French Onion Stuffed Baked Potatoes

It seems to have become significantly colder around here over the last week as I’m finding myself needing to wear double layers of pants (tights under pants makes such a difference!), double mittens, and double scarves, along with my big winter boots. Sometimes I feel like a walking snowman, but it’s worth it! I’m sure people up farther north in Canada would laugh at me; today’s afternoon temperature here in southern Ontario is -10°C but -19°C (-2°F) with the windchill, but out in places like Thompson, Manitoba, the afternoon temperature with windchill is a freezing -39°C (-47°F)! I’m pretty sure I would never leave my house if I lived there!

Needless to say, I’m sure we’re all craving warm comfort food as the evenings get chillier, and these potatoes fit the bill!

I love potatoes in all forms – French fries, mashed potatoes, roasted baby potatoes, skillet hashbrowns, and baked potatoes are all favourites of mine.  I usually don’t experiment with stuffing potatoes often as I love potatoes on their own so much, but a while back Food Network Magazine included a little booklet with 50 Stuffed Potatoes that I’ve been meaning to take a second look through for a while now.  I finally got around to it the other week and the first version I tried was these French onion soup inspired ones, and I’ve since made them twice already!

These take a little while to be ready, as all baked potatoes do, but they’re really easy to make. You just bake a potato, and meanwhile caramelize an onion or two on the stovetop. When the potatoes are cooked through, scoop out the flesh and mash it with the onions, some beef broth (though I’m sure you could use vegetable broth for a vegetarian version), cheese, and a little seasoning, then spoon it back in and broil the potatoes until the cheese melts. All the flavours of French onion soup, but in potato form! These end up being huge, so half a potato was fine for us a side dish with some chicken, or you can enjoy a whole one for a light lunch like I also did.

Hope you’re all staying warm and cozy out there!

French Onion Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Adapted from Food Network’s 50 Stuffed Potatoes

Makes 2 stuffed potatoes; serves 4 as a side dish (half a potato each)

Ingredients:

2 russet potatoes

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided

1 large sweet onion or two medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup beef broth

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons shredded gruyere or swiss cheese (I used swiss because it was cheaper but either should work)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Scrub potatoes and prick all over with the tines of a fork.  Rub lightly with a teaspoon of olive oil.  Place on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until tender.

Meanwhile, heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and stir to coat with oil.  After about 5 minutes, season with a bit of salt.  Spread onions out evenly across the pan and let cook, stirring about every 3-4 minutes, until caramelized, about 20-30 minutes total.  Save a small amount of onions to top the potatoes later, if desired.  Transfer the rest to a large bowl.

Once potatoes are ready, remove from oven and let cool slightly. Move oven rack to top third of oven and preheat oven to broil. Slice potatoes crosswise, peel back skin on top of the potato, and scoop out the insides, leaving a thin layer of potato attached to the skin so it remains intact.  Add the scooped out potato to the bowl with the onions, season generously with salt and pepper, and add the thyme, beef broth, and 1/4 cup of shredded cheese.  Mash together, then spoon back into the potatoes to stuff them.  Top each potato with about a tablespoon of remaining cheese.  Return to oven to broil until cheese is melted and potato is heated through, about 3-5 minutes.  Serve hot, seasoned with additional salt and pepper if desired.

Halloween Mummy Potatoes with Meatballs

Every time a holiday rolls around, I promise myself I'll create lots of themed recipes to celebrate and my head starts filling up with ideas, but then I either get too busy (holidays often come with lots to do!) or I realize that every possible holiday-themed recipe has already been done and give up trying to think of something original.

This almost happened for Halloween - there are already so many fantastic recipe ideas out there that I didn't think I could possibly contribute something creative of my own.  But I was still determined to share a Halloween recipe so I gave up trying to think of something original and started looking for ideas that just weren't as common.  As soon as I found these "terrifying twice-baked mummies" from Betty Crocker, I knew I'd found a winner!  Not only were they something I'd never seen before, they sounded like they would actually taste good too, unlike some recipes that are more for show (or are too creepy to eat)!

As an added bonus, they turned out to be super easy to make too!  All you have to do is bake then hollow out some potatoes, fill them with meatballs, bandage them up with cheese, add a couple olives for eyeballs, and voila!  The cutest little mummies you've ever seen!

