How to make AMAZING baked potatoes

Ingredients

• One baked potato, butter
• Preferred fillings

Cooking time

• 45 minutes

Level

• Easy

Baked potatoes are a popular dish across the whole of the UK.

They are very easy to cook and can be served as a snack, a main meal or as an accompanyment to something else, such as steak, fish or chicken. This makes baked potatoes a very versatile, simple dish perfect for families. They're also a great dish for people who are just learning to cook, such as teenagers.

Baked potatoes are also known as jacket potatoes, hot potatoes or simply 'spuds'. They are often sold in cafes and pubs. They're also fairly inexpensive.

Popular fillings inlude cheese, coleslaw, tuna, prawns, beans, chilli, pineapple, sweetcorn, chicken - or pretty much anything else that goes in a sandwhich.They can also be served instead of chips (french fries) or new potatoes as an accompaniment to meat and salad.

Once baked potatoes are finished they are tasty, and filling. Give them a try!

• Begin by pricking the baking potato several times with a fork or knife. This creates small holes in the surface that allow the heat to penetrate deep into the core of the potato. This reduces the cooking time and ensures that the potatoe is baked throroughly with a soft starchy centre.
• The next step is entirely optional as some people avoid microwaves. However, if you choose to, begin by placing the potato in a small bowl and cooking it for five minutes in a microwave. Half way through turn over the potato to ensure that it is warmed throughly. If you choose to skip this step proceed to the next stage.

• Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the potato and prick it again several times with the fork or knife. Coating the potato with olive oil means that the finished skin of the potato will be golden brown and not too crispy. It also helps the potato to cook in the oven.
• Wrap the potato in silver kitchen foil. This insulates the potato and helps it to cook quicker and more evenly as all the heat is being kept in.
• Place the wrapped potato into an oven preheated to around 180c. Place on the top shelf and leave to bake for around 30 minutes.
• Remove the potato with over gloves and carefully peel back the kitchen foil. By now the potato should be well cooked. Poke the potato in seveal places with a knife to check that it is fairly soft all the way to the centre.
• Place the potato back in the oven, keeping it resting on the silver foil but not fully wrapped. Cook the potato for another 15 minutes without it being wrapped. This will ensure that the skin of the potato becomes crispy. People who want a crispier shell are advised to unwrap it from the foil ten to 15 minutes earlier.
• Remove the potato from the oven and place on a plate. Cut a gentle cross into the top and add butter to this, while gently mashing up the potato underneath the shell.

Baked potatoes are not quite finished without a tasty filling. As mentioned above, this could be virtually anything that's edible.

Popular fillings include cheese (which is absolutely delicios once it melts into the potato), beans, cottage cheese, tuna, prawns or chili. Note how all of this are soft and are easy to mix in which the top level of the potato.

However, there are no rules to say that ham, steak or even fish couldn't be added, although these often constitute the main dish with the baked potato acting as an accompaniment.

With the potato and filling complete, add a small side salad such as lettuce, tomato and cucumber.

The meal's complete!