Back to basics: jacket potatoes

We’re back on our basics journey today - our first instalment involved searching for the perfect oven chip, and we’re continuing the potato theme with this week’s post. Jacket, or baked, potatoes are a staple of many family’s dinner repertoire. They’re quick, cheap, filling and easy to prepare, all boxes worth ticking when you need to get dinner on the table quickly. I worked at SpudULike one summer while I was at university so I became very well versed in cooking a good potato - crispy on the outside but soft and fluffy in the middle!

There are two main methods of cooking a jacket potato: bake them in the oven, or cook them in the microwave. In my opinion, if you really want the crispiest skins then oven baking is the way to go. Give your potatoes a good wash, dry them off and pierce the skin with a sharp knife a few times. With your oven set to 200°C/390°F, place the potatoes straight on the oven shelf and bake for at least an hour, maybe a bit longer if your potatoes are on the larger side. You want your potatoes to have a little bit of give when done, but to be beautifully crispy on the outside.

The two potatoes on the left were cooked in the microwave for 20 minutes total (10 minutes each side), with the two on the right having been baked in the oven for one hour

Often, though, time is of the essence, and with energy prices rising too it’s not always practical to have the oven going for over an hour. This is where the trusty microwave comes in handy! My most frequently used method of cooking potatoes is to start them off in the microwave; again wash and dry your potatoes and give them a quick stab, then place them in the microwave on full power. Depending on the number of potatoes that you want to cook, microwave them for 8 minutes (+ 2 minutes for each extra potato). After the first batch of cooking, flip the potatoes over and repeat for the same amount of time. This helps to cook the potatoes evenly on both sides. Once softened in the microwave, you can then transfer the potatoes to a preheated oven (again 200°C/390°F should do it) for a final 20 minutes’ cooking time. This will give the skin a bit more of a crispy finish, while keeping the insides nice and soft.

One of the great things about jacket potatoes is how versatile they are. You can top them with pretty much anything you fancy - we’re cheese and baked beans people in our house, but cottage cheese, chilli, even egg mayonnaise all work in their own ways. I thought I’d share with you one of our favourite recipes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg Every Day! cookbook. His twice baked stuffed jacket potatoes are a delicious way of serving up potatoes; they take a little longer than your standard spud but are well worth the effort! Crispy skins are filled with a mixture of potato, butter, mature Cheddar, soured cream and spring onions which are then baked for a second time to become golden and even more crisp. Best eaten straight out of the oven, they can be stored in the fridge and eaten as leftovers (if you can resist eating them all at once), but the skin won’t be quite as crispy when reheated. Perfect with a fresh salad, these potatoes make a great dinner for all of the family - I hope you like them as much as we do!

Twice-baked stuffed jacket potatoes

Serves: 4 | Total time: 50mins - 1hr 30mins (depending on cooking method) | Source: River Cottage Veg Every Day!

Ingredients

• 4 medium floury baking potatoes

• 120g (4oz) mature Cheddar cheese

• 40g (1.5oz) unsalted butter

• 200g (7oz) soured cream

• 3 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

• Salt and pepper

Method

• To cook your potatoes, either bake in the oven on a baking tray at 200°C/390°F for 1hr or microwave on full power in two bursts of 10 minutes each, flipping halfway through. Don’t forget to stab the potatoes with a knife a few times first!

• Once the potatoes are cooked, cut them in half lengthwise (if you microwaved your potatoes, now’s the time to put your oven on to 200°C/390°F). Using an ice-cream scoop or spoon, scoop out the cooked potatoes from the skins, leaving a small amount behind in the skins so that they retain some structure. Put the scooped potatoes into a large bowl.

• Put the skins back on the baking tray and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes to allow them to crisp up further.

• Add the butter to the bowl of potato and mash well. Stir in the soured cream, grated Cheddar and sliced spring onions, then season with salt and pepper.

• Once the skins have crisped, spoon your potato mixture back into the skins, packing it in generously. Return to the oven for a final 15 minutes until the top of the potato starts to go golden.

• Serve with a crisp salad and enjoy!