Ah, the well-buttered jacket spud can be a thing of beauty. Choose your spud carefully. An organic Nicola is my go-to (I grow 'em). It goes beautifully with some home-grown salad and some cold meat left over from the Sunday roast. Some shop spuds go horribly watery. Know your spud.

For two people. Take four/five/six spuds (depending on size). Scrub well and smother with salt (NO BLOODY OIL!). Bake in oven, 200C/400F, for one hour. In the meantime, grate 200g of the strongest cheddar and fry 150g of chopped-up pancetta or streaky bacon until almost crisp. Smoked or not, it's up to you.

When the spuds have cooled enough to pick up, cut a sliver off the top of each one (the long side). Scoop out the flesh into a bowl, being careful not to break the skin. Mix the warm flesh with the bacon and cheese. Maybe some salt (easy, tiger) and definitely some freshly-ground black pepper. Stuff the mix back into the skins. Place on a tray and heat in a hot oven for 20 minutes.

By far the finest accompaniment to these stuffed spuds is tinned baked beans. I'm not kidding.