4 - 5 baking potatoes
2 cups water
1 quart milk
1/2 cup celery
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 cup green onion, chopped
2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley or dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Place potatoes in the oven and cook for about 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Heat the water in a large saucepan and add chopped celery to the water and simmer with a cover on until celery is tender.
When potatoes are fully cooked, slice down the center and scoop the pulp out of each potato and add to celery and water. Add milk. butter, sour cream, bacon, green onions, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, parsley or dill and salt and pepper.
Allow mixture to simmer over low-medium heat until it thickens. Serve hot with cheddar cheese sprinkled on top. You may also add chives (from the top of the green onions), bacon pieces and sour cream.
The Skinny: Use low fat milk, sour cream and cheese.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Cooking Potatoes
Hot Potatoes
I meet a lot of people who like to talk about their food likes and dislikes. So please believe me when I tell you that I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't like stuffed baked potatoes.
In winter, when you want to eat something that warms, fills, and satisfies you, a stuffed baked potato can be more welcome than the finest caviar. It makes a perfect companion to grilled or broiled steak or other meat, poultry, or seafood. And, depending on the potato's size and what you mix in, it can become - to use an overused phrase that really does make sense in this case - a meal in itself.
For any baked potato, success starts with the potato itself. The best for baking and stuffing are those known as the Russet Burbank, developed in the early 1870s by the great American botanist Luther Burbank. High in starch, low in moisture, and thick-skinned, it develops a crisp surface and fluffy interior when baked. Since this is the type most widely grown in the great potato state of Idaho, it has also come to be known as the Idaho potato - or just simply the baking potato.
Whatever you call them, look for ones that seem heavy for their size, dry-skinned, solid, and free from blemishes or green spots. For the best quality, I suggest seeking out organic potatoes, which are only beginning to catch on in Idaho but also are grown in California, Colorado, and Washington, among other states. Of course, regular non-organic potatoes will work fine, too.
The next key to success is how you bake it. Some people swear by wrapping potatoes individually in foil. While that keeps the potatoes extra-moist and cooks them faster, it also results in softer, less appetizing skins. Instead, I like to bake my potatoes on a bed of coarse rock salt, which helps them develop delicious, crispy skins - and also holds the stuffed potatoes steady during the final stage of baking.
While scooping out the baked potatoes' flesh, mashing it with other ingredients, and then baking them again takes some extra time, it's easily done in stages. If you like, stuff the potatoes and refrigerate them until just over half an hour before serving. Then, instead of baking them for the final few minutes as instructed in the recipe, warm them up first in a 325-degree oven for 20 minutes, then raise the temperature to about 400 degrees. for about 10 minutes more to crisp up the skins.
Once you've tried my recipe, you'll agree that the little extra effort is worth it. Then, start using your imagination to vary the stuffing with sausage or smoked fish, other seasonal vegetables, different cheeses, or whatever else inspires you.
STUFFED TWICE-BAKED POTATOES WITH HAM, MUSHROOMS, AND GRUYERE CHEESE
Serves 6
6 large baking potatoes, scrubbed clean
Rock salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 pound thinly sliced cooked ham, cut into julienne strips 1 inch long
1/4 pound button mushrooms, wiped clean, trimmed, and thinly sliced
Granulated salt or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
8 ounces shredded Gruyere, Swiss, or Cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Put the potatoes on a cutting board. With the tip of a small, sharp knife, score a lid shape on the top of each potato about a third of the way down, cutting into the potato about 1/8 inch all the way around.
Spread a bed of rock salt about 1/4 inch thick on a baking tray large enough to hold the potatoes without touching. Place the potatoes lid sides up on the rock salt. Bake the potatoes until they are tender enough to be pierced easily with a wooden skewer, about 45 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, leaving the oven on, and let the potatoes cool slightly on the bed of rock salt.
Meanwhile, heat a saute pan over high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot enough to flow freely, add 2 tablespoons of the butter. When the butter starts to foam, add the ham and mushrooms and saute, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the ham and mushrooms to a small mixing bowl and set aside.
Holding each hot potato with a kitchen towel, cut off the lid with a sharp knife, following the scoring mark. Using a sharp-edged tablespoon, scoop the flesh from the potatoes and the lids, leaving a wall about 1/4 inch thick, transferring the potato flesh to a large mixing bowl; set aside. Return the potato shells and lids to the baking tray with rock salt and return to the hot oven, leaving the oven door open, to keep the potato shells and lids warm.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and season with salt and generously with pepper. Add the creme fraiche or sour cream and the remaining butter and continue mashing until thoroughly blended. Stir in the ham, mushrooms, and 2 ounces of the cheese.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn the oven temperature up to 500 degrees.
Carefully spoon the potato mixture back into each potato shell; the mixture will mound above the rim of each potato. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the filling. Leave the lids unfilled, placing them around the side of the tray.
