Baked potatoes are a favorite of mine this time of year. They’re easy to make, super inexpensive and the oven heats up the house as it cooks dinner- a nice little bonus in my opinion!
I baked my potatoes “Alton Brown” style– its quite possibly the easiest method and it makes the spuds taste so good!
- 2-3 Russet Potatoes
- about 2-3 TBSP olive oil
- Kosher Salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a piece of foil on the lower rack of the oven, to catch any oil drops from the potatoes.
Scrub potatoes and place on a towel to dry. Use towel to absorb any additional moisture.
Using a fork, pierce the potato several times- I pierced mine twice on each side, so 4 times total.
Brush each potato with oil and lightly shake some Kosher salt on top.
Bake for an hour. Note that the larger your potatoes, the longer they’ll need to bake. Mine weren’t terribly large and they were perfect after 1 hour. If you have the giant baking potatoes, you’ll need to cook them an additional 20 minutes or so.
While the potatoes are baking, you can whip up the cheese sauce!
Cheddar Cheese Sauce with Thyme
- 1/4 cup butter {1/2 stick}
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups cold milk**
- pinch of nutmeg
- pinch of cayenne {optional}
- 1/2 tsp Thyme
- 8 oz Cheddar Cheese or Cheddar Jack, which I used! {2 cups}
- salt and pepper to taste
**If you’re like our family and go through milk really fast, you can use a 12 oz can of evaporated milk + 1 cup water in place of the 2 cups milk!
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Have the milk there, ready to go before the butter is completely melted. After the butter is melted, begin whisking in the flour, a little at a time. After the flour is all whisked in, slowly begin adding the milk. Continue whisking until milk is incorporated. Add in the spices. Continue cooking over medium heat until the sauce begins to simmer.
Reduce heat to low. Add in the cheese a small handful at a time, whisking throughout the process to get rid of any lumps. Continue until cheese is all melted and sauce is smooth.
Serve immediately.
After the cheese sauce was made, I put about 3 cups of broccoli florets and 2 TBSP water in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for about 6-8 minutes. Serve atop baked potato, with cheese sauce on top!
Once the potatoes are cooked, I let them cool for about 5 minutes, just until you can touch them without burning yourself.
Cut a line length-wise down the potato, as well as two X’s on each end. Take your fingers and grasp the potato on each end and squish it to open.
Top with steamed broccoli florets and a couple ladles of cheese sauce.
