Baked potato and Chiltern Brewery Session IPA

Sometimes life comes down to a few ingredients and a nice beer. This is an extreme version of that sentiment. Please do not think that this dish, however humble, is anything other than heroic. There are occasions when a potato "baked in its jacket" is the only answer. Hearty, filling, comforting and full of memories, this is home cooking at its most kind. The only problem with a baked potato is the fact that it is very difficult to get a really good one if you eat out. Ever since the demise of "Spud you like", it is almost impossible to get a decent jacket spud to eat outside the home. This is nearly always a dish that is best served sitting on your own sofa. Of course you can baked beans, chilli or, if you are a bit misguided, coleslaw but I have decided to go with simple butter and cheese. I'll leave the volumes up to you.

 Baking a potato

• Large fluffy spuds
• Salt
• Butter
• Cheese (Entirely your choice)  

Wash the potatoes in cold water and through some salt over then so it sticks to the skin. Make sure you piece the skin of each potato a couple of times (you do not want one of them to blow up in your oven, or worse, in your hand. I carry the scars still).

Put the potatoes on the bars of your oven at a medium hot level until they are clearly done. 

Take the potatoes out of the oven and lay a tea towel over them. Tap each one with your hand, just hard enough to break the skin. remove the tea towel. Break open the the spuds and slide in quite a bit of butter. Pop them on the plate, open them a bit and pour on the grated cheese. 

Add salad or any other stuff you want -Cold cuts, preserved meats, and smoked fish all work well here.  

   The match

Chiltern Brewery is my local micro. They have been brewing traditional beers in the shadow of the Chiltern hills for over 40 years. They set out to be part of the movement to save cask conditioned ale. This is a beer unique to the UK and thanks to the work of the guys and girls at CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and a few breweries that held the line, it is starting to thrive again. They have always supplied pubs and done bottles and recently have become a bit more experimental. They tend to do small batch beers in amongst their regular beers. These often celebrate an event or historic moment.

Last year they popped a Session IPA in a can and I loved it. This year they have repeated the deal and its just a touch more hoppy. Make no mistake, this is a really well made beer and coming in at a very low 3.4% abv. It punches seriously above that weight and manages to seem modern but also has its feet firmly in the tradition of English beer making. Its bitterness nicely cuts through the cheese and butter, its malty spine matching neatly with the lovely potato skin.