Return the baking tray to the oven and bake until the potatoes are heated through and the cheese has melted, 7 to 10 minutes. To further brown the cheese, briefly use the broiler, keeping close watch to prevent burning.
Carefully transfer the potatoes to a heated serving platter or individual plates. Place the lids on top of the potatoes at an attractive angle, partially inserting an end into the filling to secure each lid. Serve immediately.
From Wolfgang Puck
I meet a lot of people who like to talk about their food likes and dislikes. So please believe me when I tell you that I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't like stuffed baked potatoes.
In winter, when you want to eat something that warms, fills, and satisfies you, a stuffed baked potato can be more welcome than the finest caviar. It makes a perfect companion to grilled or broiled steak or other meat, poultry, or seafood. And, depending on the potato's size and what you mix in, it can become - to use an overused phrase that really does make sense in this case - a meal in itself.
For any baked potato, success starts with the potato itself. The best for baking and stuffing are those known as the Russet Burbank, developed in the early 1870s by the great American botanist Luther Burbank. High in starch, low in moisture, and thick-skinned, it develops a crisp surface and fluffy interior when baked. Since this is the type most widely grown in the great potato state of Idaho, it has also come to be known as the Idaho potato - or just simply the baking potato.
Whatever you call them, look for ones that seem heavy for their size, dry-skinned, solid, and free from blemishes or green spots. For the best quality, I suggest seeking out organic potatoes, which are only beginning to catch on in Idaho but also are grown in California, Colorado, and Washington, among other states. Of course, regular non-organic potatoes will work fine, too.
The next key to success is how you bake it. Some people swear by wrapping potatoes individually in foil. While that keeps the potatoes extra-moist and cooks them faster, it also results in softer, less appetizing skins. Instead, I like to bake my potatoes on a bed of coarse rock salt, which helps them develop delicious, crispy skins - and also holds the stuffed potatoes steady during the final stage of baking.
While scooping out the baked potatoes' flesh, mashing it with other ingredients, and then baking them again takes some extra time, it's easily done in stages. If you like, stuff the potatoes and refrigerate them until just over half an hour before serving. Then, instead of baking them for the final few minutes as instructed in the recipe, warm them up first in a 325-degree oven for 20 minutes, then raise the temperature to about 400 degrees. for about 10 minutes more to crisp up the skins.
Once you've tried my recipe, you'll agree that the little extra effort is worth it. Then, start using your imagination to vary the stuffing with sausage or smoked fish, other seasonal vegetables, different cheeses, or whatever else inspires you.
STUFFED TWICE-BAKED POTATOES WITH HAM, MUSHROOMS, AND GRUYERE CHEESE
Serves 6
6 large baking potatoes, scrubbed clean
Rock salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 pound thinly sliced cooked ham, cut into julienne strips 1 inch long
1/4 pound button mushrooms, wiped clean, trimmed, and thinly sliced
Granulated salt or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
8 ounces shredded Gruyere, Swiss, or Cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Put the potatoes on a cutting board. With the tip of a small, sharp knife, score a lid shape on the top of each potato about a third of the way down, cutting into the potato about 1/8 inch all the way around.
Spread a bed of rock salt about 1/4 inch thick on a baking tray large enough to hold the potatoes without touching. Place the potatoes lid sides up on the rock salt. Bake the potatoes until they are tender enough to be pierced easily with a wooden skewer, about 45 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, leaving the oven on, and let the potatoes cool slightly on the bed of rock salt.
Meanwhile, heat a saute pan over high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot enough to flow freely, add 2 tablespoons of the butter. When the butter starts to foam, add the ham and mushrooms and saute, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the ham and mushrooms to a small mixing bowl and set aside.
Holding each hot potato with a kitchen towel, cut off the lid with a sharp knife, following the scoring mark. Using a sharp-edged tablespoon, scoop the flesh from the potatoes and the lids, leaving a wall about 1/4 inch thick, transferring the potato flesh to a large mixing bowl; set aside. Return the potato shells and lids to the baking tray with rock salt and return to the hot oven, leaving the oven door open, to keep the potato shells and lids warm.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and season with salt and generously with pepper. Add the creme fraiche or sour cream and the remaining butter and continue mashing until thoroughly blended. Stir in the ham, mushrooms, and 2 ounces of the cheese.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn the oven temperature up to 500 degrees.
Carefully spoon the potato mixture back into each potato shell; the mixture will mound above the rim of each potato. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the filling. Leave the lids unfilled, placing them around the side of the tray.
Return the baking tray to the oven and bake until the potatoes are heated through and the cheese has melted, 7 to 10 minutes. To further brown the cheese, briefly use the broiler, keeping close watch to prevent burning.
Carefully transfer the potatoes to a heated serving platter or individual plates. Place the lids on top of the potatoes at an attractive angle, partially inserting an end into the filling to secure each lid. Serve immediately.
From Wolfgang Puck
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