Baked Potatoes
Instructions:
Dry, fluffy, and wonderfully mealy, baked potatoes are
easy. Forget wrapping them in foil or using the microwave,
because both techniques basically steam the potatoes, and
the results are inferior. Second, keep the oven at 425 F,
which is the optimum temperature. You can crank it up to
450 F to gain a little speed, though you’ll sacrifice some
texture.
Other vegetables you can use: any whole, thickskinned
root vegetable, like rutabaga, turnip, or beet,
though none will be as starchy and fluffy as the potato.
4 large starchy potatoes, like Idaho or other russets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
MAKES: 4 servings
TIME: About 1 hour
- Heat the oven to 425 F. Scrub the potatoes well, especially if you plan to eat the skins. Use a skewer or a thin-bladed knife to poke a hole or two in each potato.
- Put the potatoes in the oven, right on the rack if you like, or on a rimmed baking sheet. The potatoes are done when a skewer or sharp knife inserted into one meets almost no resistance. (You can turn them once during baking, though it’s not necessary.)
- The potatoes will stay hot for a few minutes. To serve, cut a slit lengthwise into each about halfway into the flesh and pinch the ends toward the middle to fluff, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then top (see the list at right for some ideas).
- Salted Baked Potatoes.
- After scrubbing, rub each potato with about a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil or butter. Then rub each all over with a fair amount of salt.