One of my fav indginous foods in this cowboy town are potato skins—the ultimate in comfort food, which makes them chic in my tasty opinion, and the ingredients are not expensive—the proverbial icing on the cake.
Message to my NYC girlfriends who are no longer eat carbs—chill. Half of a scooped out baked potato filled with other earthly delights is a divine eating experience and if you serve next time you entertain, you will be considered more chic and in the know than a….And if you’re single—they’re men magnets1
Serve them with a side of broccoli rabe, and you have yourself a little bit of heaven on earth especially as the storms roll in.
POTATO SKINS
One potato per person—even if you’re eating half portions. A man will be grateful for your “crumbs”.
STUFFING
Basic: cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream, scallions
Imagination: goat cheese, crème fraiche and caviar, chili, avocado…
START:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Scrub skins clean. Massage them with olive oil. Prick all over with the tines of a fork.
Place on baking sheet and bake for an hour
Remove from oven. After they’ve cooled, scoop out innards. Save potato pulp to make hash browns (mixed w/ sautéed onions and eggs) or whatever else you can imagine.
ONCE AGAIN:
Reheat oven to 400 degrees.
Massage skins inside and out. Sprinkle with kosher or sea salt. Replace on baking sheet and return to oven. Heat 10 minutes per side.
THE FINISH:
Remove from oven. Put a chunk of cheese and bacon in cavity. Return to oven to bake or grill just so cheese melts.
Remove from oven and garnish with sour cream and chopped scallions.
GREEN
Along the way, wash brocolli rabe. Chop up greens and trim florets.
When you’ve returned the skins to the oven for the cheese melt, high heat a bit of olive oil in pan. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes and salt. Add broccoli rabe and toss for a couple of minutes, so it’s warm but not soggy.
Voila!
Happiness: snow’s a blowing, fire roaring, A glass of red for me, beer for him. Life doesn’t get much better.
Enjoy!