Baked Potato...

We eat baked potatoes for lunch once a week-ish.  I usually bake more than we need because cold baked potatoes taste good with salsa or chopped up and sautéed in olive oil with salt, pepper and paprika.  This is Alton Brown's 'recipe' for baked potatoes.

The Baked Potato

a recipe from Alton Brown

link to food network

russet potatoes, washed and dried
canola oil
kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prick the washed and dried potatoes with a fork several times.

Coat each potato with a bit of canola oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack.

Bake for approximately one hour.

Notes:
I use a zippy bag for coating with oil.  I put in a few potatoes, pour in a little oil, use the bag to spread the oil and then I use tongs to remove the potatoes from the bag.

A tray or foil on the rack below to catch drips is a good idea.

To open a potato:  use a fork to 'cut' a slit then using a napkin to protect your hands from the heat push each end of the potato towards the middle.  If done correctly the potato will be 'open' and the white will be 'fluffed'.  (This might need a photo.)

For toppings, besides the 'usual', we like salsa and rooster sauce.

Look!  I'm Picasso!

Kale Crisps...

Every time I make these I search the web and wonder which recipe I used.  Hopefully placing it here will help with that.  The web has many recipes and all have a slightly different take...here's ours.

Kale Crisps

a recipe inspired by the web

kale
olive oil
salt (we use kosher salt)

Wash the kale, remove the stems and slice or tear into big-ish pieces.  Hit the kale with a little bit of oil and a tiny bit of salt*.

Bake at 375 degrees until crisp.  Start checking at 10 minutes or so but be patient and wait for them to be truly crisp, not chewy.

Notes:  It is easy to use too much oil and too much salt.  One recipe suggests salting after they are baked and I think I will try that next time.  (*Update:  salting after baking works.)   In the different recipes the oven temp varies from 300-475.  The kale shrinks and two trays can be snarffed quickly, plan accordingly!