Today I stayed in the Midwest and made Martha’s Twice-Baked Potatoes With Sour Cream and Chives from page 258.
My inspiration for doing these twice-baked potatoes came from the fact that the recipe was on the opposite page from the Wild Rice Salad I did the other day. Hey, not all inspiration is very inspiring! But I was kind of looking forward to trying these because I used to do a stuffed potato skin recipe back in a bar I used to work at in Chelsea. For those you fried the potato skins, and I wanted to see the contrast in the baked style. I would say I liked the twice-baked style better. Now as you might know, I’m a big fan of frying, but not everything is improved by cooking it up in hot oil and I’d say potato skins are one of those foods that can come out just as well if you bake it. The double baking gives it a nice crisp without any oily residue that comes with frying them.
Martha refers to this recipe as “unbelievably easy” to make. I’m not entirely on board with that. The recipe is quite simple and you only need a few kitchen staples to put the whole thing together. But there’s the matter of scooping out the potato flesh from the skin in order to execute these perfectly and that’s not as easy as it sounds. Potato skins are delicate, so you need to use a gentle hand in getting the flesh out without tearing the skin. Once you get that done right it’s smooth sailing from there.
Who doesn’t love the taste of tangy sour cream and chives on a baked potato? These twice-baked potatoes are a nice twist on an ordinary baked potato where the sour cream and chives are merely toppings. The skins are good and crispy with a nice contrast from the creamy potato filling. Because I used small potatoes you could practically chomp them down with one bite like an appetizer. But I’d say it’s better to eat them slowly and savor the flavors. They make a great side dish with almost any meat, but if you have a nice juicy steak with them that’s even better!
