Twice-Baked Potatoes

This is what I would normally think of as a winter comfort food. And here we are in the heat of July. But I've always had a soft spot for potatoes in any form. And while I've eaten twice-baked potatoes at restaurants, I'd never attempted it in the home.

Wow, what we've been missing out on! I thought it was terribly time-intensive. Enter The Modern Master of Time Management, the Microwave. Those potatoes were cooked within minutes, and I was carving out the hot soft interior and mashing with milk, butter, salt, pepper, and shredded cheese in no time. Then it was too fun to create little whipped mountains of creamy goodness in the potato skins, sprinkle with cheese and paprika, and bake for fifteen minutes. 

You'll notice in the picture that I chose thin-skinned red potatoes. It was all we had on hand. Russets would give you a proper skin, though, and to get the crispiness for the skin, you would also want to pop the potatoes in the oven for skin crisping time, after the microwave (coat with olive oil and it won't take any time at all). Since I had to make do with thin skin, I just made sure to leave enough potato at the edge, so the potato could hold its shape and hold the whipped creation.

I liked the red potato, myself, for this recipe. It is a better portion for me. Russets are a little large for my personal appetite, unless I've had a particularly active day and come to the table craving carbs. But the russet skin, now that is a great skin for twice-baked. And since childhood, I was taught to enjoy the whole of the potato, skin and all...of course, plenty of butter on the skin, but it is equally as good as the 

whipped-wonderful interior.