Twice Baked Potatoes

The more recipes I share with you all, the more memories I get to walk through.

If you've read any of my other stories, you would understand the impact my grandmother had on me and my passion for food.

Grandma had an old white enamel gas stove that required lighting with a match since it lacked a pilot light and was not electric at all. Obviously, Arizona was hot in the summer, so if you didn't have to turn on the oven to bake a potato, you were not going to do that. She also didn't have central air conditioning, and the "swamp cooler" would only do so much. Grandma had this handy stove-top potato baker, and would use it to make twice-baked potatoes. I found one of these handy potato bakers, and I have it still. Probably more for nostalgia than anything. Who knows, if I need to bake a potato on the side burner on the grill, I guess I could.

Twice-baked potatoes are one of the easiest, no stress side dishes you can make. Here is what you need:

Tools needed:

Tin foil

Baking sheet or pan

Fork

Pie plate or other baking dish

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Salt

Pepper

Butter

Milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Prepare the tin foil. You need 1 piece for each potato. Lay the foil out side-by-side, and sprinkle some salt somewhere on the foil.

Wash and dry the potatoes. Using a fork or knife, poke holes in the potatoes on all sides.

Slather them with butter, then lay them on the salted tin foil.

Wrap the potatoes up in the foil tightly and place them on a baking sheet or pan, place in the hot oven and bake for at least 1 hour. They are done when they are "fork tender".

Remove the baking pan from the oven and remove the foil from the potatoes.

Cut the potatoes in half and place them sliced side down in your pie plate one by one. Use a fork to mash the potato, allowing the skin to come off. Discard the skin and repeat the process with each potato.

Use a fork to mash the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and pour in a splash of milk. Mix thoroughly with the fork. Aim for a smooth, creamy texture similar to mashed potatoes, adding milk gradually to achieve the desired consistency without making them too watery.

Smooth the top of the potatoes, and add dabs of butter. Place in under the broiler and cook until the top is crispy and golden.

Notes:

The potatoes I used are "white" potatoes; they are soft, so they didn't need a lot of milk to make them creamy. Russet potatoes have a different texture, so they may take more milk.

The baking time will also differ based on the potato's size. As you can see, the ones I used were smaller and fell apart when I tried to remove the skin.

You can make these a day ahead of time and just reheat prior to serving. You can also freeze these for another time.