Baked Potatoes w/ Sour Cream & Chives

This is a classic side for grilled steaks.

Baking potatoes (1 per person)
Sour cream
Chives, chopped
Butter

Wash and bake your potatoes in the oven or on the barbecue grill until easily pierced with a fork. In a 350°F oven they will take about 1 1/2 hours. At 400°F, they will take about 1 hour. You're aiming for an internal temp between 205°F and 212°F.

In the meantime, mix the amount of sour cream you think you will need with some chopped chives and chill. Garnish with snips of chives when ready to serve. If you have guests that are not fond of chives, serve them on the side so each person can add their own.

When ready to eat, cut the potato open, spread with some butter and top with the sour cream and chive mixture.

Note: Unlike meat, potatoes don't get better by resting. They need to be sliced open immediately. If you don't, they will retain water from the still-steaming center and turn dense and gummy. Quickly jab a serrated knife through each potato as soon as the pan has cleared the oven. Give them a gentle squeeze (with a hot-temp glove or towel) to create a vent.

When we were young, we would scoop out the potatoes from the skin, add a little butter and salt to the inside of the skin, and eat the potato skins separately from the white of the potato. This is really good when the skins are nice and crisp.