The Little Potato That Wreaked Havoc

The twice-baked potato prior to the accident.

We all gathered over at Ryan's friend Brad's Monday night to watch the National Championship game. Since Auburn is in the SEC, I had to root for LSU and continue the SEC pride (sorry, Jenny!). It didn't matter that the game was pretty lopsided, we had our own little excitement with some hot potatoes.

Brad was making the chicken, veggies and salad. My contribution -- which will go down in history -- were twice-baked potatoes filled with scallions, bacon and blue cheese. They were in the oven getting crispy on the top when Brad took the potatoes out of the oven to use the cookie sheet they rested on.

Lesson no. 1: Don't use a wet towel to take anything out of the oven. Water conducts heat and it's like touching the cookie sheet with your hand. So the potatoes dropped everywhere. Bye, bye potatoes. Brad kept apologizing and apologizing when he should have been focusing more on the hot mess of potatoes that had landed on his sandaled foot. Bringing us to..

Lesson no. 2: Make sure your feet are covered when you're working in the kitchen. You know.. they drill his lesson into you in culinary school but I had never seen it in action (probably because all our feet were covered). Hot potatoes are hard to fling off a foot, for the record. Those babies -- in all their 350 degree glory -- were on his foot a good ten seconds. This didn't do so well for Brad's foot. When I cook at home, in flip flops no less, I always worry that a knife will fall on my foot, never thinking about the hot food that could.

And Lesson No. 3: Don't bring hot food to someone's house. You'll feel really guilty when it lands them in the emergency room with second degree burns. I saved one potato because it couldn't fit in the container to Brad's, which Ryan and I ate yesterday, along with a little guilt.

Blue Cheese & Bacon Twice Baked Potatoes

6  large russet potatoes, each about 3/4 pound each, scrubbed and dried
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 to 2 scallions, finely chopped
1 (4 ounce) container crumbled blue cheese (reserve some to sprinkle on top)
6 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prick potatoes with a fork and place the potatoes directly on the
rack in the center of the oven and bake for an hour. Check doneness by inserting knife in potato.
Cook longer if not done. Remove from oven and let sit 5 to 10 minutes to cool. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and (using a towel or potholder), scoop the insides into a bowl. Be gentle so the skin is still intact.
Add butter and mash potatoes with fork or potato masher. Add milk, sour cream, salt and pepper. (If you like a thinner consistency, add more sour cream or milk.) Add scallions, bacon, blue cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Refill potato shells with mashed potato mixture. (NOTE: I like to overfill my potato shells. So even though six potatoes yields 12 potato shells, I only use about 8 of them. Use the extra for potato skins.) Bake in 350 degree oven 25 minutes. Sprinkle with reserved blue cheese and cook 5 more minutes.

Other Twice-Baked Potato Ideas:
TB Potatoes with Goat Cheese and Chives
TB Potatoes with Broccoli & Cheese
TB Potatoes with Cream Cheese
TB Potatoes with Lump Crab Meat
TB Potatoes with Corned Beef & Cabbage

Technorati Tags:Twice Baked Potato Recipe, Potato Skins, Kitchen Safety

Comments

[one food guy]

Ouch! While the potatoes sound delicious, those poor feet! I am always working in my kitchen in flip foots, sometimes even barefoot. Like you said, I've had some close encounters with knives, but never hot food.

[Julie]

The proverbial hot potato.

It was one good looking potato, and it certainly sounds as if it would have been a delicious potato had you had a chance to eat it. Hope Brad is on the mend.

[Michelle]

With all apologies to Brad's foot and hand, these looks delicious and I will definitely try them at home.