I started throwing dinner parties when I was a freshman in high school. I mimicked the parties that my parents had thrown while I was growing up: good china, crystal stemware, appetizers, mock-tails (eventually those gave way to cocktails), dinner, dessert and coffee – all the while there was good conversation and music filling the air.
I was not your typical teenager. If you need further proof, while I was in my Home-Economics Cooking 101 class in high school we had an assignment to make dinner for our families. We had to photograph and write about it. I came back into class with photos and a report on how to make with bearnaise sauce for two accompanied by twice baked potatoes and steamed veggies.#culinaryocverachiever
Twice baked potatoes add a certain elegance to a meal (in my humble opinion), especially if you are plating the food and serving it. There’s no mess involved it placing a potato on a plate. They can be made ahead of time and simply await their turn in the oven as dinner nears, freeing you to mingle with your guests and/or add the finishing touches to the main course. When you’re throwing a dinner party anything you can do to reduce the time in the kitchen after your guests arrive is a good thing. Not that it matters anyway, everyone always ends up in the kitchen anyway. #truth
Potatoes. Butter. Cheese. Sour Cream. Salt. Pepper. Culinary Perfection.
Twice Baked Potatoes
Ingredients:
1 medium sized Russet potatoes
2 Tbsp soft butter
3 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese, with extra to sprinkle on top
1/4 cup sour cream
salt
pepper
paprika
Directions:
Bake the potato in the oven for an hour and half at 350 F. Remove from oven and let cool until you can easily handle (though you want the potato to be warm).
Cut the potato in half length-wise. Using a spoon, remove the potato flesh and put into a mixing bowl.
Beat butter and potatoes together. Once combined add salt and pepper to taste, as well as cheese and sour cream – beat until combined.
Spoon potato mixture back into potato shells.
Sprinkle extra cheese and paprika over the top of the potato mixture if you’d like.
For the second baking you can either put the potato shells back into the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 350 F OR you can place them in the microwave and cook them for 5 minutes on high.
Happy Entertaining!
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