Homemade Potato Skins

Cheese, bacon, potato. What's not to love? Throw some green onions and a dollop of sour cream and you've got yourself a well rounded meal. Forget about the calories and just eat yourself happy!

I decided to make a double batch of potato skins because I had two dinner parties last weekend. Let me tell you, they got scarfed down in rapid succession. If I concentrate really hard I can still taste the cheesy bacony goodness.

I really don't even think this requires a recipe.. But here's a willy nilly instruction set...

Bake some russet potatoes and let them cool. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the middles, leaving about a 1/4 inch of potato. If you like them skinnier, scrape out more potato. Keep the skins in the fridge until you are ready to use them. If you want to make them ahead, pop them in the freezer in ziplock bags.

Preheat your oven to 400. Line a pan with tinfoil. Place the potatoes upside down, so that the skins are face up. Brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Bake for about ten minutes until they are quite firm.

Take them out and flip them akin side down and sprinkle your favourite cheese in each one. Don't be skimpy, there is no such thing as too much cheese! FYI: I used a tex mex mix. Next sprinkle them with bacon. It's obviously best if you fry the bacon and crumble it up, but pre-made bacon bits will do the trick.

Put it all back in the oven for ten minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Sprinkle them with chopped green onions and serve with sour cream or greek yogurt!

garlic & cheddar biscuits

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup butter, melted 1 clove garlic, minced

Alterations and substitutions:
I doubled the recipe and ended up making about 30 bisucits.
I used soy milk instead of cow's.
I added a whole whack of flaky pepper. Note: The Vetter's pepper has an amazing kick to it, I think it might be Costco pepper. I am considering 'borrowing' some for my own personal pepper stash.
I added garlic powder and garlic salt.
I added about 1/4 cup of parm cheese on a whim
Next time I bake these at my house I will substitute half the white flour for whole wheat. I am also thinking that including bacon in these would be amazing. Maybe even chives and making it like an entire meal in one small biscuit. I will scour allrecipes and see if there is anything similar.

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add the milk and cheddar cheese; stir to combine. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. While biscuits are baking mix melted butter and minced garlic. Brush garlic butter over hot baked biscuits.

Note: Working with dough always makes me nervous. Overmixing is so easy to do and produces disasterous results that are usually unsalvageable. So I tried my best not to overmix. I think i did reasonably well. They say to put them on the baking sheet by the spoonful, but I made them into balls using my hands and patted into a reasonable shape. Some of the reviews I read said to roll out the dough and cut into rounds. I might try that next time. Perhaps add some extra baking powder to get the extra volume.

I brought these to work and they went over well. Both Kimberly and Phyllis (who are the baker's in the office) asked for the recipe. They are obviously best fresh out of the oven, but are decently edible after a brief stint in the microwave. I have a fear of butter and the things it will do to my arteries, so I almost skipped the step of brushing them with garlic butter. This would be a huge mistake, the garlic butter makes them unbelievably scrumptious.

I have frozen approximately ten of them to store in the freezer. Next visiter at the penthouse gets a sample!

Thanks again to allrecipes and those who submit and review recipes there. Scouring that sight has proven to be the highlight of my sad sad life (insert emo song here).