My Waaayyy Overstuffed Baked Potato
Last Thursday my spouse and I went out to run errands and we ended up eating at a local eatery. As we were leaving, I noticed this elderly gentleman who'd sat down with this huuuuuge plate of a stuffed baked potato. It was ginormous!!! Exaggeration not exaggerated! It gave me a good idea to make for dinner. I did that this Friday night. I forgot to take photos except for the final product (I'm mentally challenged at times) so this will be much shorter than usual. Let's get to it, shall we?
Ingredients
1 large russet potato (per person), washed
1/2 stick of butter per two potatoes (y'all)
6 pieces of well-done fried bacon*
1.5 cups pita chips or potato chips*
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese*
salt and pepper
garlic powder or garlic salt
bunch of diced chives or finely chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
Drizzles of extra virgin olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, finely chopped
*Whatever cheese you love, IF you want to add any
*Sour cream, if you like that!
*Any other condiment that you love
To start, you can either microwave the potatoes or you can oven bake them. I decided to oven bake them. I'd microwaved two potatoes last month and they were dry and a little chewy. My mother always baked them, even when we were the first family to have a microwave oven on our street.
Preheat the oven to 450-degrees.
Let's get to it. Wash the potatoes thoroughly. Poke them with a fork all over. Lay out one 16-inch or so sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle just a little evoo over the potato, about a teaspoon or so, and rub it all over the potato. Add a teaspoon or so of garlic powder or garlic salt (gentle on the garlic salt) and rub that all over the potato, as well. Add a few drips of water. Place the potato in the middle edge of the foil sheet away from you and roll up to the other side. Twist the ends. When the oven notifies you that it has reached that set temperature, add the foil-wrapped potatoes to the center rack. After you close the oven door, do not open it for an hour. Do not place anything else in there to bake. Thank you.
Next, in a medium skillet with three drizzles of evoo over medium high heat, add the ground beef when the oil begins to ripple. Add a little salt and pepper and break it up into a crumble. Add the onion and stir to incorporate well. At this juncture, you can season the ground beef any way you like. I seasoned it like taco beef, but you could add whatever to make it the way you want it. You could add a can of cream of whatever and enjoy it your way. When the beef is done, set the skillet aside.
This next part I did because I have a new never-been-used Oster processor blender. I purposefully, for this dish, bought garlic and parmesan pita chips. To bring it together, I fried up six pieces of center cut bacon and set it on paper towels to dry. In the meantime, I chopped some of the parsley and added that and about a cup (more, I think) of the pita chips to the blender, as well as with about three tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese. I blended it all together (such a wonderful kitchen item!). It was going to be a topping for the potato. Next, I added the fried, dried bacon to the processor and blended that up to fine bits. I had way too much fun with this, I have to tell you! 😁
I placed those into separate bowls and set them aside.
Beauuuuuuuutiful, yes???!!!
Now, go take a break until the potatoes are done baking. Remember, one entire hour without disturbing the oven. Sorry. I don't make the rules.
When the timer after an hour goes off, very carefully and with oven mitts, remove the potatoes. They should be a little soft when you grab them. That is a good thing. Set them aside and let them cool for about five minutes before you unwrap them. Be sure to turn the oven off!
The rest of this dish is just assembly, and you can assemble it Any way you want, and With Anything you want!
After I had taken the potato's foil wrapping off, I place it on a plate, and, using a sharp chef knife, I sliced it right down the center, but without separating it. I opened the potato like a book. Then, I did the same to the two sides, but much more gently.
Afterward, I added butter to the hot potatoes, followed by the a small amount of cheese (I used a Mexican blend, but you can use whatever makes you happy) and then I split the ground beef in half (half per potato), followed by more cheese, salsa and, the stars, the pita bits and bacon bits.
I know you must be thinking: "That's just a little over the top, don't you think?" Of course it is! It's a Waaayyy Overstuffed Baked Potato! Demure is not part of this recipe! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
This has salsa and herbs. So good!
So, this is it. There are so many different ways you could do this! You can make it as demure as you like, with sour cream, bacon bits, chives or scallions, or pile it up like a savage and enjoy a feast! It's whatever makes YOU happy that is the important point here.
Now, Go Cook For Someone You Love!❤
And as always, I am grateful for your visit and your time. Thank You for sticking with me!
~Martin
In-House Cook
Foley and I truly appreciate you!
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