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Florida Table Magazine / Barb's Kitchen / September 2009 / Frugal Wednesday: Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Frugal Wednesday: Stuffed Baked Potatoes

This week, reconsider the potato. Nothing fancy, just the classic white russet, perfect for a baked potato every time.

And to make an easy, budget-friendly meal, the twice-baked potato (a.k.a. the stuffed baked potato),  bake one potato for each person in your family. Dig out Monday's chili or broccoli chicken or dice up some sliced turkey from the meat drawer for the filling. Here's how to proceed.

Around 4 p.m., place scrubbed potatoes (pricked several times with a fork) into the oven at 300 degrees. (Do NOT wrap them in foil; that's a steamed potato, not a baked potato.) By 5 they will be soft and tender.

Cool potatoes until you can handle them but they are still warm. Split open, scrape  potato insides into bowl, leaving skins in tact. Mash potatoes with some butter, milk or just broth, salt and pepper and add your mix-ins (chili? Chicken and broccoli? Turkey? Creamed spinach?)

Increase oven to 350. Carefully spoon the mixture back into potato skins, place on cookie sheet and return to oven until piping hot, anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how cool you let the potatoes get. (You could even fully make these ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator until you are ready to reheat them for dinner.)

Serve these up with a tossed salad and some ice cream with dulce de leche as dessert.

Frugal kitchen mission accomplished. You can also check out this Florida Table story about Beany's and twice-baked potatoes here.