Crunchy-skinned jacket-baked potatoes: The ultimate comfort food

Comfort Me With Potatoes Seriously! The renowned American food writer and restaurant critic Ruth Reichl may have preferred apples – she wrote an engaging memoir called Comfort Me with Apples – but for me it’s all about spuds, so yes, comfort me with potatoes, please, anytime. A jacket-baked potato fills the pit of the stomach like nothing else – you know that hunger-hole you have there when you are tired, cold and nearly dropping dead from lack of sustenance – a jacket-baked potato is like swallowing a warm glow of happiness that spreads from the pit of your stomach upwards, leaving nothing but pleasure in its wake. There are plenty of ideas on how to serve jacket-baked potatoes in this post, including topping them with chilli-fried eggs or filling them with a ladleful of bolognese sauce and even stuffing them with leftover cauliflower cheese and grilling until bubbling and golden. Plenty of tips, too. I’ve put in a couple of summery recipes for my American followers – 4th July is fast approaching – but if you are in colder climes you’ll find these recipes filed under Summer in Categories on the right-hand side of the Shared Kitchen Home page where they’ll be easy to find when the sun does shine your way. The Asian leaf salad is astonishingly good, and not weather dependent, but it is a nice one to stuff in a bun with grilled fish or chicken to give your burger a bit of a fresh kick. For more recipes for 4th July see here (Best Burgers, Chicken Burgers with Marinated Zucchini, Fish Burgers, Oven-baked Smoked Paprika Fries). I’m off to Wellington tomorrow to judge the 100% NZ Pork, Bacon & Ham Competition. By next Wednesday I’ll know where the best bacon, ham and pork comes from so watch this space! Cooking classes are in full swing. Last Saturday’s class was very busy, covering 8 classic dishes and showcasing SoHo's Waiheke wines. It rained relentlessly, but everyone soldiered on, caught the ferry over, then ensconced around the warm kitchen, forgot the worries of the day. Check out the Cooking Classes programme here. Unfortunately, if you haven’t yet booked for the event ‘As Good As It Gets’ at Casita Miro with Bob Campbell Master of Wine and myself, you are out of luck: tickets sold out in 3 days. However, we are working on other ideas and will post them here as soon as we can. Have a great week, and get cooking those potatoes!

Comfort Me With Potatoes A jacket-baked potato is like swallowing a warm glow of happiness that spreads from the pit of your stomach upwards, leaving nothing but pleasure in its wake. Love your spuds ... so much you can do with them. Woo-hoo! Baked Potatoes Stuffed with Smoked Fish & Paprika Time to get off the couch and get cooking!