More potato ideas . . .

Back to the many great uses for the lowly potato which actually rates pretty high in my regard!

I enjoy the Fall when you find the really large Russet potatoes in the stores. That always reminds me to include baked potatoes with some of my meals or, better yet, enjoy one just for a lunch.

Basically, as everyone probably knows, you bake your potato(s) at 375 degrees for approximately 45-60 depending on your oven, the size of the potato, etc. Must remember to pierce the potatoes a few time or you might have a explosion as the potato bakes itself beyond the strength of it's skin!

Your potato comes out of the overn, you cut a line down the top, squeeze up the potato, and top with butter or sour cream along with salt, pepper, chives . . . That a good start!

You can, however, really doll up a baked potato with a lot of other ideas. Some suggestions:

Shredded cheese, your favorite!
Diced tomato with Feta cheese.
Spicy Salsa
Bacon bits with or without sour cream or cheese.
Chopped, steamed broccoli with shredded cheddar cheese.
Crumbled, fried sausage

Another way to raise the baked potato to exalted heights is to stuff it. Sounds harder than it actually is as all you do is bake your potato as usual.  Slice off a thin layer off the top and carefully scoop out the potato into a bowl. Be careful to not tear the potato skin.

With a potato masher or wooden spoon, mash up your potato innards with a bit of milk, butter, salt, pepper. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth. Now, you can either stuff this back into the potato skin shell, bake it to heat through, or . . .

You can add cheese, tomato, or pretty much stuff from the first list. Pack it back into your potato shells, bake about 15 minutes at 375 degrees or until hot through and serve. Yeah, it is basically the same thing but it seems to taste better with the extra work.

I recently heard from a friend that you can actually 'bake' potatoes in a crock pot. You scrub, pierce, and put your potatoes in the crock pot on the slow setting and, by dinner time, you have baked potatoes. Sounds like a great idea for the summer when you definitely do not want to turn on the oven.