In a rush to cook potatoes! Have no fear!

I cannot take credit for this wonderful fast food tip (Jacques Pepin's Fast Food My Way) but for the longest time, I thought I had to wait 1 hour for great roasted or baked potatoes or 45 minutes-1 hour boiling potatoes to make a creamy whipped potato side dish, usually to go with my hubby's wonderful grilled steaks or meats.

But not anymore, my friends. These recipes were inspired when we bought way too many potatoes for our family of 6, so I was forced to think of ways to cook 5 lbs of potatoes before they start growing a potato farm in our cupboards!

Here's what I did, given that most of us barely have 20-30 minutes to get dinner on the table: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and scrub your potatoes well (I usualy do 4 at a time redskinned or sweet potatoes), dry well, then place in microwave safe bowl. On high, microwave potatoes for 4 minutes, turn over, microwave another 4 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a lined cookie sheet or ovensafe container and bake 8-10 minutes, depending on handy your oven is. Let cool. Tada!

You can serve as is with sour cream or whatever toppings you like or here's a great party side dish or popular restaurant fare (don't buy these at TGIF, make 'em at home folks, they taste so much better!):

Baked Potato Skins with Cheddar Cheese and Bacon

8-12 baked potato skins (redskinned works best)
1/4 - 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
EVOO
crumbled cooked bacon (if you have any leftovers, we usually don't!)

Once potatoes are cooled to handle (see recipe above), cut each potato in half. Scrape out the insides and set aside in a bowl, leaving the hollowed out skin (there should be some potato left inside so it's sturdy enough to hold with your hand). Place the skins on a lined cookie sheet, drizzle EVOO over them, then salt and pepper; bake in oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven (the skin edges should be crisped up), sprinkle sharp shredded cheddar cheese, a little more salt and pepper, place back in oven for about 5 minutes just to melt the cheese. Garnish each skin with crumbled crispy bacon. Hand me a beer and some skins please! We serve these with light sour cream.

What to do with the leftover scramped out potatoes, well, make mashed potatoes of course! Just stir in butter, salt, pepper, some chicken broth, and some milk or heavy cream, heat in microwave bowl, whip to a creamy consistency and serve.
Now what to serve with the potatoes.....