Pre-heat oven to 425 F.

Lay two chopsticks down on a cutting board.

Lay a potato down on it's flattest side in between the two chopsticks.

Starting at one end, thinly slice the potato from one end to the other.  The chopsticks should brace your knife from cutting right through your potato, leaving a little bit of uncut potato on the bottom to hold the entire thing together.

Repeat process with all 4 potatoes.

Place all 4 potatoes in a cast-iron pan or a baking dish with high sides.

Combine the oil, chili powder and salt together.

Using a kitchen brush, brush oil mixture in between each slice of each potato and around all sides.  (NOTE: This is an important step, so be sure to be thorough, brushing down into each and every slice!  Expect the oil to run out and create a pool on the bottom of your baking dish).

Place baking dish in oven on middle rack and bake for 45 minutes.

At the 45 minute mark, pull out the baking dish. 

By this time, the slices on each potato should have started to pull away from one another making it a bit easier to reapply the oil.

Using a spoon, scoop up the oil from the bottom of the pan and drizzle it all over the potatoes, and in between each slice.

Place baking dish back in the oven on the middle rack and bake for an additional 45 minutes.

While potatoes are baking, get the topping ready.

Place chopped bacon in a frying and fry on medium-high heat until the desired readiness has been reached.  Typically, 2 to 5 minutes should fry it, depending on how well cooked/crunchy you like your bacon.

With 1 minute left of fry time, add in the garlic and stir into the bacon until fragrant (about 1 minute). 

Remove pan from heat, add in chili powder and maple syrup and stir to combine.

Once potatoes have baked for a total of 1 1/2 hours, remove from oven, and plate each potato.  

Using a spoon, scoop up the oil from the bottom of the pan and drizzle it over each plated potato.

OPTIONAL: For colour, try chopping up some fresh baby spinach and garnish each potato with it.

SERVE AND ENJOY!