The original recipe included pickles for feet, but I thought the mummy's feet should be wrapped up with the rest of it's body, plus I didn't really want pickles with my meatballs anyway!  I also used black olives for the eyes instead of green pimiento stuffed olives so they would look more like hidden mummy eyes than bulging monster eyes, and I used string cheese so it would be easier to slice and bend around to form the bandages.  If you want the mummy to be more enclosed in its coffin, you could only slice a bit off the top of a potato instead of halving it, as it looks like the original recipe did in its photo, but then you'd have to double the amount of potatoes you use, so it's up to you!

I was a little hesitant of how meatballs and potatoes would taste together, but they were actually delicious!  Every bite had a bit of baked potato, meatball, tomato sauce, and cheese - so comforting and enough to fill your belly for a night of trick or treating or partying!

I'm hoping to find time to make one more Halloween recipe before the big day, but until then, you can also check out my Pinterest board for some inspiration!

Mummy Potatoes with Meatballs

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Serves 4 (makes 8 mummies)

Ingredients:

4 large russet potatoes
16-24 small cooked meatballs in sauce - I made a batch of Giada's mini turkey meatballs* but you could use your own favourite storebought or homemade meatballs or veggie balls.  The amount you need will depend on how many can fit in each potato (2-3)
6-8 part-skim mozzarella cheese strings (stringable cheese)
16 black olive slices
Extra sauce and parmesan for serving, if desired

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Wrap each potato in foil and bake for about an hour, or until fork-tender.  Let stand about 10 minutes until cool enough to handle.  

Meanwhile, heat meatballs in sauce over medium-low heat on the stove.  Slice each cheese string into as thin of slices as possible to use for the mummy "bandages".

When potatoes are done, cut each one in half lengthwise.  Cut a thin (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch) border around the potato and scoop out the insides.  I found it easiest to use my knife to cut out chunks of potato for better control because my ice cream scoop was too large.  Reserve the potato you scoop out for another use.

When meatballs are heated through, transfer 2-3 meatballs to each hollowed out potato half, depending on how many fit.  Wrap meatball "body" in cheese slices to resemble bandages, crossing cheese back and forth and tucking the ends into the potato.  Add 2 black olive slices for the eyes at one end (see pictures). 

Return potatoes and meatballs to the oven for 2-5 minutes so that cheese slightly melts.  Serve immediately, with extra pasta sauce and parmesan cheese if desired.

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*Note: I made a few changes to Giada's meatball recipe: I squeezed the moisture out of the onion after I grated it, I added an extra 1/4 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs, reduced the salt, left out the Pecorino Romano, added a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and used lean ground turkey instead of dark turkey.  They were quite good!  I made them a day ahead so the potatoes came together easily the next day, and I also had leftover meatballs.

Breakfast Potato Boats

The other day I posted a barbeque chicken baked potato recipe and mentioned how much I love using a simple baked potato as the base for a delicious and easy dinner.  Well it turns out that baked potatoes also make for a pretty amazing breakfast that is still easy enough to prepare for yourself on a weekday morning, or elegant enough to serve to guests for brunch!

I first saw the idea for a breakfast potato boat on Inn Cuisine a while ago, but their version calls for hollowing out a potato, filling it with scrambled eggs, cheese, and bacon, and using the scooped-out potato to make hashbrowns on the side.  I thought it was a pretty creative breakfast idea, but that it might be even better to use the scooped out potato as part of the potato filling, mixed in with the eggs and cheese, kind of like a breakfast version of a twice-baked potato.

I couldn't wait to try this out for myself, but leaving out the bacon for a vegetarian version, using less eggs since I was using potatoes in the filling to make up for it, and adding salsa to liven the whole thing up a bit!

These turned out so much better than I'd even hoped!  While the components are simple - fluffy baked potato mixed with scrambled eggs, melted cheese, and some salsa - the taste was amazing and made for a fun twist on breakfast.  The dish also made for a nice presentation, so I think it would be great to make a big batch of these to serve to guests.  As I mentioned at the start of this post though, you can also quickly make them for yourself by baking the potato the night before, then all you have to do in the morning is cook the egg and mix everything together, then give it a quick reheat in the  microwave!

You could also get really creative with these if you want something a bit fancier - try adding in black beans and a spicy cheese for more of a tex-mex flair, add bacon or sausage for a meat version, or add spinach and other veggies for a more nutritious breakfast!

