twice-baked is better than half-baked

Well, hello, gorgeous. It's been such a long, long time. I won't make excuses, but as an apology, let me offer you the easiest, cheapest, most d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s recipe I can think of: truffled twice-baked potatoes.

Drew decided to woo me this past Saturday night with steak Diane; I flirted back with these babies. They are rich, creamy, and so wonderful. Oh, and in case you didn't know, the skin is able to be eaten (and, indeed, is one of the best parts).

My recipe is pretty loose: you need one potato per couple. Let's pretend we're making it for two. Take one Idaho baking potato. Scrub it good. Sprinkle it with some salt. Pierce your potato several times with a fork. Pre-heat your oven to 400. Put your potato in for an hour. Once an hour has passed, remove. Cool for a few minutes, then split with a big knife. Take a fork or a spoon and scoop out the meat from each half into a bowl, being very careful to keep each skin intact.

Take the potato meat and mash it with some cream and some butter. The proportions are really up to you, and dependent upon how big your tater is. I'd guess I used 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 of cream for 1 potato (decadent, I know). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Now, I always add 2 drops of truffle oil. Truffles go wonderfully with potatoes (and eggs, incidentally). If you don't have truffle oil, it'll still be good, but truffle oil elevates these to FANCY. You could also add Asiago or Romano or Parmesan to these, either in place of or in addition to the truffle oil.

Anyway, mash up your taters (I just use a fork, but you can use whatever implement makes you happy: ricer, masher, egg beater, what-have-you. I did read once, however, that you want to manipulate the taters as little as possible, or else they get kinda glue-y.) Once you have a tasty mash, fill the shells back with the mashed potatoes. Put a lil' pat of butter in the middle, then put them back in a 250-degree oven for about 20 minutes. For the last two or three minutes, put under the broiler to make the tops nice and brown. Top with chives, chopped scallions, or chopped parsley.

Missed you much! XOXO.