Baked: Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Subject: Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Damsel (Damselicious at gmail.com)
Date: 31 Oct 2005 18:14:35 -0800
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Crash had turned away from his monitor a few minutes ago, and a gentleman had asked how to make stuffed potatoes. I'm going to bed, but I still think Bill would appreciate some help here.

Thanks!
Damsel Spud
From: karen (grismalkin at aol.com)
Date: 31 Oct 2005 18:30:56 -0800
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Damsel wrote:
> Crash had turned away from his monitor a few minutes ago, and a
> gentleman had asked how to make stuffed potatoes. I'm going to bed,
> but I still think Bill would appreciate some help here.

I was talking with Bill and I lost my connection before I could give any advice.
I am not the expert on these. I have usually baked potatoes, scooped out the flesh, mixed it with butter and cheese and put it back into the shells to bake at 350 for maybe 15 minutes. They were okay. Someone must have a better recipe.
From: Marcella Peek (marcella at extra.peek.org)
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:55:07 -0800
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karen wrote:
> I am not the expert on these. I have usually baked potatoes, scooped
> out the flesh, mixed it with butter and cheese and put it back into the
> shells to bake at 350 for maybe 15 minutes. They were okay. Someone
> must have a better recipe.

Mine are similar except I make mashed potatoes with the butter, cheese, salt, pepper and milk. Put back in the skin, sprinkle with a bit more cheese and bake. The puff a bit like souffled potatoes.
From: jmcquown (jmcquown at bellsouth.net)
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 21:00:31 -0600
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Marcella Peek wrote:
> Mine are similar except I make mashed potatoes with the butter,
> cheese, salt, pepper and milk. Put back in the skin, sprinkle with a
> bit more cheese and bake. The puff a bit like souffled potatoes.

I do mine the same way. Crumbled bacon and minced green onion or snipped chives also makes a nice addition.
From: Mr Libido Incognito (Not at vaild.null)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 03:31:49 -0000
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karen wrote:
> I am not the expert on these. I have usually baked potatoes, scooped
> out the flesh, mixed it with butter and cheese and put it back into the
> shells to bake at 350 for maybe 15 minutes. They were okay. Someone
> must have a better recipe.

I bake the forked twice (so they won't explode), oiled and lightly salted spuds at 400F (without using foil) for 1 hour plus. At 1 hour I test the crispness of the potato skin by feeling it with my hand...I'm looking for a russling sound and a very dry feeling skin. Once the skins are crisp enough I remove them from the oven and slice them in half the longest way and scoop out most of the potato innards into a bowl. I mash the potato up with some butter, a dash of cream, salt, lots of fresh ground black pepper and other stuff...such as celery seeds, cheddar cheese, roasted garlic, diced mushroom, diced green bell pepper and crumbled cooked bacon (whatever turns your crank basically). I don't like the potato too be too mashed so I stop at a kinda crumbled appearance. I scoop everything back in the skins...sprinkle on some additional cheddar cheese and return them to the oven for the cheese to melt. Then serve

Note...use a towel to hold the extremely hot potato halves while you use a tablespoon to remove their innards. So you don't burn your little fingers.

Oh I forgot to mention... scrub the spuds really clean before you start.
From: aem (aem_again at yahoo.com)
Date: 31 Oct 2005 19:38:17 -0800
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Mr Libido Incognito wrote:
> I remove them from the oven and slice them in half the longest way and
> scoop out most of the potato innards into a bowl. I mash the potato up with
> some butter, a dash of cream, salt, lots of fresh ground black pepper and
> other stuff...such as celery seeds, cheddar cheese, roasted garlic, diced
> mushroom, diced green bell pepper and crumbled cooked bacon (whatever turns
> your crank basically). I don't like the potato too be too mashed so I stop
> at a kinda crumbled appearance. I scoop everything back in the
> skins...sprinkle on some additional cheddar cheese and return them to the
> oven for the cheese to melt. Then serve