After a successful Mother's Day breakfast of crepes and fruit on Sunday, I'm already thinking ahead to Father's Day and thinking that these might be a nice addition!  That reminds me that I'll have to share some of the amazing food we enjoyed for Mother's Day soon - Hope you all spoiled your moms or were spoiled by your kids!  Did any of you have anything special to eat on Sunday?

Breakfast Stuffed Potato Boats

Inspired by Inn Cuisine

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 large russet potato

2 large eggs

1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar but a Pepper Jack or Mexican blend would be good too)

Salsa

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Scrub potato, then pierce several times with a fork. Rub the skin with olive oil and a bit of salt.  Place directly on the middle rack of the oven, with a pan underneath to catch any drippings.  Bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until cooked through and soft.

Let the potato cool slightly, then cut potato in half lengthwise.  Use a spoon to scoop out the insides of each half, leaving about 1/4” layer of potato on the skin.  Transfer the scooped out potato to a small bowl and mash with a fork.

Scramble eggs in a non-stick skillet until almost done but still slightly wet.  Transfer the eggs to the bowl with the mashed potato. Add cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper, then mix thoroughly. 

Spoon the mixture into the shelled out potato skins.  Heat potatoes in a microwave on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until potatoes are hot, cheese is melted, and eggs are completely cooked.  Spoon salsa on top, then serve (with additional salsa on the side, if desired).

*Note: I baked my potato the night before, then kept it in the refrigerator.  In the morning, I reheated it in the microwave then proceeded with the rest of the directions.

Barbeque Chicken Baked Potato

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, but I'm currently on vacation in Cuba! I won’t have internet access while I’m here, which means I won’t be able to keep up with reading all my usual blogs or replying to comments.  I still wanted to share at least one recipe this week though, so I chose a super easy weeknight dinner recipe that I actually made quite a while ago but was saving to post for just an occasion like this!  

I actually planned on writing this post at the airport before I left and scheduling it to appear while I was away, but after a last-minute minor disaster involving the new Blogger not working on an iPad, my helpful sister Genevieve fortunately stepped in to save the day and help post this for me!

There's not much to say about this barbeque chicken baked potato except that it's easy, delicious comfort food.  Though the baked potato does take a while to cook, the rest is easy peasy, and if you're really short on time you could even microwave the potato, though it won't taste quite as good!  

I can't immediately think of a good vegetarian protein you could use in place of the chicken, but if you have any ideas, let me know, or if you have any other good ideas for baked potato toppings, feel free to suggest some in the comments as well!  I'm thinking a buffalo chicken version of this would be great to try next!

Looking forward to catching up with you again next week!

BBQ Chicken Baked Potato

Serves 2 as a light meal served with a salad or side - you may wish to increase the amount of chicken for something more filling

Ingredients:

2 russet potatoes

1 chicken breast

Barbeque sauce

Shredded cheese (e.g. Mexican blend, cheddar, pepper jack)

Salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Scrub potatoes and pierce skin several times with a fork.  Rub skin with a bit of olive oil and salt.  Place potatoes in the preheated oven, directly on the oven rack (with a pan underneath to catch any drippings).  Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until slightly soft and golden brown.

Meanwhile, cook chicken breast (about 4-5 minutes per side over medium-high heat).  Shred with two forks, season with salt and pepper, and coat with barbeque sauce.  Keep warm and reheat if necessary when potatoes are done.

When potatoes are done, prick each potato with a fork in a line lengthwise across the top, then smack the two ends of each potato together so that it bursts open.  It should be nice and fluffy inside.  Top each potato with half the shredded chicken and desired amount of shredded cheese.  Add more barbeque sauce, salt, and pepper if desired.  Serve warm.

UPDATE: I received an anonymous comment from a reader which unfortunately can't show up on my commenting system because it was entered on a mobile device. The reader noted that my potato looked dry and needs more sauce and cheese, which reminded me that I should have mentioned that I did indeed add more bbq sauce and a bit more cheese after I sliced the potato open into pieces, which you can certainly do as well, I just didn't take a photo of that stage.  The reader also noted that what was missing was "butter, sour cream, and scallions".  You can certainly add your own ingredients to the potato - I don't like scallions and I don't normally eat my potatoes with butter and sour cream as I try to keep them healthier, but of course it should go without saying that you can easily adapt this recipe to your own tastes, this is just what worked for me!