Literal Cooking: Twice-Baked Potatoes

This is a great make-ahead recipe and while it takes some time, it's really easy. I like to overstuff the potatoes so there is usually one or two halves of the skin leftover for potato skins. To make potato skins, I slice the skins into a few pieces, spray them with oil and bake at 400° for 5 minutes or so. They are a great pre-dinner snack and Chris really loves them. I like to serve these with steak, pork tenderloin or any other grilled meat. They are also great leftover for lunch with a salad on the side. This recipe is one of my own.

Time: 2 hours
Serves: 3 (or 2 with leftovers)

Ingredients

3 russet potatoes
kosher salt
olive oil
2 TBSP buttermilk
2 TBSP butter
3 TBSP sour cream
1/3 cup of cheddar cheese
3 pieces of bacon
2 green onions

Cook

Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 400°
Rinse off your potatoes and prick them each a few times with the tines of a fork. This allows the steam to escape while they cook.
Add about 1 TBSP of kosher salt to a small plate. Rub a little olive oil all over each potato with your hands and then roll each of them in the salt. This will make the skins really yummy.
Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Carefully take the potatoes out of the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes. (Note: if you just want plain old baked potatoes, you can serve them now - this is how I always do mine!)
While your potatoes are cooking and/or cooling, cook your bacon and crumble it. I cook my bacon in the microwave on paper towels but just cook it however you like. Also, grate your cheddar cheese and slice your green onions.
Once the potatoes are cool, slice each one in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh of each potato half into a bowl, leaving about 1/4 inch of potato in each skin.

Use a potato masher to smash the potato flesh.
To the bowl with the potato flesh, add your 2 TBSP buttermilk, 2 TBSP butter, 3 TBSP sour cream, about 2/3 of the cheese and the crumbled bacon. You'll also need to add salt and pepper - start with 1 tsp of salt, stir and taste to see if it needs more.