Except you’re residing your life higher than me (most likely!), I wager it’s been method too lengthy because you final had a baked potato for dinner — or, as they’re extra charmingly known as throughout the pond, “jacket potato.” And it’s a criminal offense as a result of they’re so cozy and uncomplicated to make, we may repair this proper now.

baked potato with crispy broccoli-3
baked potato with crispy broccoli-4

Whereas no person at my desk must be talked into the standard toppings — butter, cheddar, bitter cream, bacon bits, and chives (it’s simply not proper with out inexperienced confetti in all places) — I’ve been with that pesky, groan-nut downside whereby I want each meal to even have a sturdy vegetable part. Over time, I’ve tried decision in mushroom ragú baked potatoes, cauliflower cheese baked potatoes (in Smitten Kitchen Keepers), twice-baked potatoes with kale, and even baked potato soup with greens stirred in. However nothing, nothing has even come near the standing ovation-level success of bite-sized items of broccoli and bacon that had been roasted collectively till each have been salty and crisp. You tuck them into the oven midway by the potatoes’ baking time and, I hope, applaud your self for the economic system and ease by which you pulled off dinner tonight.

baked potato with crispy broccoli-5

Now that dinner is sorted, I’ve, effectively, an edict to share, one I’ve rigorously thought-about over many, many crucial bites of baked potato,

The One True Right Order To Load A Baked Potato:

  • Step 1: A baked potato, pressed in and popped open so the fluffy heart is uncovered.
  • Step 2: A beneficiant pat or two of butter that may soften by the fluff on contact.
  • Step 3: Salt and pepper. “Season as you go!” because the cooks say.
  • Step 4: Cheddar cheese, which — I don’t make the principles — needs to be the orange form. It, too, will soften shortly after making contact.
  • Step 4: Any crispy parts, akin to bacon and, right here, broccoli too. They are going to take a nap within the melted cheddar cheese hammock, as we’d all prefer to.
  • Step 5: A dollop of bitter cream, Breakstone’s or bust.
  • Step 6: A last dusting of salt and pepper after which minced chives in all places. Truthfully, if we’re not sweeping them off the ground, we most likely didn’t do it proper.
  • Step 7: In the event you’re my kids and I’ve all however given up on desk manners (some nights!) on the level when the potato is essentially emptied of those toppings, a second, smaller layer of shall be added, the potato pressed closed, and eaten like a taco.

baked potato with crispy broccoli-8

Baked Potatoes with Crispy Broccoli and Bacon

  • 4 (about 8 ounces every) russet potatoes, scrubbed clear
  • Olive oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly floor black pepper
  • 1 pound recent broccoli, lower into 1-inch items
  • 4 ounces bacon (about 4 slices), diced
    • To complete
  • Butter
  • Sharp orange cheddar, coarsely grated
  • Bitter cream
  • Minced recent chives
Bake your potatoes: Warmth your oven to 450°F. Spear every potato a number of occasions with a fork (this helps hold it fluffy). Use your arms to frivolously, very frivolously, coat every potato in olive oil; you’ll probably not want greater than a teaspoon per potato. Sprinkle the potatoes throughout with kosher salt and black pepper and bake them immediately in your oven rack for 45 minutes to 1 hour. I often hold them off to 1 facet so I’ve room so as to add the pan of broccoli shortly. A totally baked potato may be simply speared by the middle with a skewer.

In the meantime, roast the broccoli and bacon: Toss broccoli with a pair tablespoons of olive oil (simply to frivolously coat it since there may also be bacon fats to season it), salt, and freshly floor black pepper on a small- to medium-sized baking sheet. Add diced bacon, and toss so it’s distributed all through the pan. quarter-hour into the potato baking time, add this pan to your oven. Roast it for 25 to half-hour whole or till the bacon is crisp and the broccoli is nearly charred, turning the items over and shifting them round a couple of times throughout the roasting time so it cooks evenly.

Your potatoes is perhaps performed on the identical time or they may want as much as quarter-hour extra.

To serve: I discover that the potato is best at opening the place I need it to if I perforate it a couple of times down the center with a fork. Use towel- or potholder- coated arms to press the ends of the potato in to pop it open, then pull them again so you’ve a number of area so as to add the toppings. Load every potato with butter, salt and pepper, cheddar, a giant scoop of roasted broccoli and bacon, bitter cream, chives, and extra salt and pepper. Eat instantly.