Twice Baked Potatoes With Basil And Sour Cream Recipes

TWICE BAKED POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Thoroughly wash and dry the potatoes. Wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven. Poke holes in the potatoes and return to the oven for another 30 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.
• Meanwhile, fry and crumble the bacon. Chop the scallions.
• Remove the potatoes and cool for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• Slice off the top 1/3 of each potato lengthwise. Holding each potato with a clean towel, hollow out the potato skins with a spoon leaving about 1/4 inch of the potato on the inside to prevent it from falling apart during baking.
• In a large bowl, combine potato interior, butter, sour cream, 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese, heavy cream, milk, salt, and pepper. Mash until smooth. Stir in bacon and scallions. Fill each potato skin with the mashed potato mixture.
• Top with the remaining 2 cups of cheddar cheese. Sprinkle each with chili powder as desired. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts.
• Top with additional dollops of sour cream, if desired, and serve immediately.

TWICE-BAKED POTATOES

Steps:

• Position racks in the top and middle of the oven, and heat oven to 400 degrees. Take the butter out of the refrigerator to soften. Scrub the potatoes clean and pat them dry. Poke holes all over them with a fork. In a large bowl, toss them with the oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place the potatoes directly on the top rack, and place a baking sheet or a piece of foil on the middle rack to catch drips. Bake for about 1 hour, until the skin is crisp and potatoes offer no resistance when a knife is inserted in their centers. Remove from the oven and let sit until cool enough to handle.
• Slice the top third lengthwise off the potatoes. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh, leaving 1/4-inch border of potato on the skin, and transfer the flesh to a medium bowl. Scrape the potato tops of all flesh, and add the flesh to the bowl. Place the bottoms on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (Snack on the tops - chef's treat - or discard.)
• Mash the potato flesh with a fork or potato masher. Add the butter, and stir until smooth (try not to overwork). Add the milk, sour cream and cheese and stir to combine. (If you want the filling softer, add more milk.) Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in the chives, if using.
• Mound each potato skin with a quarter of the filling. Bake the potatoes until warmed through, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

ULTIMATE TWICE BAKED POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
• When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
• Bake for another 15 minutes.

BEST TWICE-BAKED POTATOES

Steps:

• Microwave (or bake in oven at 400 for 1hr) the potatoes until done.
• Allow to cool a bit.
• Slice about a 1" strip of the skin off the top of each potato.
• Carefully scoop out the pulp, placing in a large bowl, and leaving potato shells intact.
• Mash the potato pulp along with the margarine.
• Add milk, sour cream, cheese, salt and pepper; combining well.
• Spoon the mixture back into the potato shells, piling high.
• Top with the crumbled bacon or bacon bits.
• Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

CREAMY TWICE-BAKED POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Scrub and dry potatoes, then prick several times with a fork and place on a baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
• Reduce oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cut a thin slice off the top of each potato; scoop out pulp and place in a small bowl. Beat potato flesh, butter, milk, and salt with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Fold cream cheese and sour cream into potatoes; spoon mixture into potato shells. Sprinkle with paprika and place on a baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until heated through and tops are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

CREAMY TWICE-BAKED POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Pierce potatoes and bake on a baking sheet until tender, about 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, cut a thin slice off the top of each potato and discard. Scoop out pulp, leaving a thin shell., In a small bowl, mash the pulp with butter, milk and salt. Stir in cream cheese and sour cream. Spoon into potato shells. Sprinkle with paprika., Place on a baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, until heated through and tops are golden brown, 20-25 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with parsley and green onions.

TWICE-BAKED POTATOES WITH BASIL AND SOUR CREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. With a fork prick potatoes and on a baking sheet bake in middle of oven 1 hour, or until tender. Leave oven on. When potatoes are just cool enough to handle, halve lengthwise and scoop flesh into a 3-quart saucepan, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shells.
• With a potato masher mash potatoes in saucepan with 3 tablespoons butter. Stir in milk and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer shells to baking sheet and brush insides with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Season shells with salt and pepper. Mashed potatoes and shells may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat mashed potatoes before proceeding.
• Bake potato shells in middle of oven until golden, about 20 minutes. While shells are baking, cut basil into thin strips and stir about three fourths into warm mashed potatoes. Spoon mashed potatoes into shells and bake until heated through, about 10 minutes. Serve each potato half topped with 1/2 tablespoon sour cream and some remaining basil.