A Little Personal History:
When dining out casually, many of the restaurants we frequent offer their own version of potato skins as an appetizer dish. While tasty, the potato skins are always deep fried. This version makes the skins flavorful and crispy without deep frying.
Description:
Potato skins – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Categories: | Appetizer |
| Servings: | 8 skins |
| Time: | – Preparation: 30 minutes – Cooking: 1 ½ hour |
| Equipment: | potato scrubber, basting brush, Whisk, measuring cups and spoons, 3 small mixing bowls, cutting board and knifes, dinner spoon, sauté skillet, baking sheet, medium storage bowl |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
Ingredients:
- 4 large baking potatoes (i.e. Russet, Idaho)
- ¼ cup Lars’s Baked Potato Seasoning Oil
- 8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
- 1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup green chilies – optional (diced)
- ¼ cup red bell pepper – optional (diced)
- ¼ cup mushrooms – optional (sliced and sautéed)
- ¼ cup ham – optional (diced)
- 4 green onions (chopped)
- 2 Tbs fresh chives (chopped)
- ½ cup Lars’s Pico de Gallo – optional
- ½ cup sour cream – optional
Procedure:
- Scrub potatoes. Prick each potato several times with a fork.
- In a small bowl, combine oil, Parmesan cheese, salt, garlic powder, paprika and pepper. Whisk well.
- Brush potatoes on all sides with oil/seasoning mixture and place on ungreased baking sheet. Place bowl with remaining mixture aside for 2nd brushing of potato halves.
- Bake at 400°F for 1 hour or until potatoes are done. Potatoes are done when a metal or wooden skewer easily pierces through potato. Allow potatoes to cool.
- While potatoes bake, prepare and chop bacon, chilies, red pepper and grate cheese. Combine in small bowl and set aside.
- Optionally sauté sliced mushrooms in pan over medium heat with a little oil till tender. Add to small bowl, allow to cool and combine with bacon, cheese & pepper mixture. Set aside.
- After potatoes are baked, remove from oven and set baking sheet with potatoes aside to cool.
- Once potatoes have cooled (20 – 30 min), cut each potato in half. Carefully scoop out pulp with dinner spoon, transferring pulp to storage bowl, leaving ¼ inch thick shells. (Reserve potato pulp for other uses e.g. home made mashed potatoes)
- Pre-heat oven to 475°F.
- Brush remaining oil/seasoning mixture over both sides of skin halves. Place potato skins, cut side up, on baking sheet.
- Return to oven and bake potatoes until crisp, about 7 – 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and evenly fill the inside of skins with bacon/cheese/peppers/mushroom mixture filling.
- Bake 3-5 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted.
- Top with onions and chives. Serve Sour Cream and Pico de Gallo as on optional side dishes. Serve immediately.
Advanced Preparation:
- Steps 1 – 8 can be done in advance, seal potato halves with aluminum foile or plastic wrap and refrigerate till needed.
- To freeze: Step 9 – 12 can be done in advance, allow skins to cool, re-seal potato halves with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze till needed.
- When ready for final baking, remove from freezer, pre-heat oven to 475°F and bake for 20-30 minutes, continue with step 14.
Tips, Notes, and Variations:
- While I like chilies, mushrooms, ham and peppers mixed in with the cheese and bacon filling, experiment and enjoy.
- If you’d like to add a little Cajun flavor to the skins, substitute 2 tsp. Lars’s Cajun Blast Seasoning in place of the salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
- What to do with the potato pulp? Use it for Lars’s Mashed Potatoes!
- Related: Lars’s Twice Baked Potatoes
