Double Baked Potatoes with Yogurt Spice

There were a lot of recipes I wanted to try from the July issue of Bon Appétit.  It was so good that I ended up making two things from this issue which is something I usually try to avoid.  The salmon I posted last week was also from this issue.

One of my favorite things to make is a really good double baked potato.  The idea is simple enough:  Bake a potato, take out the inside, mix it with awesomeness, put it back in the potato, bake it again!  The real fun though is when you start experimenting with fillings.  Not only do these double baked potatoes have a great filling, but they go a step further by being topped with a really delicious spiced yogurt sauce.

Before we can get to any of that business though, you will need to bake some potatoes.  I’ve seen a lot of fancy business when it comes to baking potatoes: wrapping them in foil, poking holes in them, microwaving them (NO!).  At the end of the day though, the easiest way (and best way) to make a good baked potato is just to set it on a sheet tray, sprinkle it liberally with olive oil, and bake them at 350 degrees for 60-75 minutes.

If I were eating these as baked potatoes, I would sprinkle them with some kosher salt also.  Since these are going to end up demolished, reassembled, and baked again, the salt is optional.  You can sprinkle if you want to sprinkle though.

Those will take about an hour.  I cooked four because I wanted plenty of leftovers.  If you do less, then be sure your spices and stuffing recipes are adjusted also.

Speaking of spice topping, let’s make it.

Yogurt Spice Paste (for 4 potatoes)

- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh ginger (about 2 inches)
- 1 Tablespoon paprika
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons ground coriander (Grinding your own would be best. I didn’t though.)
- 1/2 Teaspoon cumin
- 2/3 Cups greek yogurt
- 5 Teaspoons vegetable oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 Cup sesame seeds (optional.  I didn’t include these.)

Add everything but the yogurt, oil, lemon, and sesame seeds if you are using them, to a food processor and pulse for a few seconds.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can mix it all in a bowl, just make sure your garlic and ginger is chopped really well.  Then you can add your yogurt, oil and lemon juice.

You should end up with an incredibly strong, thick paste.  It should be almost too strong to eat on its own.

Also, while your potatoes are baking, you can get the ingredients ready for the stuffing.

Potato Stuffing (again for 4 potatoes)

- 4 large potatoes, just the insides
- 1.5 Cups grated cheese, I used cheddar
- 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 – 2 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
- 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds (optional.  Again I left these out. I just wasn’t in a sesame mood.)
- Salt and pepper

Basically, just prep all this stuff and toss it in a big bowl!

After about an hour, your potatoes will probably be done.  You should be able to slide a knife all the way into the center without any resistance.  If you are unsure, leave them in for another 10 minutes.  They are pretty hard to over cook.

You’ll want to let them cool for 5-10 minutes, but then you should be able to just slice them in half horizontally without too much problem.

Then take a spoon, and carefully scoop out the centers of the potatoes.  Leave a little bit of potato around the edges.  Also, if you break one or two it is okay. When you fill them again, they’ll be stick together without a problem.

Take the fillings from the potatoes and mix it with all your stuffing ingredients.  Taste this and be sure to adjust for salt and pepper.  This is the only chance you get to season the insides of these guys!

If you’re like me you’ll eat a few spoonfuls of this now because man is it good.

When you are ready, just scoop the stuffing back into the potato skins!

Here’s a trick. If you aren’t going to eat these right away, you can put them back together again (so it is like a whole potato but the inside is filled with the stuffing), wrap them in foil, and keep them in the fridge for a week or two.  I think you could also freeze them for longer, but they definitely didn’t last that long when I made them.

Then when you are ready you can take them out and top them with the yogurt paste and finish cooking.

However, you’ll probably want to make some right away.  So top each half with a liberal coating of the spice paste.

Now, in the Bon Appétit, they finish these guys on the grill by grilling over medium heat for 25 minutes.

As we all know, I don’t have a grill, so I just finished them in the oven and they worked out great.  I baked them for about 30 minutes at 350.

These guys were spicy and delicious. When I first made them, I ate a whole potato without too much of a problem.  They were spicy and cheesy and, well, just awesome.

The recipe does take some time and some prepping for all the ingredients, but they are great and totally worth it in my opinion.  This is a keeper if you are a potato fan.