Fun Fact: The italian word for potato is also a nickname for female genitalia.

Bon Appetit!

I don't really prefer baked potatos or using an oven.

What I do is to cut them into small rectangles/squares (about a centimeter will do). Then I throw them into a skillet (filled with garlic infused (or plain) olive oil or butter, those new flavored olive oils work well too). Then I sprinkle with either salt or garlic salt to get them cooking faster. Throw the lid on. Wait a few minutes until they begin to tenderize. Then dust them with chili spice (mix of spices). Then cover a few more minutes till they are almost done. Take off the lid before they get too mushy. Turn up the heat (WAY UP). Then cook them until they are burnt (on sides, not all the way through).

Take those and put 'em in a burrito. Top with either salsa, bayeldi, cheese (which I prefer to melt over the potatos in the skillet), tempeh bacon, chopped jalapenos, sour cream, or ? ... you need something to reduce the dryness of the tortilla and potatoes.

Pretty good, Got the idea from "home fries of Boston, MA" and the GM Steakhouse in Austin, Texas. Pretty good stuff, cooks fast, and if you have any of your cooked potatos left over you can refrig them, then heat them up in a skillet with a bit of olive oil and they are great.

Oh yeah, and adding about the same size chopped carrots to the above is EVEN BETTER. Add the carrots first, then after a bit the potatos as carrots are more dense (have less water) and need a bit longer to cook.

EDIT:
Oh yeah, I forgot the pineapple-mango chutney (as a topping). Makes a nice "lite" version.
In addition, the effect of refrigerating a portion of the cooked potatos/carrots can't be overlooked. Refrigeration draws moisture out the cooked potatos, thus providing a denser, more flavorful dish (when reheated properly). It's a lot like jambalaya that way. Haven't figured out a way to achieve this without refrigeration yet (might be providing a way for moisture to escape the pan while cooking). Very difficult.

Man if there was an off topic section this kind of stuff would identify itself!

Good for the potato, bud for how long its takes. I prefer this method.

1) wash potato
2) poke severally lots o times with fork
3) wrap in wet paper towel
4) microwave for 5 minutes flipping half way
5) decorate, eat and enjoy.

This makes the belly potato happy faster.

That's - by the science that's out there - actually an urban myth; contrary olive oil seems to do better in reducing risk of cancer than many other common alternatives. Good high quality olive oil, that is, but that's the truth with all food stuff: High quality and as 'natural' as possible is always better for you.

See these studies, for example:

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cpd/2011/00000017/00000008/art00006
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691510004941
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf0730082
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814612002713

AFAIK you just throw them in a pit of boiling water and wait for them to be mushy enough to eat. No oven secrets here, bro.

Wait... that all sounds delicious. I want to do that now. Nom nom nom.

It seems you misunderstood me or misread my post. I never said in any way,shape, or form that olive oil is unhealthy to consume. I'm well aware of it's numerous health benefits. What I said was when oil starts to smoke from excessive heat temperature, it becomes unhealthy to consume. That goes for all oils and is absolutely not an urban myth. When oils are exposed to heat that is beyond their smoke point, they release something called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and this is a well known carcinogen that is also found in cigarette smoke. The links you cited are good studies, but they are faulty examples in reply to what I was saying and I'll tell you why:

The first link you cited (top one) is irrelevant as it has nothing to do with what I said. It simply debunks the myth that olive oil is unhealthy to consume. It says nothing about cooking the oil at high temperatures, which was the whole point I was trying to make with my original post.

The second study clearly states how long they attempted to fry the oil for, but nowhere could I find how hot the temperature was that they used. There's a big difference between making the oil start bubbling and making it smoke. If I missed it then please point it out to me because I'm curious about the study as well. But I couldn't find it anywhere.

Study 3 says that they fried the oil at a temperature of 180C, which is 356F. Study 4 similarly tested the oil at 190C, or 374F. This is definitely not considered high heat for cooking standards. My stove on high heat can easily reach 700+ fahrenheit, and most stoves can get close to that as well. So 356 and 374 degrees would be considered around mid-heat for what stoves are capable of nowadays. Please keep in mind that my original post was talking about cooking at high temperatures. Now if people use olive oil and just put the heat in the middle then more than likely it's fine. But I know a ton of people that just put their stove on high in order to get the cooking done faster which would not be advisable with olive oil.

It should also be noted that the quality of the olive oil will determine at what temperature it begins to smoke. The higher the quality, the higher it's smoke point. Unfortunately, many grocery store brands of olive oil are of an inferior quality and will smoke at even lower temperatures than they're supposed to. Hope this cleared up the point I was trying to make.

In Georgia they mostly pan fry them in tons of oil, which was nasty. I also saw them boil them, mash them up, then cover them with cold oil for taste. Double-nasty.

Give me a good baked potato with butter and sea salt please.

Again I think you're not getting the point of what I'm saying because you basically reiterated exactly what I said in my reply to you.

