The Twice Baked Potato: Twice Baked

I love to cook. Love. But lets face it. I have four children, six and under. The opportunity to immerse myself in the kitchen doesn't always present itself. For this reason, I have several recipes in my arsenal that allow me to 're-purpose' (if you will) my meal into something else the next day. Last night we had a baked potato bar with our steaks. I loved bars of any kid, because the kids have fun being able to create their own meals, and I love seeing them get creative in the kitchen. Tonight, I will use the ingredients of my potato bar, to make Twice Baked Potatoes- a meal on its own if accompanied by a salad or other vegetable. I simply baked more potatoes than we would need last night, and saved them for tonight.

Twice Baked Potatoes don't have to be re-purposed... they are quite delicious on their own, or accompanying a meal at any time.  Personally?  I like the play on twice baking the twice baked (say that five times fast). 

First Bake: Baked Potato Bar

Ingredients

6-10 Russet potatoes (extra for the next night)

Sea Salt

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. While heating, scrub potatoes well. Pat dry and pierce skin several times with a fork. Pour a generous amount of sea salt on to a paper plate. Using you hands rub a generous amount of olive oil on the skin of each potato, and roll potatoes in salt. 

Place on oven rack. I tend to roast potatoes in the upper 3rd of my oven, placing a jelly-roll pan that's been lined with tin foil on the bottom rack underneath potatoes to catch any olive oil drips. Bake for 45-60 minutes, testing with fork for tenderness. The fork should go in easily when done.

For the potato bar, I simply provided butter, sour cream, chopped onions, crumbled bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese in bowls for people to add to their potatoes as desired-- then added the leftovers to my twice baked potatoes tonight.

Second Bake: Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

6 Baked Potatoes (see above)

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup of salted butter

1/2 cup of sour cream

4-6 green onions, sliced

6 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled (you can omit bacon if not handy, or if not using as a stand alone dish)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the top off of baked potatoes, leaving about 1/8 of an inch of potato flesh attached to skin, to provide some stability.

Using a spoon, scoop out potato flesh, leaving again 1/8 of an inch of potato on the inside so skin holds together. Place in bowl. Place hulled out potato skins into a baking dish, saving tops for later.

Do this for all six potatoes, and mash by hand using a potato masher or fork. Add cheese, sour cream, butter, onions, and bacon. Stir until combined. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture into potato skins, and cover with the removed top.  Return to oven and cook for 15-20 minutes more (if making immediately).

If this is a second bake - cook for 30-40 minutes until potato is hot throughout.

Tip: If you are using pre-cooked potatoes from the night before, you will need to melt the 1/4 of butter before adding to the potato flesh, as it will not be warm enough to melt the butter on it's own.

Roasted Cauliflower

I'm pretty sure Cauliflower must be one of the most underused vegetables around.  Most people think of cauliflower as the 'white broccoli' and that couldn't be further from the truth.  Cauliflower was my grandfather's favorite vegetable, and as a result it was served quite often in our family.  It's perfect by itself, simply steamed over boiling water until tender.  It's fabulous pureed, and almost tastes just like mashed potatoes when milk and butter are added. However, my most favorite way to have it? Roasted.  It's an easy side dish, and has a buttery quality to it, that makes it seem more decadent than it is.  Roasting brings out the flavor and when done right, will make it melt in your mouth.

Ingredients

2 Heads of cauliflower
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.  Cover the bottom of a jelly roll pan with tin foil. (Why? Because I'm lazy and like to avoid cleaning a pan... and it also helps you to avoid staining your pan with olive oil, keeping your pan looking clean for when you need to use it for a Texas sheet cake).

Peel leaves from the cauliflower, and cut into bite sized 'trees', place in bowl.  Using your hands toss cauliflower spears with olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper.  Spread cauliflower on tin foil, being careful not to overlap pieces.  Bake until slightly browned... about 20 minutes.

Ground Beef and Veggie Soup

Ingredients

Grapeseed oil

1/2-3/4 pound ground beef
2 Tbs of butter
The leaves of 3 sprigs of thyme
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup baby carrots, sliced
4 ribs of celery, sliced
2 zucchinis, chopped
4 cups of chicken stock
1 cup of macaroni salad pasta
Handful of Italian Parsley, remove leaves

Directions

Cover the bottom of a large Dutch oven with the Grapeseed oil. Heat on medium-high.  When warm, add the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. When browned, remove meat from pan and set to drain on paper towels. Add butter to pan. When melted, add onions, thyme, carrots, celery, garlic and zucchini, seasoning vegetables with salt and pepper after they have been added to the pan. Sauté until onions are translucent and other vegetables have softened.  Add chicken stock and drained meat, and bring to a boil. When boiling, add the pasta and lower heat to a simmer. Simmer soup for 20 minutes. Add parsley leaves before serving.

Garlic Rice

Favorite side dish, ever.  I eat it plain, with Korean ribs, teriyaki vegetables, or directly out of the pot with a spoon...

Ingredients

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups of white rice, I use basmatic

4 cups of chicken stock

4 TBS unsalted butter

1 tsp salt

2 tsp garlic powder

6 green onions, chopped

Directions

Heat olive oil in saucepan. Use just enough to cover the bottom. Add minced garlic to oil, sauté til translucent.  Add 2 cups of rinsed rice and sauté with garlic until the rice starts to brown, a few minutes. Pour in 4 cups (1 box) of chicken stock and bring to boil.
Cover, turn down heat to low, and cook until almost all the liquid has disappeared(15-20 minutes) . Add green onions to rice along with 4Tbs of butter, salt and garlic powder. Stir and let sit  until liquid fully incorporated.

