Slice-Baked Potatoes

When Marlboro Man, the kids, and I were in Colorado last month, we ordered Twice-Baked Potatoes one night. Instead of the traditional twice-baked potatoes our souls were used to—the hollowed-out potato halves stuffed with luscious filling and baked—they brought plates of curious potato rounds, each with a layer of melted cheese on top. We all looked at one other with panicked expressions. What were these frightening little discs? Who would mess with the simple beauty of a traditional twice-baked potato? What has happened here in Colorado? When did everything go so horribly wrong?

(I suggested under my breath that it was all the marywanna. But Marlboro Man and the kids didn’t hear me.)

After closer examination—i.e., after we all got over our initial trauma and took a bite—we discovered that they were simply reconstructed little twice-baked potatoes; but instead of potato halves, they used potato slices. A simple and clever twist on the twice-baked theme!

I’d been meaning to recreate these once we returned from our ski trip and I could move my limbs again, and yesterday I finally got around to it.

Deliciousness ensued!

First, scrub a bunch of russet potatoes till they’re really clean.

Dry them, set them on a baking sheet, and bake them at 375 for 30 minutes, or until they’re super tender.

While the taters are a-bakin’, fry up some bacon…

Until it’s nice and crisp but not burned but not chewy but perfectly crisp.

You got all that?

Good. Will you please explain it to me?

After the bacon is cooked, violently throw it onto a cutting board in a neat pile…

Then chop it up into small pieces. Then go hide it somewhere until you need it so you won’t accidentally eat it all with a spoon.

(That may or may not have happened in my kitchen once or dozens of times.)

The taters! They’re done!

So now the fun begins. Transfer the taters to a cutting board.

Then lop off the ends…

And slice them into nice, chunky slices. If I had any sense of measurement, I would at this time tell you to slice “half-inch” slices or “1-inch slices” or “three-fourths inch slices.”

But I’m not that kind of girl.

Keep going until they’re all sliced up. Throw the little annoying end pieces into a pile; you can decide later whether to work them into the mix or whether to kick them to the curb.

(I kicked them to the curb.)

Throw softened butter into a mixing bowl.

Then grab some sour cream (or Greek yogurt if you’re trying to be a good kid) and throw it into the bowl.

Now, this isn’t 100% required, but if you have them it makes the next step really easy: Grab some different biscuit cutters approximately the same size as the potato slices.

Now, since the potato slices are oblong in shape, you can slightly bend a round cutter to fit. (It’ll bend back, man!)

Then place it over one of the slices of potatoes, making sure the cutter fits inside the edge.

Then just press down…

And lift it out!

And that’s what you’ve got left! A nice little potato ring.

If you don’t want to bend your cutter, just squeeze the potato slice to conform!

Or, if you don’t have one that perfectly fits, just make one cut over to one side…

And a second cut over on the other side.

Keep on going…

And drop the potato rounds into the mixing bowl as you go. They’ll be nice and warm, so they’ll start melting the butter and warming the sour cream.

When you’ve finished cutting holes in all the potato slices, you’ll have a bunch of potato innards in the bowl. So add some milk…

Some salt…

Some pepper…

And the bacon…

Mix it on low using the paddle attachment until it’s all combined.

*Note: I’m using the mixer so the potato mixture will be really smooth, but you can just use a potato masher if that’s easier! Either one will work fine.

Then I added some grated cheese and, for a little more flavor because I tasted it and thought it was lacking in zip, a little seasoned salt.

Be sure to taste it when you’re finished mixing to make sure it’s absolutely perfect.

And…it’s perfect!

Now it’s time to fill the potato slices. Originally, I was going to use a piping bag, but decided a scoop would be easier.

As with the cutters, just find a scoop (or spoon!) that’s approximately the same size…

(You can see me there. Hi! *Waving*)

And fill the hole with potato filling.

And keep going until you’ve got them all filled. (You should have a little filling left over, which you can now eat as an appetizer.)

(You’re welcome.)

Next, use a spatula or knife to smooth out the surface.

*Note: I smoothed these out to be flush/even with the top of the peel, but I found out after baking them that it would actually have been better to overfill them a little. (They slightly sink after baking.) So mounding the filling is fine.

I wasn’t sure whether I’d prefer them plain or cheesy, so I did half with and half without.

Then I just baked them at 375 for about 8 minutes, then broiled them for about 4.

I stood watch while the broiler was on, because I didn’t want the cheese to burn—I just wanted it to go a little past that soft melted cheese stage and into the firmer melted cheese stage without going into the burned melted cheese stage.

GOSH DANG, I’M PICKY SOMETIMES!

Aren’t these fun? What I love about them is that they’re as perfect for a weeknight dinner as they would be for an elegant dinner party! And you can make them well in advance, keep them in the fridge, then just bake them off right before. Or even freeze them, unbaked!

The only tricky part is that if you try to remove them from the pan right away, the soft potato filling tends to stick/stay behind a little. So the remedy is to let them sit on the pan for a good 10 minutes before serving them. This actually is best anyway, because it gives the potatoes a chance to calm down and cool slightly.

A sprinkling of sliced green onions at the end is just what it needs to finish the job.

Hope you enjoy these, guys! They’re lots of fun…

And they have butter, sour cream, and cheese in them.

And that’s pretty much all that needs to be said.

Here’s the handy dandy printable!

Recipe

Slice-Baked Potatoes

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 8

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 whole Russet Potatoes, Scrubbed Clean
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1 stick Butter, Softened
• 3/4 cups Sour Cream
• 6 slices Thin Bacon, Fried Crisp And Chopped
• 1/2 cup Grated Cheddar-jack Cheese
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Seasoned Salt, To Taste
• 2 whole Green Onions, Sliced

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the skins are slightly crisp.

On a cutting board, cut off the very end pieces of each potato, then slice the potato into 3 to 4 equal slices. Lay the slices flat and use a round cutter or a spoon to remove most of the insides. Leave a very thin rim of potato around the edge for structure. As you go, dump the insides into a mixing bowl with the butter and sour cream.

Add milk and mix the potato mixture together until smooth. Add bacon, salt, pepper, seasoned salt, and cheese, and mix together. Taste and make sure the mixture is seasoned adequately.

Use a scoop or spoon to fill the potato slices with the potato mixture. Slightly mound the mixture in the slices, as it will settle after baking. Top with additional cheese if desired, and bake at 375 for 8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 4 minutes, watching very carefully so you won't burn them.

Remove from oven and let sit on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before removing with a spatula and serving. (Note: Filling will be soft, so the longer they sit after baking, the easier they'll be to remove.)

Can make these well in advance and keep in the fridge or freezer, unbaked!

Posted by Ree | The Pioneer Woman on March 6 2014