Recipe of the Quarter: Twice Baked Potatoes
The Recipe
These make for a great side dish to a dinner, or for a nice supplement as another food option for a party. They are relatively easy to make and can be made the day before the event and heated up when needed as the crowd arrives.
Ingredients:
Four medium size Russet potatoes
6 Ounces of sour cream
Tablespoon of Butter (optional)
Caramelized onions from a 6-8 ounce jar (Boar’s Head or Davina for example)
Savory spice mix that includes spices such as oregano, smoked paprika, orange peel, ginger, marjoram, turmeric, thyme, cumin, dried onion flakes and/orgarlic powder
Salt to taste
Olive oil to coat potatoes
Directions
Wash the potatoes and caress with olive oil, then lightly salt and sprinkle with the chosen spice mix. Punch some holes into the sides of the potatoes prior to putting in oven.
Place in an oven and bake at 400 degrees or until the potatoes are tender
Remove potatoes and cut down the center lengthwise while still warm. Careful to not burn your hands on the hot potatoes! Scoop the inner white contents of the potatoes out of the skins. Take care not to break the skins of the potatoes when doing this! Place the scooped out contents of the potatoes into a sturdy bowl for mixing. Reserve the empty potato skins as they will play a vital role soon.
Mash the potatoes thoroughly in the bowl with a potato masher or portable blender. Leave some body to the potatoes.
Once the potatoes are thoroughly mashed, add six ounces of sour cream and about half a tablespoon of the spice mix. Blend thoroughly. Then add 6 to 8 ounces of the caramelized onions from a jar and then blend further until the entire contents of the bowl until thoroughly mixed. You could also add a tablespoon of butter to the mix if so desired. I personally find the potatoes rich enough without the butter, but it’s a personal preference.
After completing the blending process, take the mixture and pack into the reserved potato skins. Pack the potato skins fairly tight being careful not to tear the skins. Fill the skins to the point of overflowing a bit over the sides of the skins.
Baking
You have now completed the primary steps of the twice baked potatoes. If not serving until a future date, cover the potatoes and place them in the frig. To serve, place them back in the over at a temperature of about 350 for about 20 minutes or until desired serving temperature. About 5 minutes before removing from the over, sprinkle the top of potatoes with your favorite grated hard cheese, and then sprinkle the cheese with smoked red paprika. This last touch gives the spuds a festive look. Both the cheese topping and the paprika are optional.
If you are anticipating using the dish immediately, you will probably need to reheat the potatoes at this point. Perhaps 15 minutes at 300 degrees. About 5 minutes prior to removing from oven, add optional grated cheese and sprinkle smoked paprika for extra flavor, as mentioned previously.
Vegas Wine News's Wine Pairing
Vegas Wine News: A Culinary Adventure
I hosted a wine dinner at my home on May 20, 2023, and we shared five bottles of great wine, including the 2015 Kosta Browne One Sixteen Chardonnay, a 2013 Le Macchiole Paleo, a 2013 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Las Piedras Vineyard from Napa Valley, and two wines from the Bordeaux Region of France; the 2005 Pavilon Rouge and the 2012 Troplong Mondot. I decided to provide reviews of the four red wines, since the featured foods were more suited that style of wine. We served filet mignon, twice baked potatoes, and fresh, grilled, marinated vegetables. The group of five people could not reach a consensus on their favorite wine.
My personal favorite was the 2013 Le Macchiole Paleo. I’ve been a longtime fan of the Paleo and have been fortunate enough to have sampled multiple vintages. The 2013 version comes from the famed Super-Tuscan winemaker Le Macchiole, located in the Bolgheri region of the Tuscan Coast. In every vintage, it features 100% Cabernet Franc grapes. I loved both the complex nose emanating from the glass and the complex taste of what followed. Antonio Galloni of Vinous described the nose as “plum, mocha, espresso and savory chocolate”, with lots of depth and purity of fruit. He rated it at 96 points. Monica Larnar of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate site rated the wine at 97 points, and opined that the wine had nuances of “rose petal, lavender, wet earth, rosemary and dark fruit.” I always find it funny how two such esteemed critics have such different flavor profiles on the same bottle of wine. The most important thing is that they definitely agree on one thing; the wine is outstanding. See the scores from several respected wine critics as provided by the K&L Wine Merchants on their site. Scores ranged from 92-97 points
Chateau Troplong Mondot is one of the more respected wines from the right bank of Bordeaux, and the 2012 did not disappoint. It had some unresolved tannins but these tended to mellow after the bottle had been opened for about an hour. It had a rich complexity to it, which for me consisted of mostly various minerals and subtle sweetness on the length. Was it chocolate? Being a right bank wine it leans heavily on Merlot (90%) with a 10% dollop of Cabernet Franc. Below see the reviews provided by the K&L for this wine. Scores there ranged from 91 to 96.
I found the 2005 Pavilion Rouge the most interesting of the wines just from a comparison point of view, in that it is the second wine of the famed Bordeaux First Growth, Chateau Margaux. I think it’s always fascinating to see how much difference there is between a famed winery’s first wine and it’s lessor efforts of the same vintage. Unfortunately, we did not have the 2005 Chateau Margaux to make such a comparison, so the second wine had to stand up to the other wines opened that night. The wine has an interesting nose with nuances of tobacco, cedar, spices, pencil shavings and perhaps some coffee notes. A subtle flavor profile tending towards towards dark fruits like plum, blackberries and cassis. The wine still had tannins and good structure. Although ready to drink now, it could still hold up well for another 10 plus years. These was no browning at the edges. Made us all wish we could experience the premier wine of the Estate!
Last but not least came the only new world red wine of the evening; the 2013 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon from the Las Piedras Vineyard. Most critics agree that the 2013 vintage was a great one for California Cabs. Given that, the fact that Paul Hobbs is an excellent winemaker, and that the Las Piedras Vineyard is one of the more prestigious in the Napa Valley, it’s not surprising that this wine garnered the most accolades from reputable wine critics. Included below see the ratings provided by the K&L Wine Merchants site regarding the subject wine, which include a 98 by the Wine Advocate (Robert Parker’s site), a 96 by the prestigious Vinous site, and a 94 from Wine Spectator. The Cellar Tracker site, which essentially provides a compendium of reviews from wine lovers who are not professional critics, gave an average rating for this wine an impressive average score of 95+ from 32 different people who tried and posted reviews of this wine. Users from this site tend to score wines quite critically. Most reviews agreed that the wine was very complex, and had a nice bouquet of black fruit, spices, tobacco and minerality, with corresponding flavors of ripe blueberry, , plum, cherries, with touches of mocha, licorice and various minerals. The vast majority of people recommended a decant of at least one hour.
Unfortunately, I cannot render a viable opinion about this wine because by the time I sampled it my taste buds were inundated with the flavors of the other wines, and they all began tasting the same. A rookie mistake but at least I own it!!!
