Twice Baked Potatoes by In the Kitchen with Kath

I'll get to the guest recipe in a sec, but first this quick personal update that I'm excited about. Above is my new spice drawer. I know it doesn't look like much, and I'm certainly missing lots of spices for a properly stocked kitchen, but I'm quite proud of my work.


My spices were previously stored in the small glass jars and plastic containers I bought them in all stacked up haphazardly in my Lazy Susan corner cupboard. Needless to say, my level of disorganization not only made it difficult to cook but would often cause one of the little spice jars to go flinging off the shelf if I spun the Susan too fast.

Anyway, this is much nicer for me. Everything is accessible, easy to keep clean and organized, and it's easy to get teaspoons into these jars for those times when I actually measure. Plus, there's room to expand.

Tonight's guest recipe of twice baked potatoes comes from Kath at In the Kitchen with Kath. I found this recipe scrolling through my inbox on Foodbuzz, and when I read the title I tried to think back to when I last made twice baked potatoes. I think it has been about a decade - a time when cooking something like this was an ordeal for those very special occasions because cooking was challenging and messy. Remember those days?

Something like twice baked potatoes is a versatile dish because you can make them with any ingredients that go together and taste great with potatoes. I followed Kath's recipe and used sour cream, milk, cheddar cheese, and a little salt in this batch, but I seem to remember making some in the past that used Dijon mustard, or you could go an Italian route and do like a garlic-Parmesan and season with basil and oregano. Chili cheese potato anybody?

Start by scrubbing the potatoes and patting dry. Rub with oil and poke holes all over with a fork. Place these directly on the oven rack in a preheated 425 degree oven.

The potatoes bake for an hour. Kath's recipe cooked the meat of the potato perfectly while keeping the skin nice and crispy - essential to make 'em twice baked. Turn down the oven to 350.

Hollow out your potato halves. I find it easier to use a fork to scrape, but you have to be more careful so as not to damage the skins.

Add you milk, cheese, sour cream...anything you want to your potato mix. Oh yeah, butter too!

Fill your tater skins back up with your mix. I added a little pepper because it seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was.

I folded up some little foil wedges to keep my potatoes propped up on the pan. At this point, I had to restrain myself to only add a little more shredded cheese. I wanted to pile it up, but then I thought of wilted green onions and rubbery, overcooked bacon and restrained myself. Also, I didn't want cold potatoes. Nice melty cheese is easy to settle with. Bake for 30 at 350.

And there we have it. Cheese melted, potatoes hot, crispy skins - topping time!

This was fun to make and eat again after all these years. While Jen is not a huge fan of twice baked potatoes, this was a first for Lily and she loved it. What's not to love?

Be sure to head on over to In the Kitchen with Kath and check out what she's go going on in her kitchen.

Thanks, Kath, for this nostalgic comfort dish!