Loaded Potato Skins/Pic

[Roxy15]

Loaded Potato Skins:

 

 

5 Baby Kennebec Potatoes Or New Potatoes
2 T. Butter
2 T. Sour Cream
2 T. Milk
6 Slices Bacon
1/2 Cup Onion, Diced
1/4 Cup Chives-(Opt.)
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese-(Cheddar Or Your Favorite Cheese)

Boil the potatoes whole with skin intact for 20 minutes or until tender.

While the potatoes are boiling, fry the bacon until crisp and set aside. In the same pan, drain all but 1 T. of grease and then add the diced onions over medium heat. Stir and then cover. Allow to sweat for 8-10 minutes or until translucent and tender; set aside.

Once the potatoes are done, drain, and allow to cool until you can handle them safely.

Cut a potato in half. Now, with a small paring knife, use a pinch grip on the blade so that only 1/2” of the blade tip is exposed. Insert the tip into the potato at a 45 degree angle. Now slowly spin the potato around in a clockwise fashion. As you do, guide the blade so that it is 1/4” away from the wall of the potato. Continue all the way around until you cut out a cone shaped plug. Now, use the knife to shave more flesh from the potato until it is fairly hollowed out.

The idea here is to clean the potato out leaving a small shell with a thin wall of flesh. Make sure to save the flesh off in another bowl. You don’t have to be perfect when you do this. Just get them hollowed out by about 75% and try not to break the walls.

Once you have all of the potatoes hollowed out, turn your attention to the flesh. You may need to microwave it for a few minutes to get it hot again. Next, add the butter, sour cream, and milk and then mash the flesh until smooth.

Once it is all mashed and smooth, crumble and add all of the bacon, and then add the onion. If using chives or green Onions, add them now as well. Stir this mixture well to incorporate all of the ingredients.

Place the potato shells on a greased cookie sheet and pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Using a spoon, scoop up some of the mashed potato mixture and then put it into the shells. You’ll need to be careful here not to press too hard as you do not want to break the shells. Fill each shell with a heaping mound of the mashed potato mixture. Tip: Use your fingers to aid in the shaping of the mounded flesh.

Once all the shells are filled, bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are starting to brown.

Now remove from oven and top liberally with cheese. Finally, return them to the oven and bake another 5 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted. Serve immediately!