I specifically stated in the reply, "What I said was when oil starts to smoke from excessive heat temperature, it becomes unhealthy to consume. That goes for all oils and is absolutely not an urban myth."

So you see right there I even said that all oils become unhealthy when smoking and not just olive oil. I never said once that olive oil is worse when smoking than other oils are when they smoke.

Also, I never once said that canola oil was better. In fact, I never talked about canola oil once so I'm not sure where you got that from. I said that grapeseed oil was a better alternative for cooking at high temperatures.

The reason I said that was because in general (depending on the quality of the oil), grapeseed oil can stand up to higher temperatures of cooking before it starts to break down and smoke. That is why I specifically said grapeseed because it is known as having a relatively high smoke point, and I would never have suggested using margarine or canola oil as an alternative to olive oil. It has nothing to do with the health benefits of either oil because they are very similar in that regard. It is only when cooking with high heat

Also that study once again says nothing of the temperature at which they conducted the experiment at, making it off-base. I'm specifically only talking about the temperature at which olive oil smokes when exposed to hight heat.

It doesn't really require any experiments or studies to come to this conclusion. Most quality bottles of oil will tell the smoke point right on the label. Next time you're shopping simply check out the smoke point labeled on each bottle. I compared them at Trader Joe's when I first heard about the relatively low smoke point of olive oil. The extra virgin olive oil had a 375F smoke point and the grapeseed's was 480F. 105 degrees is a pretty significant increase in the amount of temperature it can withstand.

Again, different qualities and brands will vary but that's why I said in general

They measured the temperature of the fried beefsteak which was above 300 degrees F (don't have it open, right now, exact number was around 330?). Actually it does need research and substantive evidence. Otherwise it is just a myth. And I am not the only one doubting this - and, really, there's no conclusive evidence in the tests. Even the American Institute for Cancer Research can't find any evidence that in general cooking use Olive Oil is more harmful than others.

"As for reports that toxins are released when olive oil is heated, I can only find research studies showing this result when the oil is heated at high temperatures for hours."

Others, here:
http://scienceornot.net/2012/09/15/is-it-safe-to-cook-with-olive-oil/
http://www.nutritionchic.com/will-i-get-cancer-from-frying-with-olive-oil.html
http://www.greenmarketproducers.com/ask-ersilia-it-safe-fry-olive-oil

Note - the sources of this last article are based on olive oil producers' studies - I've avoided quoting those, so far. The point is, though, I can't find any actual research that points to olive oil being more dangerous to use when frying than other oils despite the differing smoke points. Hence that likely being an urban myth. Note the point that olive oil due to it's antioxidants is more likely to retain free radicals - a point that some of the research I pointed to above also made.

And, because I think we are talking past each other, a summary of my points, really:

A. Olive oil generally is one of the healthiest oils out there. Quality varies, but you are better at choosing olive oil over some of the cheaper alternatives.
B. There's no evidence that one oil or another becomes radically more toxic / cancerous when / after used for frying than other alternatives in general cooking use. [here's where we disagree]
C. There IS evidence that it is sensible not to re-heat or re-use ANY oil / fat. All oils / fats break down and can become toxic if reheated or heated for hours.
D. Sensible cooking can reduce whatever risks there are - fry things slowly over time, rather than at full power, regardless of what oil / fat used. Making sure any smoke is ventilated away rather than breathing it in as much as possible. Don't reuse oil/fat (see C.).

please don't delete his thread.

this is too funny.

Hahaha I love this thread!

When I said it doesn't require any experiments to come to this conclusion, I was talking about figuring out that grapeseed oil has a higher smoke point than olive oil. I'm not talking about toxicity levels or any other type of side information that you provide links with. It's as easy as picking up a bottle that lists the smoke point and seeing that it's lower than grapeseed.

You send alot of useful information in those links, but they don't apply to the point I was trying to make from the beginning which is simply these two things:

1) All oil gives off carcinogens when starting to smoke (which we both agreed on)

2) olive oil starts smoking at lower temperatures than grapeseed. (which again, in general, is a fact)

Saying that olive oil smokes easier does not mean I'm saying olive oil is more toxic when heated or is any more unhealthy than other oils. It only means that it begins to start smoking at lower heat. So any talk accusing me of saying olive oil is more unhealthy or more toxic when heated than other oil is simply untrue. Also, talking about anything else other than the above two points that I've been trying to make in my very first post really has nothing to do with what I said at all.

Edit- A very quick search of "oil smoke points" in google images provides alot of lists which easily show extra virgin olive oils relatively low smoke point. The pics I posted are just a few and can be found easily. And like I said before, simply pick a bottle up and see for yourself. It really only requires very rudimentary deductive reasoning and common sense skills to arrive at the obvious:

a) Hm well I know that when oil smokes it turns bad and is unhealthy to consume (all oils)

b) I know that olive oil smokes relatively easy

Therefore? It's probably not the best idea to use olive when cooking on high heat
And also? Grapeseed oil is a better alternative for high heat cooking because it can withstand hotter temperatures.