I love baked potatoes and, over the decades, I must have consumed acres of them. I would never insult those nice folks in Idaho by saying a baked potato can be boring.
But it can be improved upon. I’ve done twice baked before where you simple extract the potato core, mash it, replant it, and cook until bubbly. I wanted more and saw a number of ideas on the web that seem good but not enough. If you are going to do this, then do it completely. I googled so many places that I cannot remember who mentioned using an egg to make the whole mixture fluffy. So, I cannot give official credit, but I want to thank that egg person. Probably someone from Idaho.
Here’s the central idea: bake a potato, extract the core, mash it up creatively, add egg to induce fluffiness and then restuff the potato and let cook until truly well done. To achieve that Southwestern flavor, I used canned Hatch green chiles for an unmistakable combination of chile heat and sour tang. And the cheese? What else but Pepper Jack. I was in New York City when I made these but it felt like Santa Fe.
Until I looked out the window.
Please enjoy and certainly experiment on your own.
Brian’s Southwestern Twice Baked Potatoes
Yield: serves 2
Ingredients:
- 2 large baking potatoes
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup Pepper Jack cheese
- 1 2-ounce can of Hatch green chiles [Hatch is important!]
- 2 whole eggs, slightly scrambled
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Heat the oven to 400°F. Wash the potatoes, wrap in foil and bake for 90 minutes. Yes, that’s a long time, but you want them truly well done to make the mashing and folding of other ingredients as easy as possible.
Leave the oven on. Carefully cut along the top of each potato lengthwise and then squeeze gently to force open. Using a sharp knife to make cuts and spoon for extraction, carefully remove the potato core down to the skin but do not puncture or tear the skin. This will take a little time.
Put the potato core into a bowl, add the butter and mash with a potato masher — don’t use a mixer here. Add the cream and mash until mixed. Fold in the cheese then fold in most of the canned chiles, reserving perhaps ¼ of them for the final garnish you see in the photo.
Finally, lightly fold in the eggs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Take the mixture and lightly spoon it back into the two potato shells. You’ll have more mixture than you originally did, so just pile it on. If you have a true surplus, it is time to lick the spoon.
Warp the potatoes back up in the foil, leaving the tops uncovered. Return to the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. You want the mixture hot when you eat it, you need time for the egg to cook and fluff, and you’ve had the potato core out of the potato for several minutes as you added colder ingredients. So, give it time to reheat. A little brown on top is useful color.
Source: Brian O’Rourke
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/4 for1/50th second at ISO 2000