Take a potato. Bake it. Baked potato. Ok, there’s a little bit more in how to make a baked potato. But it isn’t difficult and there are just a few tricks that will help elevate your potato game to perfection. So, read on and take notes to kick your spuds into high gear.

It is a fairly simple concept in and of itself. Apply heat to the root vegetables and the starches inside will absorb moisture and soften up. A similar process happens when rice cooks as well. So when it is done cooking we have something edible instead of a hard, crunchy root.

The goal of a baked potato is to get the inside perfectly fluffy, yet moist. This entails cooking it fully through so that it is no longer tough, but not cooking it so much that it begins to dry out. It is a delicate balance and can take a little practice to truly get down right.

For something truly incredible, try using these perfectly baked potatoes in other dishes that start with cooked potatoes. Twice-baked potatoes, breakfast potato hash, potato salad, or baked potato soup.

Tricks for Good Spuds

Always start with a deep scrubbing of your potatoes. An inexpensive vegetable brush can help to thoroughly clean all of your vegetables before cooking. This is just good practice to wash and sometimes scrub all produce before using and eating. Especially for root vegetables, give them a good scrub before you think about popping them in your mouth.

This next tip of mine may be a bit controversial. I recommend wrapping potatoes with foil before baking. I think this helps to keep them from drying out. They also have less tendency to overcook when wrapped. However, it also doesn’t give as crispy of an outside skin, which some people love. For a crispier skin, you can take potatoes out of the foil for the last 15 minutes or so of cook time.

Before closing the foil and tossing everything into the oven, brush the potatoes with butter or olive oil. Then sprinkle them with salt and pepper for the bake. This adds a whole lot of flavor and protects against drying them out.

And finally, put the potatoes on a baking sheet. You don’t want any butter, oil, etc. dripping down in your oven. It will start burning and smoking. Then the smoke will leak out of the oven and create a big haze in your house. Then you have to open windows and turn on fans to clear things up. Definitely not speaking from personal experience, I heard it from a friend it happened to once…

Baked Potato Creations

A baked potato alone isn’t the most appetizing, even when cooked perfectly. It just doesn’t have enough flavor by itself. You need a little something to go with it. Add more than a little and you can have yourself a full meal with the potato as the base.

For a classic baked potato use any of the following toppings: butter, sour cream, chives, chopped bacon, shredded cheese, dill, and cheese sauce. This potato can be served as a side – especially with a great grilled steak. It can also be served as a meal.

But to really elevate the humble baked potato to full meal status, try topping it with something outside of the ordinary: pulled pork, chili, broccoli and white cheddar sauce, shredded turkey and gravy, buffalo sauce and gorgonzola, bbq chicken, or pesto and chicken.

And you can really make a night of it by having all of the toppings available at a baked potato bar. This is a very simple meal for a large group. The potatoes can easily stay warm for a while. Everyone can customize to their heart’s content. And honestly, who doesn’t love the starchy goodness of potatoes?

How to Make the Perfect Baked Potato

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SidesDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

50

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

5

minutes

From basic side to full-on meal, the humble baked potato is a versatile food – so learn how to make them flavorful and fluffy

Ingredients

• 6 large russet potatoes

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 3/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Wash and scrub the potatoes, then poke them on all sides with a fork to give steam an escape while cooking
• Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C)
• Tear out 6 foil sheets, large enough to fully wrap an individual potato
• Put a potato in the center of a foil sheet, top with 1/2 tbsp butter, salt, pepper, and wrap it together, pinching the top closed
• Repeat step 4 with all remaining potatoes
• Place the wrapped potatoes on a baking sheet and put it in the oven for 50 minutes
• After 50 minutes, test the potatoes by sticking a knife or fork through the largest one and seeing if it slides through smoothly. If so, it is done, if there is still resistance, keep cooking and checking every 5 minutes until done
• Once they are done cooking, pull them out of the oven and open up the foil to let them cool slightly, then remove them from the foil and serve with whatever toppings are desired

The post How to Make the Perfect Baked Potato appeared first on Do You Roux?.

