Potato Skins

One of my favorite jobs when I was younger was working as a waitress. I loved the customer service aspect of it, the interpersonal relationships with customers, and of course, food. I worked in a popular family chain, and so our appetizers were pretty standard: mozzarella sticks, boneless wings, spinach dip, and potato skins. I've never really been a die hard potato skin fan until years after having them at the restaurant, and when they're made at home they taste even better. There's something about a crisp double-baked potato topped with gooey melted cheese, sour cream, and any other toppings you can think of. Plus, they're incredible easy to make and serve for any holiday, including New Years Eve.

Potato skins were actually created in hopes to eliminate wasting potato peels and try to make a profit on them. In the late 70s, it was T.G.I. Friday's that invented the potato skin recipe, which has been duplicated many times over by so many franchise restaurants, chefs, foodies, and so on. I mean, for good reason too, because they are just so delicious. Making potato skins seems rather complicated, and I've had a few friends and followers admit to their fear of making them. I'm happy to be that person to break down the recipe for you so that you can feel confident when making them this weekend.

Making potato skins comes down to timing: both for baking the potato, and scooping out the inside of the potato to then bake a second time. In addition to timing, a lot of the work goes into hollowing out the potato halves. Sometimes we can get a little too carried away and scoop too much, or not enough. I prefer a slight amount of potato in the skin, as it adds to the overall flavor and texture of the baked skin, but if you want less potato, scoop out more! Truly, there is no right or wrong way to make potato skins.

Potato Skins Ingredients:

• Russet potatoes: these are the quintessential potato for baking.
• Oil: helps with baking the potatoes
• Cheese: potato skins are not potato skins without mounds of melted cheese.
• Sour cream: a dollop or two goes a long way
• Chives: a little green, a little flavor.

Potato Skins Tips and Reminders:

• If you choose potatoes that are rather large, they will need a little more baking time. Keep this in mind when grocery shopping.
• Feel free to make the toppings your own: maybe add some buffalo chicken and blue cheese, or add bacon on top to make it a loaded potato skin. The combinations are truly in the eye of the cook.
• If you made too many, these potato skins reheat well, so go ahead and throw the leftover into a container for later snacking.

I can't promise that you won't be fighting over who gets the last skin on New Years this year, because these are damn good and a crowd pleasing appetizer. These potato skills are excellent for SuperBowl too, so be sure to save this recipe for Game Day in February. Run, don't walk, to the store to grab these ingredients today, I guarantee you'll love these potato skins!