we could dice them up and fry them the next morning. Great along side sausage and eggs.


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## CWS4322 (Jun 11, 2011)

Until we planted potatoes, potatoes were so-so in my life. The best potato, IMO, is one you've just harvested and baked, served up with sour cream, chives, a pat of butter, salt and pepper. Can hardly wait for the potatoes to be ready!


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jun 11, 2011)

Now I want a baked potato...


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## Josie1945 (Jun 11, 2011)

Welcome to DC.

Josie


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## Uncle Bob (Jun 12, 2011)

A baked Sweet Potato... A little butter and sometimes drizzled with Steen's Cane Syrup.....


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## TomatoMustard (Jun 21, 2011)

A properly baked potato with some cheese and homemade ranch - boom. I love it.


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## CookingMamaof2 (Jun 21, 2011)

I love making them into a meal. One of my favorites is fajita potatoes, grilled chicken, salsa, and sour cream.  There was a restauarant in college that specialized in these.  They had all sorts of potatoes, pot roast, fajita, etc.


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## Chef Munky (Jun 21, 2011)

I like to brush on Olive oil, sprinkle them  with Kosher salt.
Either wrapped in foil or baked in an open pan.

Prefer some whipped butter with finely chopped chives, black pepper mixed together for my topping.


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## buckytom (Jun 22, 2011)

bein of oyrish descent, i feel a natural inkling to this thread.

now, first of all, spuds have a 4 syllable name. po-ta-ya-toes. get it right.


lol, just kidding
.

for jacket spuds, i like simply split and served with a good helping of seasoned salt, lawrys brand being my first choice.

but for fancy spuds, do a double bake where you remove the guts, mash with butter and fresh scallions to make champ, then restuff the skins, brush with salted butter and rebake.  that's a close second.

my best effort is after a lobster boil, however. you take the leftover meat from the lobster's leglets that everyone's neglected, and make a mash with the lobster meat with loads of butter to stuff within the skins, the bake 'till crisped.

an beal bocht would not turn it down.


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## Aunt Bea (Jun 22, 2011)

I like them just about any way they are served. 

 I do like them overcooked so the skin/crust gets to be about a quarter of an inch thick.

In the winter I like them buttered with a poached egg and coarse black pepper.

The leftovers make the best home fries.  I assume this is because of the lower water content.

Growing up we had potatoes three times a day.  Now I am lucky to have them once a month!


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## Snip 13 (Jun 22, 2011)

Hi Irish 
I'm from South Africa and we bake our potatoes in foil in the oven, then fill them with curried mince topped with cheese or spinach and cheese bechamel etc. 
I like putting crispy bacon, cheese and chives in mine and sticking them under the grill. Another nice filling is tinned tuna mixed with mayo and sweetcorn, topped with cheddar and grilled till cheese gets brown and bubbly! Yum!


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## TomatoMustard (Jun 22, 2011)

I actually had a baked potato last night loaded with all the fixin's of a taco. awww yeah. baked potacos!


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## ChocolateFrosting (Jun 22, 2011)

Personally I like potatoes as a substitute for rice. So a really lovely, crispy skinned tata with chilli and cheese or stew or a thai curry is amazingly tasty.

That or for lunch with cheese and beans, or with tuna mayo and sweetcorn, or with humous and sliced tomatos.

So yeah, tatoes are tasty


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