Baked Potato Skins

Comfort food...

Source: The Pajama Chef

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 3 large baking potatoes
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- 2 pepperoni sausages or pieces bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- sour cream
- salt
- pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub potatoes and pat dry. Pierce holes in each potato and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool for at least 15 minutes [important!].
2. After potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice in half lengthwise. Use a steak knife to cut potato flesh away from the skin, leaving a thick layer of flesh next to skin so the skins do not fall apart. Use a spoon to scoop away about 65-70% of the potato. Save potato for mashed potatoes or a snack or breakfast… :)
3. Turn on the broiler in the oven. Place a cooling rack in a baking dish [or use a roaster with a rack].
4. Brush melted butter over the outside of the potato skin, season with salt and pepper and place on top of the rack. Broil for about 3-4 minutes or until outside skin is starting to get crispy. Remove from oven and use tongs to flip skins so that the flesh is visible. Brush inside with melted butter, and season with salt and pepper. Return to broiler for another 3-4 minutes, remove and then top with cheese and pepperoni pieces. Return [again!] to broiler for another 2-3 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted, watching carefully so it does not burn.
5. Serve with sour cream and green onions, and allow to cool for a minute or two before enjoying so you don’t burn your mouth.

Afterthoughts
- The only change I made to the original recipe was using pepperoni instead of bacon. Other than that, I followed all the instructions to a tee, which is not at all characteristic of me. The process ended up quite time consuming for such a “simple” dish, but the result was delicious. The potatoes were soft and perfectly baked with crispy skins. And the toppings are just meant for them, as we all know.
- This recipe is from The Pajama Chef. It’s a wonderful website with many more yummy recipes. Check it out and say hi to Sarah :-).
- This was my SRC assignment. SRC, or the Secret Recipe Club is a group of over a hundred food bloggers, who are assigned a "secret" blog each months. Then they choose a recipe from that blog, make it and post it on their own blog on a given reveal day. Then there is a big party, where you hop from one blog to another and check what everyone's been cooking. Lots of fun! I want to thank Amanda, Jane and April for making it all possible!

This recipe is published on http:RecipeNewZ.com: