Easy Appetizers: Potato Skins

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Posted in appetizers, deep flexipan, Large round mold, octogonal silpat, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I had a  party to cater this past Sunday, and one of the item that I was asked to cook was  double-baked potatoes. This is one of the easiest appetizers in the world! and it is so yummy. Moreover it is the perfect appetizer for Super Bowl, and Thanksgiving football;-)

How do you prepare your double-baked potatoes? I cooked them in the microwave first, cut the top off and scoop the inside of the potato out to make mashed potatoes that I later use to refill the potato skins. Well every time I make double baked potatoes I am left with a choice to make: keep the tops and make Potato Skins or scoop up the potato out of each top and trash the skin.

Of course, if you wanted to ONLY make potato skins, you would need to bake potatoes and cut 3 potato skins out of one potato.So this is the recipe that I am proposing now.

Ingredients for 15 potato skins:

  • 5 large baked potatoes or russet potatoes
  • 1 cup of bacon bits 
  • 1 cup of cheddar cheese ( I like Sharp)
  • Sour cream and chopped chives ( optional)

Clean the potatoes by rinsing them under running water and scrubbing them with a sponge. Make a tiny slit on the top side of the potato as shown below to prevent the potato from exploding. Place 4 potatoes in the large round mold, place the octogonal silpat on top of the round mold and cook the potato for 18 minutes. If you are making baked potatoes, you will only cut the top of each potato, and use the top to make potato skins. If you are only making Potato Skins, then you will  slice the top of the potato, turn the potato on its side and cut another top, and repeat. You should be able to cut 3 “potato skins” per potato.

Turn on the oven at 475. Lay the potato skins on the large silpat or a flexipat that you would have placed on a large perforated sheet and place each skin face up. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of bacon on each skin, then sprinkle 1 tbsp of cheddar cheese.

Place the tray in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and is crispy. Remove them from the oven, place them on a tray with a small bowl of sour cream and another bowl of chopped chives and let your guest help themselves to the sour cream. Or you can just add a dollop of sour cream to the Potato skin, top the sour cream with chopped chives and serve. Et voila! So yummy!!!

Bon Appetit and happy Cooking!!!