Scrumptious Sides: Twice Baked Potatoes

The hubs and I had a wonderful holiday in the north country with my family this year where I ended up doing most of the cooking for our Christmas dinner. I hadn't planned on it so I didn't do much prep work in planning my menu therefore, it wasn't my best showing. It was good, but definitely not great. My brother requested that we have twice baked potatoes and since I have a super yummy recipe, I gladly obliged. Unfortunately though, I left my recipe in Jersey so I ended up winging it. They were ok, but I found that there are 3 main components in making a really great twice baked potato:

The potato, the cheese, and eggs!

Yukon gold potatoes are the way to go! They are more buttery in flavor and they make fluffier mashed potatoes. They also look prettier. I like to use Gruyere cheese because it's mild enough that it doesn't overwhelm the whole potato with cheese and it adds more creaminess to the filling. And finally, adding egg yolks to the filling make it so deliciously fluffy.

I had to remind myself of why this recipe is so good so I made these potatoes on New Years Eve and they turned out perfectly! Next time, I won't forget this one.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

12 small Yukon gold potatoes (or 6 large)
6 large egg yolks
4 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prick potatoes in several places with a fork. Bake on a baking sheet until tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour. Let cool.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut each in half. Scoop out flesh, leaving skin in tact. Mash flesh until smooth. Stir in egg yolks, butter, cream, 1 cup cheese, salt, and pepper. Scoop filling into skins. Place filled potatoes on baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake in 400 degree oven until cheese is golden brown, about 25 minutes.

A couple tips:
1. Leave about 1/4 inch of flesh in the skins when scooping out to help keep shells more stable.
2. I like my potatoes to be full so I typically will use the flesh of one of the halves and discard that skin so that I have a bit more filling for the rest of the potatoes.

recipe adapted from "Martha Stewart Holiday: Season's Eatings Holiday 2008" magazine