A baked, baked potato

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 19, 2016

The potato is one of nature’s most flexible gifts to cooks — a culinary chameleon, if you will — with versatility matched only by its delectability.

Possibilities for this humble tuber are as rich as the imagination. For instance, once it dawned on cooks that a baked potato didn’t have to be a culinary cul-de-sac, the twice-baked potato cult was born. They make wonderful dinner-party fare, because they’re so easy to do ahead. The only attention they need during your event is a last-minute reheating.

When designing a stuffed-spud recipe, be creative. All sorts of fresh vegetables, meats and cheeses work. Some people like to saute the ingredients in a little olive oil or butter before mixing with the spud. Some folks love lots of sour cream. Others prefer yogurt. It’s between you and your diet.

Stuffed potato primer

There are plenty of options beyond the classic cheese-bacon-sour cream rendition. For example, the other evening I had an epiphany. Why not add a generous scoop of richly caramelized onions to my filling? Turns out that by doing so, I didn’t need as much butter to keep the mixture moist. And the flavor factor was off-the-charts delicious. You’ll find the recipe inside.

And that’s only one example. So I thought it’d be fun to provide you with an inspirational springboard. To the scooped-and-mashed potato flesh, consider adding any of the following ingredients. Then, pile the mixture back into the potato shells and bake in a 400 degree oven until hot and golden brown. If you brush the tops with a bit of butter before baking, they’ll brown more gracefully.

It’s worth noting that most of these potato mixtures can be prepared and stuffed back into the jackets and refrigerated up to 24 hours before baking and serving. Most can even be frozen and baked months down the road. I’ve noted the exceptions below.

• For a zippy side dish to corned beef: Well-drained sauerkraut, a generous dash of yellow mustard, sour cream and shredded Swiss or Monterey Jack cheese. Plus a little melted butter, of course!

• Sliced leeks that have been sauteed in a bit of butter or olive oil, along with some chunks of ham, shredded Swiss cheese and a splash of cream.

• Sliced mushrooms, sauteed to a deep golden brown in olive oil and/or butter with a healthy dose of chopped fresh garlic, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, white pepper and brandy or sherry.

• Steamed broccoli florets with grated sharp cheddar cheese and a few spoonfuls of cottage cheese.

• Steamed asparagus tips that have been sauteed in butter along with minced yellow onion, bits of ham, shredded provolone and heavy cream.

• Diced tomatoes, chopped/torn fresh, young arugula leaves and crumbled blue cheese (the tomatoes don’t do well overnight in the fridge and definitely don’t freeze well, so mix this filling right before baking).

• Diced tomatoes, crumbled crispy-cooked bacon, chopped green onion and sour cream (again, the tomatoes don’t do well overnight in the fridge or freeze well, so mix this filling right before baking).

• Season the scooped-and-mashed potatoes with ground cumin, then combine with salsa, frozen (thawed) corn kernels and shredded Monterey Jack (or pepper jack) cheese. (If you are using salsa from a jar, it’s OK to prepare ahead or freeze, but fresh salsas with uncooked tomatoes don’t do well overnight in the refrigerator or in the freezer.)

• Combine scooped-and-mashed potatoes with an equal amount of roasted or steamed and pureed vegetables (such as cauliflower, rutabagas, turnips, parsnips or celeriac), along with some shredded cheese, then stir in a bit of melted butter, salt and pepper to taste.

• Combine scooped-and-mashed potatoes with an equal amount of shredded zucchini that’s been sauteed in a bit of butter and add salt and pepper to taste; after filling, sprinkle on a generous topping of grated Gruyere cheese.

• Chopped-up leftover chicken (or turkey, pork or steak), herbed boursin (or other flavored cream cheese spread) and chopped green onion. (Note: Uncooked green onions do not freeze well.)

• Roast a head of garlic by slicing off the top pointy end, inverting it into a puddle of olive oil on a roasting dish and roasting in a 350-degree oven until tender when squeezed; peel away the papery outer covering from each clove; place the peeled cloves back in the roasting dish; mash with the back of a fork (use the olive oil that roasted along with the head of garlic) into a chunky puree; and stir this into the scooped-and-mashed potatoes, along with a bit of cream.

• Frozen peas with ham.

• Fresh-cooked Dungeness crab meat, shredded Cheddar cheese, melted butter and chopped green onion.

Other thoughts

• Before stuffing potato shell halves with a potato mixture, you can create a crunchy shell: For eight potato shells, in a small bowl mix together 2 tablespoons safflower oil, a dash of hot pepper sauce, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and one finely minced large clove of garlic. Place your scooped-out potato shells on a baking sheet, and brush both sides with the oil mixture; bake in a 500-degree oven until crisp, approximately 10 to 12 minutes.

• I like to bake at least one extra potato so I have more flesh to work with.

• Don’t limit yourself to russet (“baking”) potatoes. Large Yukon gold potatoes have a nice texture and a slightly sweet-and-nutty flavor.

— Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, artist and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at janrd@proaxis.com or obtain additional recipes and food tips on her blog at www.janrd.com.