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

And now? I'm addicted to butternut squash soup.

I know I just posted a Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, I know... but it's fall, and it's yummy, and it's all I can think about.  So here, is an extremely simple variation.  It's a little bit creamier, a little bit richer, and just as tasty.

You're welcome...

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

Olive Oil

4 cups of chicken broth

Sour cream

A handful of chives, minced 

Salt and pepper to taste

4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions

Slice off top and bottom of squash, this will help you get a better handle on the rind, which you will then peel off (this is most easily done, by using a serrated peeler, takes the skin right off).  Then, slice the squash in half, lengthwise and remove pulp and seeds.  Cut the rest of the squash in roughly 1/2 inch pieces. 

Coat the bottom of a large dutch oven with olive oil.  When heated, add squash and saute until soft, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  When squash is easily pierced with a fork, add chopped apples. Turn heat to low, and continue to saute until you are able to mash both squash and apples with a fork... 5-10 minutes. Add in 2 cups of the chicken stock, and use an immersion blender to puree squash and apples.  Continue to add in the rest of the chicken stock.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes. 

When ready to serve, add 1 TBSP of sour cream to the top of each bowl of soup. Sprinkle with 1 TBSP of chives (I use kitchen shears, and snip off chives directly onto bowl), and several pieces of bacon. 

Although I'm not sure there is ever an occasion that warrants it, you could leave out the bacon, substitute vegetable broth, and you've got a simple vegetarian dish...

Pumpkin Custard Pie

It's no secret that fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the holidays, the traditions, and of course...the food. The best part about the food?  The smells.  Fall means soups, stews, and roasting meats and vegetables. The whole house is perfumed by the smells emanating from the oven.

Yesterday was Halloween-- and as part of the school celebration, the kids classes were having potluck lunch parties.  I made fruit plates, and salads, and my favorite fall treat-- pumpkin pie.

My pumpkin pie is a little different that the traditional, it's much less dense, and more custard like. It's not as heavy, and? In my opinion? Much, much tastier.

Ingredients

Pie Crust

Use your favorite pie crust recipe, mix, uncooked store-bought, or mine (once I post it).  If using pre-made, I prefer the Betty Crocker boxed pie mix.  I use the entire box, adding water as directed, and combining by fork until water is incorporated.  You should be able to gather the dough in a ball and place in an ungreased, deep quiche pan. I use my fingers to spread out over bottom and sides of pan, crimping the top to create an even look.  Prick bottom and sides in a circular pattern with a fork.


Filling
1 sugar pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 t salt
1 heaping tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
2 cups whole milk

Cut the top (with stem) and bottom of pumpkin to create a flat surface.  Cut the pumpkin in half, and remove seeds and pulp.  Place pumpkin, center down, on a parchment paper lined jelly roll pan. Pierce the skin with a fork. Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

Remove Pumpkin from oven and scoop out pulp. Set aside to cool, and raise oven temp to 450 degrees.

In a saucepan, bring milk just to boiling and remove from heat.  Set aside.

In an electric mixer, beat eggs until fluffy and light in color.

In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and flour, until combined. Add to eggs and blend until combined. Stir in milk a little at a time.

Add pumpkin and beat on low for 1-2 minutes. Pour mixture into pie shell.  Cover top edge of pie crust with tin foil.

Bake in oven for 5 minutes.  Turn heat down to 350 and bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  After 30 minutes, remove tin foil. The pie is done when the middle is firm, if you jiggle the pan. You can also insert a bread knife into the center of the custard-- if it comes out clean, it's ready.

(Disclaimer: If you wanted to, you could substitute 4 heaping TBS of canned pumpkin for the fresh).

Brussel Sprouts with Apples and Bacon

Brussel sprouts - if you love them, you want to eat them constantly, if you hate them, it's because you haven't had them like this. When I was growing up, Brussel Sprouts were found in the frozen food aisle, and tasted acidic and bitter. It wasn't until I made them for my children, that I realized how delicious they could be.  We eat them in some form, at least once a week.  When we are grocery shopping, at least one of my kids will point to them and exclaim loudly, "lets get Brussel Sprouts!" Undoubtedly, some random shopper will make a shocked comment about my veggie loving children - and yes, I'm not too proud to admit that, when this happens, I give myself an internal high five.

Although delicious any way you make them- this is by far, our favorite.

What you need:

3 Small Bags of fresh Brussels (about one large stalk, or 60ish individual sprouts)

1 package of nitrate free, applewood smoked bacon

4 Gala apples

Fill bottom of double boiler with water- bring to a boil. Cut the bottom off of each sprout, and halve them, peeling off the outer leaves in the process. Rinse and set in vegetable strainer. Place over boiling water and cover. Steam until sprouts are bright green, and just tender (they will finish cooking later).

In the meantime, peel, core, and dice apples. 

Dice bacon into approximately 1/4 inch squares. Add to skillet that has been heated on stove. Cook bacon until browned, being careful to stir frequently so bottom of pan doesn't burn. Add apples to bacon, and saute for 5 minutes in bacon fat.  Add steamed Brussels to pan, coating with bacon fat.  Add a pinch of salt. Saute for 5 more minutes and serve immediately.

For a slight flavor variation, stir in the leaves from 5 stalks of fresh thyme, just before serving..