Baked Potato with Hamburger Steak and Oven-Roasted Asparagus

When I got my copy of James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking from the out-of-print division at Amazon recently, the first thing I looked up was his discussion of the baked potato. My original copy had been destroyed in a minor flooding incident and I remembered his eloquent praise of the properly baked potato -- but I couldn't remember what it was that made his potato so perfect. The only difference between his directions and my usual procedure is the baking time -- he suggests 1 1/2 hours at 425 (or longer for a large potato) while I usually bake a potato for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 425. Well, of course, he's right. It is better cooked for the longer time. He suggests that after slitting open the potato immediately upon removing it from the oven (to allow the steam to escape and prevent the potato from becoming soggy -- it should be "fluffy on the inside with a nice crisp skin"), you simply add salt and coarsely ground pepper: "It should have a good potatoey flavor, a mealy texture, and a lovely earthy smell." Indeed! It is a treat to savor the natural goodness of the potato unadorned. Then add whatever extras you like.

The baked potato is the centerpiece of this meal. Because it will bake for 1 1/2 hours, I begin with the potato, then add the hamburger steak and asparagus (in separate pans) for the last half-hour. Simplicity itself!

Baked Potato

Preheat oven to 425.

Scrub the skin well, allow to dry thoroughly, and rub with olive oil. Prick with a knife or fork several times (to allow steam to escape). Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until it feels soft and gives when you squeeze it.

Additions: any or all of the following -- butter, salt, fresh ground black pepper, grated cheese, crumbled bacon, sour cream, chives

Hamburger Steak

I bought a prepared sirloin patty at the grocery which had already been mixed with steakhouse seasoning. I simply placed it on a broiling rack and added it to the oven for the last 30 minutes of the potato baking time -- turning it after 15 minutes. I thought it was quite good, and didn't add any sauce.

Oven-Roasted Asparagus

This is a fantastic cooking technique for almost any vegetable. You simply arrange the vegetables in a roasting pan (larger vegetables like carrots should be cut into smaller pieces), drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or so (depending on the vegetable). In this case, I used crushed red pepper instead of the black pepper and added the asparagus to the oven at the same time as the hamburger steak. The temperature was 425 instead of 400, but they turned out delicious -- similar to grilled asparagus.