twice-baked potato cups

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Bad habit: I cook new recipes at a much faster rate than I get around to writing about them here.  By the time I’m ready to put them in the blog, I can’t remember what motivated me to make them in the first place.  So instead of including some sort of personalized story that hopefully makes blog a little interesting, I end up writing about something lame like how I have nothing to say.  Um.

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Anyway, twice baked potatoes!  You can’t go wrong, you know?  But these are way cuter than regular ones, because they stand up on their small sides and form little cups.  Love!

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Also, shallots – so good.  So sweet and flavorful.  And charred, in this case, so watch out for that.

Harvati isn’t a cheese I’m too familiar with, but mmm, it was good.  Tasted a bit like a good cheddar, but it was softer and smoother.

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These were exactly as good as you’d expect based on the ingredients.  They’re also as good as any other twice baked potatoes, but they’re more interesting, not just in their shape, but with a nontraditional cheese choice and wonderful caramelized shallots.  Maybe something as good as this doesn’t need a personalized story.

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One year ago: Banana and Peanut Butter Stuffed French Toast

Printer Friendly Recipe
Twice-Baked Potato Cups with Caramelized Shallots
(from epicurious.com)

Serves 4 generously

I skipped the vegetable oil.  Also, I think you could substitute buttermilk for some or all of the sour cream.

4 12-ounce russet potatoes, scrubbed
Vegetable oil
1 cup coarsely grated Havarti cheese (about 4 ounces)
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons butter
1½ cups thinly sliced shallots (about 8 ounces)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce potatoes in several places with fork, then brush lightly with oil. Place potatoes directly on oven rack and bake until tender when pierced with fork, about 55 minutes. Cool potatoes slightly.

2. Cut off thin slice from both short ends of each potato and discard. Cut each potato crosswise in half; stand each half on its small flat end. Using teaspoon, scoop out cooked potato pulp from each half, leaving ⅓-inch-thick shell and forming potato cup. Place potato cups in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place potato pulp in medium bowl; add cheese, sour cream, milk, and cayenne. Using potato masher or fork, mash until well blended and almost smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mound mashed potato mixture in potato cups.

3. Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until tender and deep brown, about 12 minutes. Top potato cups with shallots. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake potato cups until heated through, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

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Comments

  1. Love this idea! And sometimes I just want to see pretty pictures instead of rambling personal stories (not that I think yours are rambling…but you know what I mean).

  2. Genius! They are super cute, and I love love love shallots… and cheese… and potatoes….

  3. Adorable and delicious. Screw dialogue, the pictures speak for themselves.

  4. These look delicious!

  5. Oh god I love twice baked potatoes. I like frying up some bacon and crumbling that into the potatoes. Mmmmmm. I could make a meal just out of them.

    I tell rambling stories because I can’t take a good picture to save my life. Your pictures tell a beautiful story.

  6. I love it! Such a simple twist, but what a difference it makes! Nicely done 🙂

  7. Oh wow! These are super cute and look so tasty! Great app idea!

  8. Love your new twist to an old favorite. I will try them soon. Thanks

  9. You don’t need a personalized story when you are giving us something as delicious as that! These potatoes look awesome….I think I just found a new side dish to try:)

  10. Yum! I loved the last twice-baked recipe you made, so I’m sure these are delicious as well!

  11. I love how you made them into cups, that is too cute!

  12. These look AMAZING! I am definitely making these next week!

  13. What a great idea.

  14. Sold at caramlized shallots! These look super tasty and are so cute too!

  15. How handy would those be. Always looking for new tater ways. Thanks for this one.

  16. I bake much faster then i post!! check it out

    cookteen.blogspot.com

  17. They are really nice that would be so cute in plate for a nice Dinner when you have guests.

  18. I definitely love the presentation of these! I made mini cups for my recent loaded potato poppers using small yukon potatoes and plan on preparing regular sized potatoes the same way. I find it’s easier to fill and just looks so much neater on the plate! Great job!

  19. I make this recipe from epicurious.com all the time. It’s soooo good. Try adding bacon to the mix! Heaven!

  20. You don’t use havarti much? Oh dear, you don’t know what you’re missing! I grew up with a cheese & cracker plate before dinner every night, and havarti with dill, or herbs, or just plain havarti was always a staple cheese on it. But yes, potatoes – good. Shallots – good. All that together – yum!

  21. I love the idea of doing the potatoes as cups. It’s something so simple that dresses this recipe up. And the cheese and shallots sounds like it takes the idea of twice baked potatoes to a new level!

  22. Martha says:

    I made this recipe this weekend for a party – it was absolutely fantastic! Gorgeous presentation!

    I omitted the veg oil as well, and they turned out perfect. Thanks for the awesome recipe!