Loaded Potato Skins

Apparently potato skins were particularly popular and "fashionable" in the 1980's, but we are still huge fans.  They're a filling side starch or appetizer, they're easy to customize, and best of all... You can use the leftover potato flesh to make gnocchi the day after!   My next post will cover that, but for now, let's get to the tater skins.

Recipe batch with jalapenos

A previous batch, with scallions

First, you need these bad boys baked.  I normally use small russets, rub them down with a little vegetable oil and sprinkle them with salt.  Then plop them in the 400* preheated oven (directly on the center rack) for an hour, flipping them over halfway through.

Scooped and ready to roll

Once cooked, carefully remove potatoes with tongs and let them chill out on the counter for a little bit.  Once cool enough, slice them in half and scoop most of the potato flesh out.  There should still be a thin layer of potato on the skins so try to avoid tearing the skin up to avoid leakage later.  The scooped out flesh can be used in other recipes.  Mashed potato is a good option, but I really like making gnocchi, A.K.A. potato pasta dumplings!  I'll get to that in the next post~ They're delicious pillows of potato goodness.

"Save me! I still have potato-y potential!"

Now is the time to season the tubers!  Sprinkle a tiny bit of salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne into the emptied potatoes, or whatever seasonings you prefer!  Old Bay is great, Cajun seasoning is also awesome.  Now, the toppings!  Sharp cheddar cheese is my favorite, especially sprinkled with bacon bits.  A little goes a long way with both of these ingredients.

Topped and ready to bake!

Once your seasoning, cheese, and bacon are down, plop the potatoes on a cookie sheet and let melt and sizzle in a 450* oven for 5 or 6 minutes.  Once the cheese has melted, remove from oven and top with sour cream, scallions, jalapenos, whatever you'd like!  I sprinkle on a little extra cayenne too.  It's good for you, or something.

LOADED BAKED POTATOES

Ingredients:

7 or 8 small russet potatoes

A few drops of vegetable oil

1.5 cups sharp cheddar cheese

3 T bacon bits

1/3 cup sour cream

2 diced jalapenos and/or 2 chopped scallions

Salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 400* F

Rub potatoes with a few drops of vegetable oil, sprinkle with salt

Place potatoes directly on middle oven rack, cook 30 minutes

Flip potatoes, cook another 30 minutes

Remove.  Once cooled, cut potatoes in half

Scoop most of the flesh out, reserve in bowl for other recipes

Sprinkle scooped out skins with salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne

Preheat oven to 450* F

Top with a T or so of cheese and a pinch of bacon bits

Place topped potatoes on baking sheet, cook 5-6 more minutes until cheese is fully melted and bubbling

Finish up the skins with a dollop of sour cream, a few pieces of jalapenos and/or scallions, and a sprinkle of cayenne

DONE!

Experiment: Teeny Tiny Deviled Quail Eggs!

Like many people, I love miniaturized versions of things.  "What is this, a center for ants?" as Derek Zoolander would say.  So I came up with a random idea... Deviled eggs "for ants".

Standard chicken egg for scale

So teeny!

They're as big as his thumb

I'll go through the process in case anyone is curious about the method I used!  It was a fun project and they tasted great.  I'm a huge fan of deviled eggs and these turned out much better than I expected.

Quail eggs!

I picked up a pack of 15 quail eggs for ~$3 at the local Asian market.  A bit pricey for so little egg-matter, but the novelty of it was so worth it to me.

Surprisingly easy to peel!

I did some research on how long to cook quail eggs so that the yolks are set (but still yellow) and how to avoid a rubbery white.  I compared recipes and settled on bringing the eggs to a boil in salted room temperature water with 2 T of white vinegar mixed in.  Once boiling, turned down to medium and cooked for 5 minutes.  Make sure to put them in a bath of ice water once done so they stop cooking!

After cooling the eggs for 5 minutes, I gathered the courage to peel.  It was surprisingly easy!  Apparently the vinegar breaks down some of the calcium in the shell, so you can almost just pinch the shell and start peeling.

Carefully sliced open.  Big yolks!

The yolks are quite large in comparison to the white, so I tried to slice them with the yolk as centered as possible to avoid tearing (you can see a bit of the yolk through the white in areas).  Very pleased with the texture and color of the yolk!

Mixing up filling, same as regular sized eggs!

Hands down, the most difficult part was scooping out the yolks!  They're so small and difficult to handle.  But with some patience I got them out with minimal white tearing.

Mash the yolks up with a fork before adding your favorite deviled egg ingredients.  I go with mayo, mustard, hot sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne.  Relish and Worcestershire sauce go great too.

Egg whites ready for filling in small sandwich bag

After mixing up your filling and tasting for seasoning, plop it into a sandwich bag and snip off the tip.  Pipe filling in and dust the tops with paprika or cayenne.  So tiny!!

Also, COMPLETELY unrelated, but I cooked the couple quail eggs remaining "sunny side up".  It cooks quickly but was delicious on some ramen.  Here's a picture!

One bite worth of fried egg

DEVILED QUAIL EGGS

Ingredients:

~12 quail eggs

2 T white vinegar

4 cups water + pinch of salt

1 T mayonnaise

1 t yellow or spicy brown mustard

Pinch of salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne to taste

Paprika or cayenne to garnish

Method:

Place quail eggs in salted room temperature water, mixed with white vinegar

Set temperature to "HIGH" and boil water

Once boiling, lower temperature to "MEDIUM" and cook 5 minutes

Remove eggs from water and place in ice bath

After 5 minutes of cooling, peel eggs and slice in half

Remove yolks and smash with fork or hands

Add mayo, mustard, and spices to mixture

Stuff mixture into plastic baggie, snip off corner

Pipe into egg whites and top with paprika or cayenne

DONE!