New semester means new Culinary Arts students, and today's class was all about the potato.
If you're like most people, your weeknight potato recipes are probably limited to basic mashed potatoes or french fries. Sound familiar? Today our students broaden their horizons and experimented with a variety of ingredients, stuffing their whole meal into one big baked potato. allowing them to have their veggies, protein and carbs packed into one easy-to-eat and delicious package.
These twice-baked potatoes are so large and filling that you may decide to serve them as a main course. . The reason they are called overstuffed is that an extra baked potato is added to the stuffing mixture, but if these seem too large for you, then bake and mash only four (instead of the five used here), or use smaller potatoes.
Ingredients
5 large Idaho baking potatoes (about 1 pound each)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
4 ounces bacon, chopped
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
1 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons snipped chives
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Rub the potatoes with the olive oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Put the potatoes on the baking sheet and bake until fork-tender, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let the potatoes sit until cool enough to handle
Cook the bacon in a medium skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp and the fat is rendered, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Peel 1 potato completely, discarding the skin. Place the pulp in a large bowl. Cut the top quarter from each of the remaining 4 potatoes and using a spoon, scoop the pulp from the potatoes into the bowl, leaving a 1/4-inch layer of pulp on the skin. Return the potato shells to the baking sheet.
Using a handheld masher, mash the potato pulp until smooth. Add 1 cup of the cheese, the sour cream, butter, bacon, chives, and the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt and 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon of pepper and mash until smooth.
Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato shells, top with the remaining cheese and bake until hot and the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.
Serve hot!
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