So you're turning one thing into another. Fine, but I wonder whether folks who do this ever just leave the thing alone and have a nice baked potato? Is all this other stuff a now and then thing or the usual thing? -aem
From: ~patches~ (noones_home at thisaddress.com)
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 23:24:24 -0500
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aem wrote:
> So you're turning one thing into another. Fine, but I wonder whether
> folks who do this ever just leave the thing alone and have a nice baked
> potato? Is all this other stuff a now and then thing or the usual
> thing? -aem

We make stuffed potatoes on occasion as a meal. We add a little bacon or ham along with chives and whatever strikes our fancy or just top with homemade chili sauce. Then we add a large salad for a filling but light, easy dinner.
From: Nancy Young (qwerty at monmouth.com)
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 23:23:57 -0500
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~patches~ wrote:
> We make stuffed potatoes on occasion as a meal. We add a little bacon or
> ham along with chives and whatever strikes our fancy or just top with
> homemade chili sauce. Then we add a large salad for a filling but light,
> easy dinner.

Reminds me that for a time, maybe 15 years ago or so? that stuffed potato restaurants were popular. I never went to one, but I understand you'd buy a baked potato and stuff it with whatever from a salad bar type thing. Not a bad meal, I think.
From: Melba's Jammin' (barbs.challer at earthfink.net.invalid)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 07:07:18 -0600
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Nancy Young wrote:
> Reminds me that for a time, maybe 15 years ago or so? that
> stuffed potato restaurants were popular. I never went to one, but
> I understand you'd buy a baked potato and stuff it with whatever
> from a salad bar type thing. Not a bad meal, I think.

Niece Patty used to do a baked potato bar thang on Christmas Eve or something for her late husband's family. She'd bake a mess of huge bakers and then provide toppings for individual selection - chili, broccoli and cheese, taco-type fixings. Sounded like a good plan to me.
From: Nancy Young (qwerty at monmouth.com)
Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 08:29:35 -0500
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Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Niece Patty used to do a baked potato bar thang on Christmas Eve or
> something for her late husband's family. She'd bake a mess of huge
> bakers and then provide toppings for individual selection - chili,
> broccoli and cheese, taco-type fixings. Sounded like a good plan to me.

That's a terrific idea. And if someone is not eating potatoes, there will probably be enough of the toppings selection to satisfy. You could put a little toaster oven at the end to heat up the toppings or melt the cheese, whatever.
From: Melba's Jammin' (barbs.challer at earthfink.net.invalid)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 15:40:35 -0600
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Nancy Young wrote:
> That's a terrific idea. And if someone is not eating potatoes, there will
> probably be enough of the toppings selection to satisfy. You could put
> a little toaster oven at the end to heat up the toppings or melt the cheese,
> whatever.

I think she had a spate of crockpots holding the toppings.
From: ~patches~ (noones_home at thisaddress.com)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:06:19 -0500
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Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Niece Patty used to do a baked potato bar thang on Christmas Eve or
> something for her late husband's family. She'd bake a mess of huge
> bakers and then provide toppings for individual selection - chili,
> broccoli and cheese, taco-type fixings. Sounded like a good plan to me.

Another thing you can do is baked potato skins and save the innards for mashed potatoes or potato patties. DH loves baked potato skins. He first had them in a sports bar and asked if I could duplicate them. They are perfect finger food for watching hockey :)
From: Tara (jarvis57 at ix.netcom.com)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 22:53:13 GMT
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Nancy Young wrote:
>Reminds me that for a time, maybe 15 years ago or so? that
>stuffed potato restaurants were popular. I never went to one, but
>I understand you'd buy a baked potato and stuff it with whatever
>from a salad bar type thing. Not a bad meal, I think.

My husband used to live a few blocks from a little stuffed potato stand in Metairie, LA. The potatoes were _huge_. I have never seen such a big potato before or since. They had all kinds of toppings -- barbeque, chili, taco meat, shrimp. It was fun.

