Hasselback Potato

Move over boring baked potatoes, there's a new Russet in town.

I discovered this delightful recipe over at Everybody Likes Sandwiches. It solves the age-old problem with baked potatoes: how to make the skin edible. I love potato skin, but the standard way of baking potatoes somehow doesn't lend itself to delicious skin -- too dry and it tends to separate from the flesh of the potato. I may never go back to standard baked potatoes. I'm so disappointed that I haven't been eating these all my life!

Notes: Hasselback potatoes require a little knife work. You want to make thick-ish potato chip slices 3/4 of the way through the potato without cutting it all the way through. I would err on the side of caution: make shallow cuts to start with and then go back and make them deeper as needed. You want the potato to move a little like an accordion.

Ingredients:
As many Russet potatoes as you have hungry people (in my case, just one)
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Preheat the oven to 425.

Be sure your potato is scrubbed clean, since you'll be eating the skin.

Make slices in your potato from end to end. You want them about 1/4 of an inch thick or about the size of a thick potato chip. Slice 3/4 of the way through the potato, but be sure not to slice all the way through.

Once your slices are done, sprinkle salt and pepper on top of of the potato and in between the cuts. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Put the potato on a foil-lined baking sheet or in a glass dish and bake for 45-50 minutes until it's fork tender. Halfway through the cooking, drizzle with more olive oil for crispier skin. Enjoy your new favorite baked potato!