Twice Baked Potatoes

 

Greg and I like to talk about food.  We often discuss topics such as, what is your all-time favorite fruit (strawberries and pineapple)?  or, what do you think is the most disgusting food in existence (water chestnuts, the texture kills me.  olives, I am willing to try them once a year to see if I change my mind)?  

One of our favorites is, if you had to live on one food for the rest of your life what would it be?  Greg usually answers with bread or cheese, both good options.  I always go with potatoes!  My reasoning is that they are so versatile.  You could probably make a different potato dish every day of the month and still come up with new ways to cook them.  And yes, I realize I'm bending the rules a bit because I would probably need a few other ingredients in order to make some of the potato recipes, thus eating more than one "food," but it's my game and I can do what I want!

 

People who know me in real life know that I can easily kill a bag of potato chips if left to my own devices.  Add a tub of French onion dip and you will find me a couple of hours later in a food coma on the couch.  It's scary stuff.

Today, I bring you a recipe for twice baked potatoes.  I often forget about this delicious baked/mashed potato combination, but I think it's perfect for cookouts.  You can make them ahead of time and simply reheat when it's time to eat.  I made mine to go with spicy BBQ ribs and coleslaw.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 large Russet potatoes, scrubbed

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup sour cream

2 scallions, finely chopped

4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled

1/2 tsp. salt

freshly ground pepper

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place potatoes directly on rack in center of oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Pierce each potato and continue to bake until tender, about 30 minutes.  I skipped the oven and used the microwave instead.  I pierced each potato and wrapped in a damp paper towel.  I microwaved for about 8 minutes and then another 4 minutes.  I only used the oven to reheat once I had refilled them with the potato mixture.

Allow potatoes to cool slightly, trim off the top to make a canoe-like shape.  Carefully scoop out most of the potato into a bowl, making sure to leave the skin intact.  

Mash the potatoes lightly with a fork.  Add the sour cream and buttermilk.  (I might also add a few tablespoons of butter here)  Fold in the scallions (I saved the green portion of the scallion to sprinkle on before serving) and crumbled bacon.  Season with salt and pepper.  Refill the shells with the potato mixture, mounding slightly.  At this point you could probably store them in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to finish.  Sprinkle with the cheese, return to oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes until heated through, serve immediately. 

 

 

Yum!

So if you had only one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?