Twice Baked Potatoes

“Casserole in a Potato Skin”

Restaurant Starch Recipe

Think of Twice Baked Potatoes as a casserole in a potato skin! The restaurant customers certainly do!

Add whatever toppings you might want to try or ingredients you have on hand.

Add a tossed green salad to an enhanced version of these potatoes and you'll have an entire meal. Or - as prepared in this recipe, they are a popular accompaniment to an entree.

Making these potatoes is a little bit of a hassle but it is not difficult and once the basic idea (technique) is mastered, you can do almost anything to enhance them. Adding ingredients you have on hand or want to try can be great fun. Taste the potatoes and then check your refrigerator or pantry. Add more of whatever you like. If the potatoes are too thick, add a splash or milk or even buttermilk. And remember, these potatoes can be frozen before baking the second time so you can have an easy meal later on.

To make twice baked potatoes, you first must bake whole potatoes. I recommend using russet potatoes for these.

Scrub your potatoes under cold water, poke them several times with a fork and place them on your oven rack in the lower third of your oven at 350 degrees F for about an hour.

Okay - you've got the idea! Let’s get on with it!

Twice Baked Potatoes

Restaurant Starch Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes. Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 4 large baking potatoes (russet potatoes are good for this)
• 8 slices of bacon (optional)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 8 green onions, sliced and divided

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
• Scrub your potatoes under cold water, prick them several times with a fork and place them on your oven rack in the lower third of your oven
• Bake the potatoes in the lower one third of your oven for about 1 hour
• Meanwhile, place the bacon in a large, deep skillet and cook over medium heat until evenly brown
• Drain the fat out of the skillet, crumble the bacon into pieces and set aside
• When the potatoes are done (baked) allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes
• Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and then scoop the flesh into a large bowl and save and -save the skins
• To the potato flesh, add the sour cream, milk, butter, salt and pepper, 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and 1/2 of the green onion
• Mix the potato mixture with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy
• Spoon this mixture back into the potato skins
• Top each with the remaining cheese, green onions and bacon
• Return these potatoes to the oven on a sheet pan and bake for another 15 minutes or until piping hot and the cheese has melted

Twice baked Potatoes for 12

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 large russet potatoes
• 12 slices of bacon
• 1 1/2 cups of sour cream
• 3/4 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
• 12 green onions, sliced and divided

Instructions:

• Same as above

Enjoy your delicious twice baked potatoes and the company of those you share them with!

Donna

Did you know? Very few words have a birthday so precise, and so precisely known, as couch potato.

It was on July 15, 1976, we are told that couch potato came into being, uttered by Tom Iacino of Pasadena, California, during a telephone conversation. He was a member of a Southern California group humorously opposing the fads of exercise and healthy diet in favor of vegetating before the TV and eating junk food (1973).

Because their lives centered on television--the boob tube (1966)--they called themselves boob tubers. Iacino apparently took the brilliant next step and substituted potato as a synonym for tuber. Thinking of where that potato sits to watch the tube, he came up with couch potato.