… because the topic I am covering and the pics say it all. How do I know? Because I talked about jacket-baked potatoes last Friday on Radio NZ with Jesse Mulligan and since then I have been stopped in the street, surrounded in the supermarket and received heaps of emails, so I know I’ve hit a sweet spot. Oh, people are loving these so if you haven’t given them a try, best you do as soon as you can lay your hands on some fluffy potatoes. I’m not talking soft-skinned baked potatoes, the type topped with sour cream and chives, I’m talking CRUNCHY SKINNED BAKED POTATOES WITH A FLUFFY INTERIOR that will explode into deliciousness as you eat them. Of course, you need butter, and salt (or olive oil), but little else. Potato Perfection I used to love doing jacket-baked potatoes when the kids were young as you could get them on in a flash, then think about something else to go with them while they cooked. For us that was usually a salad and other vegetables, often leftovers, but sometimes it was Bolognese sauce or eggs sizzled in sage butter and parmesan. Such good food and so easy to make. Crusty-baked Jacket Potatoes Baked kumara are pretty good, too, though the skins don’t go as crusty as they do on potatoes. But they are quicker to cook and can provide the base for any number of reheated leftovers. Baked Kumara Carrots are good and cheap around the traps here, so I’ve included an interesting Moroccan salad where the blanched carrots are steeped in lemon juice and finished with cumin, paprika and cinnamon. It’s great with Moroccan dishes, but also adds a bright pop of colour and interesting sweet tang to roast chicken and fish dishes. Carrot & Cinnamon Salad And read about Cinnamon here Just a bit of homework – if you want to contact me by email, please use julie@sharedkitchen.co.nz as my old Clear address forwarded by xtra for some years finally goes down the gurgler this very day. That’s it. Gone. And me too, gone. Promised not to prattle and I’ve already filled half a page. Julie
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