Max and Whit's supper last night was baked potato roughly mashed up with butter, a dash of salt, and the guts from some leftover kale quiche. So, anything tastes good mashed up with potato!
From: Dan Abel (dabel at sonic.net)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 04:32:27 GMT
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karen wrote:
> I was talking with Bill and I lost my connection before I could give
> any advice.
> I am not the expert on these. I have usually baked potatoes, scooped
> out the flesh, mixed it with butter and cheese and put it back into the
> shells to bake at 350 for maybe 15 minutes. They were okay. Someone
> must have a better recipe.

I cook the potatoes in the microwave. Cook up some "trees" (broccoli) while they are cooking. Add butter and white pepper to the innards. While mashing, add milk until you like the texture. We usually salt at the table, but some salt might be good also here. Cut up some green onion and the "trees". Mix and stuff shells. Put grated cheddar cheese on top. Bake in oven until cheese is melted. It's a whole dinner by itself.
From: Melba's Jammin' (barbs.challer at earthfink.net.invalid)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 07:05:35 -0600
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Dan Abel wrote:
> I cook the potatoes in the microwave. Cook up some "trees" (broccoli)
> while they are cooking. Add butter and white pepper to the innards.
> While mashing, add milk until you like the texture. We usually salt at
> the table, but some salt might be good also here. Cut up some green
> onion and the "trees". Mix and stuff shells. Put grated cheddar cheese
> on top. Bake in oven until cheese is melted. It's a whole dinner by
> itself.

Dan, doesn't nuking make for a too-tender skin for scooping? Maybe not, since you DO it. :-)
From: Dan Abel (dabel at sonic.net)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 19:01:51 GMT
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Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Dan, doesn't nuking make for a too-tender skin for scooping? Maybe not,
> since you DO it. :-)

Works fine for us. It depends on a number of factors. You need to leave some flesh in there to hold it together, and sometimes you have a slip of the spoon and the skin is broken. Sometimes we just go ahead and use that one anyway. Sometimes I call that a "sacrifice to the Potato God". Just scoop out all the flesh and that makes more stuffing for the rest.
From: bob at buzzbeer.com
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 16:57:21 +0000 (UTC)
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: I am not the expert on these. I have usually baked potatoes, scooped
: out the flesh, mixed it with butter and cheese and put it back into the
: shells to bake at 350 for maybe 15 minutes. They were okay. Someone
: must have a better recipe.

Ya'll are talking about TWICE BAKED POTATOES, not Stuffed potatoes. Stuffed potatoes are where you remove some of the potato inside and replace it with something else like a meat or vegetable mixture.
From: Dave Smith (adavid.smith at sympatico.ca)
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 23:15:53 -0500
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Damsel wrote:
> Crash had turned away from his monitor a few minutes ago, and a
> gentleman had asked how to make stuffed potatoes. I'm going to bed,
> but I still think Bill would appreciate some help here.

We just had them the other day for the first time in many years and they were so good I think we will be doing them again. Bake the potatoes, slice off the tops and scoop out the insides. Mash them with a bit of milk, add some grated Parmesan, then put the potato mixture back into the skins, brush with a bit of melted butter and put them under the broiler until they start to brown.
From: kilikini (kilikini at NOSPAMtampabay.rr.com)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 08:55:52 GMT
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Damsel wrote:
> Crash had turned away from his monitor a few minutes ago, and a
> gentleman had asked how to make stuffed potatoes. I'm going to bed,
> but I still think Bill would appreciate some help here.

I bake 'em, dig out the insides and mix the insides with sour cream, butter, ham or bacon, broccoli, cheese, whatever, and then put the insides back in and BROIL until golden. I think the key is to add a bunch of butter and cheese to the insides, and you need to mash the mixture to the consistency of regular mashed potatoes. My friends and family have always begged me for my double stuffed 'taters. The only reason my hubby doesn't is 'cause he's trying to do low carb and won't eat a potato. If he tried mine, he would probably be HUGE.
From: Bill (bigc300 at carolina.rr.com)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:10:43 -0500
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Damsel wrote:
>Crash had turned away from his monitor a few minutes ago, and a
>gentleman had asked how to make stuffed potatoes. I'm going to bed,
>but I still think Bill would appreciate some help here.

