This.
I volunteer to taste test all the candidates put forth thus far.
BBQ Hot Sauce.
How about a Philly tater? Cheese and chopped steak , sauteed onions and peppers, and naybe some garlic butter?
Sounds good to me.
Mix up some fiesta corn, black beans, diced onions, sliced pepperoncinis, and nacho cheese. Top with sour cream.
I’ve been salivating reading this thread all day. I now have leftover crock pot shredded pork loin, onion, habanero rotel to place on a baked potato garnished with romaine lettuce for tomorrow.
How about a Greek stuffed potato? Butter, salt, chopped red onion, fresh dill, sauteed chopped spinach. Mix together some crumbled feta, a little ricotta and some shredded Manchego and throw that on top.
Ooo… I like this. Cheesesteak baked potato is a great idea.
Porterhouse steak, snow peas and a slice of German Chocolate cake.
There are so many good fillings for a baked potato. Consider any kind of curry or tikka masala, poached egg and bacon crumbles, ham bean soup, veggie beef soup, mushroom soup, any cassarole dishes that don’t involve noodles are good too. Seven layer dip (you know, the stuff with refried beans and salsa) is delicious. Go for it.
Generally, if I am having a good giant russet baked potato as my “meal”, it’s just lots of bacon, sour cream, butter, and cheddar cheese.
But, I have done the “jacket potato” thing, where I whipped up chicken and vegetables in a savory chicken gravy, and loaded that into the split potatoes (think “chicken pot pie” with no crust).
Now I’m thinking of a partially deconstructed Hearty American Breakfast baked potato. Baked potato dusted with a spicy seasoned salt (for the hasbrowniness), topped with a couple of thick slices of bacon (a good jalapeno or sage sausage would also work), a very carefully poached egg or two (liquid center for me), salt, pepper, a little whipped butter, and maybe a side of spicy honey.
I like your style!
Leave out the spicy seasoning and and the spicy honey, and that sounds like a nice hearty breakfast. Maybe a lunch.
Pulled pork
Boy, how things change! When I was in Moscow in the 80s, there were lines for bread.
Yep, this is what I came in to say. Wendy’s used to have a broccoli and cheese potato side on their menu which in my opinion was the best thing they had, screw their square burgers.
I sometimes make it at home. It’s pretty easy- bake a potato, steam some broccoli. Create a cheese sauce by making a roux from a bit of flour and butter, add a splash of milk and grated sharp cheddar cheese.
Or make a mushroom beef gravy. I do this a lot if I have some leftover gravy from another meal. Fry up some mushrooms and onions, add gravy, maybe mix in a bit of sour cream if you got it, pour over potato. Yum.
It was a little better when I was there in '89–'90, but the local dieta still had maybe five things you could count on regularly: sour milk, stale margarine, bologna of dubious provenance, and packages of rice and oatmeal. The last two were usually spilling out onto the floor, and the birds who were nesting in the rafters would swoop down and eat them up.
If you wanted to buy decent food, you pretty much had to shop at a hard currency store.
Things improved drastically in the '90s, starting with the first McDonald’s, but Putin has put the country back 30 years. Good food may still be available in supermarkets, but the prices are sky-high.
I love baked potatoes! I’ve never had an issue with how I bake them until I saw this video on Epicurious:
(735) How to Make the Absolute Best Baked Potatoes - YouTube
They brine it quickly in a salt water bath to season the outside. They bake it plain until close to done and then the put oil on the skin to crisp it up. The result is a very crispy skin and creamy inside.
The stuffing they make in the video is delicious as well though I usually use traditional toppings.
Agreed above on chili and pulled pork though, they’re always great in potatoes!
Our family favorite was my mother’s Velveeta sauce. Melt a block of Velveeta in a crock pot, add a can of no bean chili and a jar of your favorite salsa. Cut open your spud, a couple slabs of butter, a ladle of the cheese sauce then a dollop of sour cream. I would love to sit down and eat this for dinner but can’t due to dietary restrictions I now have.