High heat key to amazing baked potatoes
By Alicia Ross with Beverly Mills
For years, Beverly and I tried to figure out how to duplicate the potatoes at our favorite steakhouse, with the skin a little crunchy and the middle moist and fluffy. “Real” baked potatoes, we discovered, need to cook at 475 egrees for an hour. Ever since discovering the high-heat secret, I practically shout it from the rooftops. I see complete strangers shopping for baking potatoes at the grocery and tell them, “You know, for a steak house potato you need to cook it unwrapped at 475 degrees.”
Oh, sure, I’ve gotten plenty of crazy looks, but last week a lady came up to me at the grocery and said, “You told me last month how to cook my potatoes and I went home and did exactly like you told me to. They were fantastic! You really should write a cookbook!”
I didn’t mention that I had co-authored three cookbooks, but I did tell her how glad I was that she liked the potatoes. Then I proceeded to buy a couple of potatoes for myself, went home, and baked them just like I’d told her to do. (I always bake extras because they’re easy to warm again for leftovers.) With the temperatures outside reaching nearly 100 degrees around here, I just topped my potato with salsa, sour cream and cheese, and poured myself a cool glass of Pinot Grigio. But you really can top these beauties with anything you like. And then there’s my absolute favorite way: Serve them alongside an amazing steak.
(If you’re cooking out, check out kitchenscoop.com for great tips in the grilling section of our recipe box.)
Ÿ Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross are co-authors of “Desperation Dinners!” Write them at Desperation Dinners, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106, or tellus@kitchenscoop.com. More at the Desperation Dinners website, www.kitchenscoop.com.