Thanks for the assist!
From: Bill (bigc300 at carolina.rr.com)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:17:04 -0500
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Damsel wrote:
>Crash had turned away from his monitor a few minutes ago, and a
>gentleman had asked how to make stuffed potatoes. I'm going to bed,
>but I still think Bill would appreciate some help here.

I do appreciate all the responses to my online "chat" question last night! Apparently, from the responses I have gotten I need to forget about scooping out the potatoes and whirling them in my "diesel powered" KitchenAid! Sounds like most of you just mix them with a fork or something similar?
From: Dan Abel (dabel at sonic.net)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 11:15:19 GMT
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Bill wrote:
> I do appreciate all the responses to my online "chat" question last
> night! Apparently, from the responses I have gotten I need to forget
> about scooping out the potatoes and whirling them in my "diesel
> powered" KitchenAid! Sounds like most of you just mix them with a fork
> or something similar?

I have a potato masher. It takes about a minute for a bunch of spuds, and leaves them pretty chunky. Probably another two minutes and they wouldn't be so chunky.

Whatever floats your boat. I like them chunky, but if you want them pureed that would be good also.
From: kilikini (kilikini at NOSPAMtampabay.rr.com)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 11:16:03 GMT
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Bill wrote:
> I do appreciate all the responses to my online "chat" question last
> night! Apparently, from the responses I have gotten I need to forget
> about scooping out the potatoes and whirling them in my "diesel
> powered" KitchenAid! Sounds like most of you just mix them with a fork
> or something similar?

I mash them with a fork or a potato masher while the other ingredients are in there. IOW, I scoop out the insides, mix the insides with my fillings (butter, cheese, sour cream, broccoli, etc.) and mash them all together with a fork or masher. It blends everything, requires very little clean up and it doesn't take very long. Then, broil to bubbly goodness. Yum.
From: Melba's Jammin' (barbs.challer at earthfink.net.invalid)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 07:03:17 -0600
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Bill wrote:
> I do appreciate all the responses to my online "chat" question last
> night! Apparently, from the responses I have gotten I need to forget
> about scooping out the potatoes and whirling them in my "diesel
> powered" KitchenAid! Sounds like most of you just mix them with a fork
> or something similar?

Bill, mashing spuds in a food processor is a bad idea unless you want to make glue. Somebody will tell you the scientific reason why, I'm sure, or you can research it yourself. In fact, see what the KA manual might say about it. Mash with a potato masher or use an electric mixer. (Am assuming that 'whirling' them meant food processor, not mixer with wire beaters.)
From: Steve Y (steverubbish at wanadoo.fr)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 13:07:11 +0100
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I add cooked-seasoned minced beef to the innards of the cooked potatoes, mix well and put back into to the "shells" with grated cheese on top. Then return to oven or grill until the top is crispy. Mince can be as spicy as you want with whatever takes your fancy in it, mine normally has onions, dried tomatoes and chillis.

Steve

PS have restrained from commenting on the entry about microwaved baked spuds, they may be cooked but can't be considered baked
From: projectile vomit chick (neg at ivecreep.com)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 19:20:24 GMT
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Damsel hit the crackpipe and declared:
>Crash had turned away from his monitor a few minutes ago, and a
>gentleman had asked how to make stuffed potatoes. I'm going to bed,
>but I still think Bill would appreciate some help here.

Shove them up your ass, then shit them out your neck. You're welcome.
From: Damsel (Damselicious at gmail.com)
Date: 1 Nov 2005 13:10:11 -0800
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projectile vomit chick wrote:
> Shove them up your ass, then shit them out your neck. You're welcome.

Well, they *would* come out heated and well-browned using that technique. Thanks for the tip!

Carol
From: kilikini (kilikini at NOSPAMtampabay.rr.com)
Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 22:24:13 GMT
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Damsel wrote:
> Well, they *would* come out heated and well-browned using that
> technique. Thanks for the tip!

That was a *GREAT* comeback. ROFLMAO. I love it, Dams! You're fired up today. :~D

kili