Twice-Baked Potatoes

Would you like to serve your family a meal they'll talk about for days? If they like potatoes, these will turn into the meal they beg for.

Start with some large baking potatoes. Unless you have huge appetites or will make a meal of the potatoes, each will serve 2.

You can bake these early in the so you don't have to handle them while they're hot, or wait until a couple of hours before dinner to put them in the oven. If you do it early remember to leave time to get them piping hot again! Bake the potatoes without foil because the skin gets tougher, making a crust that will hold together better while you scoop out the insides.

To prepare 2 large baking potatoes you'll need:

* About 1/4 heaping cup cooked and crumbled bacon
* 1/2 cup of sour cream
* 1/8 cup of butter
* 1/4 heaping cup green onions, chopped up small
* 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
* salt and pepper to taste

Cut the potatoes in 2 lengthwise or remove a "cap" from the top - depending upon whether you're serving a whole potato or a half.

Now, scoop out as much of the potato as you can remove without tearing the skin.

Using a large mixing bowl, combine the scooped out potato with the butter and sour cream and beat it with a mixer until the mixture is smooth.

Reserve about 1/8 cup each of the onions, bacon, and grated cheese, then put the rest in with the potatoes and beat it with the mixer until it's smooth.

Spoon the mixture back into the potato skins. They'll be nicely domed and fluffy on top!

If the potatoes had completely cooled, put them in the oven at 350 for about a half hour. Then about 10 minutes before you plan to serve them, top each potato with cheese, onions, and bacon. Put it back in the oven to let them all melt together.

If the potatoes were still hot, they'll only need about 10 minutes more in the oven.

These take a bit of effort, but are wonderful for a special occasion. I first tried them for a birthday dinner - and the birthday boy was more excited about the potatoes than about his gifts.

Twice Baked Potatoes - Yum!

This week-end was a friend's birthday, and since he'd mentioned his love for twice baked potatoes, we decided to figure out how to make them for his birthday dinner.

It wasn't difficult, but it was a full meal. So combined with steak and salad and corn on the cob (4 of the 7 ears my garden yielded this year!) it was a huge meal! I saved half of my potato for lunch today.

Here's the simple twice baked potato recipe I used:

4 large baking potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup crumbled bacon
3/4 cup minced green onions
salt and pepper

I'm not sure how I ended up with the cooking detail on this dinner, but with the exception of the steaks, I did.

I baked the potatoes ahead of time, let them cool, then cut an oval out of the top of each of them and scooped out the flesh - leaving enough to hold the "shell" together.

While I was doing that, I had the bacon frying until the little pieces were crisp.

Reserving about 1/4 cup each of the cheese, bacon, and onions, I first added the butter and beat it until it was smooth, then added the rest.

Then I stuffed the mixture back into the shells - which became mounded up on top due to the extra ingredients.

I put that back in the oven to reheat, then about 10 minutes before dinner was to be served, I sprinkled the reserved cheese, bacon, and onions on top, put it back into the oven, and let them melt together.

The result: "Melt in your mouth" potatoes.

One thing I might do differently - probably cut the potatoes in 2 and serve a half potato to each person, because it really was too much. Along with the rest of the meal, everyone was stuffed.

Yours for good eating,
Marte