TWICE BAKED POTATOES
HAPPY POTATO IS HAPPY
Twice baked potatoes freaking rule. I used to be a huge fan of potato skins until I figured out that twice baked potatoes are basically the same thing, on some serious steroids. I've seen about 900 different variations on the twice baked potato, most of them amazing, but I'm going to go with a classic. Of course, I have to put my own spin on it.
Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes (russets would be good here.)
8 slices of bacon (but if you can find a slab of pork belly and mince it, it's a lot better. pork belly's basically a giant slab of uncut bacon. Buying it sends me into fits of hysteria, and I usually end up cackling like a mad scientist. Butchers hate me.)
1/2 clove minced garlic
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup ranch dressing (it's the secret weapon.)
1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup milk
shredded cheddar
8 green onions, sliced on a diagonal bias
S+P to taste
This is the only time you will ever see me suggest this. Screw the oven, it takes too long. Microwave your potatoes instead. Ugh, that made me feel dirty.
Poke a couple of holes in the potatoes with a fork, and nuke for 10-11 minutes. If you want to bake them, they'll go for about an hour at 350. Preheating the oven to 350 is a great idea anyway, since it's needed for the second part of this. You can use a toaster oven, if you want. I'd suggest cutting back the recipe a bit if you do, or working in batches, since you're only going to fit one potato in the toaster oven, unless your toaster oven is HUGE. At the same time, you're going to want to brown your bacon and break it apart into bits.
After the potatoes are done, hollow them out. You want to leave just a bit of meat attached to the skin, for body, but try to get as much of the potato out as you can while still leaving some body and firmness to the skin. Melt the butter and milk in the microwave (hey, twice in one recipe I used the evil box) and bash them into the centers of the potato. If you have a potato ricer, it's a lot better, but I suppose in a pinch you can use a fork. After you've worked in the butter and milk and the potatoes are starting to break down, add your sour cream and ranch dressing and beat the heck out of it. Don't be afraid to break out the electric mixers or cuisinart. Just be sure to get them PERFECTLY SMOOTH. Chunks are not your friend here. After it's well blended and smooth, add in half of the green onions, 1/2 a cup of cheddar cheese, and the garlic. mix it in until combined fully. Stuff it back inside of the potato, top it off with the bacon, some more cheddar cheese (to taste, there. make it as cheesy as you like), and the rest of the green onions. Put it in the 350 oven for about 15 minutes. The cheese should be melted and the potato should be nice and firm.
The great bit about this method is that while it should technically be called once nuked and once baked potatoes, it cut a full 50 minutes off of the cook time. Bonus number 2? Well then, you've got this nice bacon grease in your already hot pan. Why not toss in some herbed chicken? Drumettes would be great, and fast. A great side to finish off this meal is, of course, broccoli. sautee it gently in some garlic butter for extra combo points.