Kitchen Tips and Tricks: Hot Potato

Colossians 4:6

King James Version (KJV)

Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Who doesn't love a baked potato? Everyone I know LOVES a good baked potato. Of course, I don't think I've ever met a starch that I didn't like. My problem with potatoes? I live in the South, and I try to use my oven as little as possible to keep from heating up my house. And sometimes I don't prepare my meal plans in advance, so I'm throwing together a lot of dinners in 30 minutes or less.

Enter my old friend, the microwave. Microwave cooking isn't perfect by any means (nor do many gourmet meals come from it's spinning plate), but it definitely helps when you're in a pinch. My home came with a builder-standard GE Spacemaker 1000 watt microwave. This fall will be my microwave's eighth birthday and it's still nuking Lean Cuisines (and potatoes!) like a charm. 

For years though, I put up with tough over-cooked on the outside, not so cooked in the middle potatoes from my microwave for the sake of convenience. So one day I decided to play around with the cooking times and power levels. My potatoes and family are now much happier and a bit more photo worthy. Here's what I do:

Take your potatoes, wash them, and poke them with a fork or knife to let steam escape and avoid the terrible "exploding potato" phenomenon. (don't ask how I know) Place your lovely spuds in the microwave. I place mine directly on the spinning tray, no plate needed. Cooking times will of course vary for your microwave, but in my 1000 watt microwave, I cook two medium-large potatoes for 20-25 minutes at HALF POWER (power level 5). That is the tricky trick to this - do it for double the time, and at half the power. 

Let them sit for a minute or two once they're finished cooking, then gently place them in a clean towel, and roll them lightly on your counter or cutting board. It's similar to rolling a lemon or other citrus fruit to loosen up the juices, except you're fluffing up the insides of the potato a bit. Slice the potatoes open, butter the insides, and add the toppings of your choice. We enjoy sour cream, pepper, cheddar cheese and some green onions to accompany most meals, but will also make a meal out of a large chili and cheese potato with a salad on the side. 

How do you nuke your potatoes? Any favorite or unusual toppings?  

Comments are always welcome!

~This Glorious Day~

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