Ham and dill potato cream cheese soup is dangerous. I always go back for seconds… and too stuffed to eat any more but still slurping down soup thirds. You have been warned, proceed at your own risk.

A comforting mix of ham, dill, potatoes, and cream cheese simmers in a velvety broth-based soup with a touch of cream that pairs perfectly with rolls. This silky soup will warm you up on even the coldest of nights.

The recipe here is made possible by a restaurant chain in Arizona called Wildflower Bread Company. There is a location at the Chandler Fashion Mall that my family would frequent. When dining in, they would serve the soup in a bread bowl. So you can do that if you want here, but it is a lot of extra work and the soup still tastes amazing in a non-edible bowl.

The restaurant bills their dish as potato cream cheese soup. But that is a terrible name because it has a lot more going on and I don’t think it lets you imagine the soup properly. My name for it is a bit of a mouthful, so it may not be much better, but it does paint a better picture.

Soup Traditions

When my mom was growing up, grandma would make clam chowder for their Christmas Eve dinner. Mom loved the tradition but didn’t really love the clam chowder. However, making the clam chowder did introduce her to the steps of making a roux. But she still wanted to keep up the tradition and share it with her own family, so she would make either broccoli cheese soup or three clam chowder without the clams (so, zero clam chowder?).

Then one pivotal day my mom ate at Wildflower Bread Company and tried out their potato cream cheese soup. She enjoyed it enough to try making a copycat recipe at home. Then it became the traditional meal served for our family’s Christmas Eve dinner.

When I first started cooking for myself, I asked my mom for some of our family recipes and this one was included in the mix. So I learned how to make it. Then I lost the actual recipe but generally remembered what went into it and how to make it. Every once in a while I would text my mom a list of the ingredients and ask her if I had forgotten anything. It slowly evolved into how I make it and has become this recipe.

To this day I generally keep up with the tradition. I don’t necessarily always have it for Christmas eve, but I always make it within the week leading up to Christmas. And many other times year-round because it is so good.

Potato Cream Cheese Soup Recommendations

Ham – For a while I used a pre-cubed bag of ham. Now I like to get ham from the deli, cut extra thick, and then cube it myself. Or, wait until you have made a large spiral cut ham and have tons of leftovers – and use the leftover ham for this soup.

Dill – Fresh dill is best – especially homegrown fresh dill that you just clipped from the garden. But that isn’t always possible. So if you don’t have any in season or can’t find any in the produce section, then you can use dried dill in a pinch. It isn’t quite as good, but it works. Just remember to cut the amount of dill used in half if using the dried stuff.

Rolls – This soup is best enjoyed with some freshly made rolls. My mom (or in later years my sister) would always make a huge double-batch of the family roll recipe when we were having this soup. You can also try some saltines, pita chips, or even some goldfish crackers. Basically, this soup is good with some salty carbs.

Ham and Dill Potato Cream Cheese Soup

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SoupsDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Total time

50

minutes

A comforting mix of ham, dill, potatoes, and cream cheese simmered in a velvety broth and cream-based soup that pairs perfectly with rolls

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ham

• 1 large onion

• 4 stalks celery

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1 package (30 ounces) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes

• 12 cups chicken stock

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped (or 1/8 cup dried dill)

• 2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

• Cube the ham, chop the onion and celery
• Melt the butter in a large stock pot on medium heat, add the celery and onion, and sauté for 5 minutes until softened
• Stir in the flour and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Remove the onion/celery/flour mixture from the pot and set aside in a bowl for later
• Pour the chicken stock and frozen has brown potatoes into the pot, turn the heat to high, let it come to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes until the potatoes are softened
• While waiting for the pot to boil, place the cream cheese and sour cream into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 2 minutes, until softened and stir together with a fork
• When the potatoes are ready, mix in the sour cream/cream cheese mixture, the onion/celery/flour mixture, and the ham
• Stir together while it simmers until there are no more clumps of cream cheese or flour
• Turn the heat down to medium and add salt, pepper, dill, and cream
• Let it cook for at least 5 more minutes together and then serve and enjoy

The post Ham and Dill Potato Cream Cheese Soup appeared first on Do You Roux?.