Twice Baked Potatoes

A couple of weeks ago, I made twice baked potatoes for a cook-out we had and in the hub-bub of the moment, I forgot to take a photo of them.  They were so darn good, everyone commented on them, and they were amazingly easy to make, especially if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer.  I knew I had to do a re-do and get these puppies posted on my blog as soon as possible.  The perfect opportunity presented itself for me to make them today.  My parents had invited us to have lunch with them today and these are a really easy dish to travel with.

Twice Baked Potatoes - adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
4 potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream
1 stick of butter, softened to room temperature, cut into chunks
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese and a little extra to add to the top of your potatoes
1 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:
1.  Bake the potatoes, don't wrap them or make knife slits in them, at 400F on a baking sheet for 1 hour 15 minutes or until baked through.
2.  After you remove from the oven, don't allow them  to cool because you need them nice and soft to scoop out the good stuff easily.  Use a clean kitchen towel to handle the hot potatoes and slice each potato into two halves.  Use a spoon to scrape out the potato, making boats out of the skins. Leave a bit of potato attached to the skin for stability in your boats. Add the scrapings of potato to a large bowl. 
3.  Add the butter, milk and sour cream to the scrapings and mix or mash if you don't have a mixer. 
4.  Add 1/2 cup cheese, salt and pepper and mix until the potatoes are the desired consistency you prefer.
5.  Fill each of your potato skin boats with the mashed potatoes and add a bit of cheddar to the top of each boat.  At this point you can either store them in the fridge for a up to a day or freeze them for later use. 
6.  When ready to eat them, cook at 350F for 15 minutes and serve hot. 

See what I have to deal with when I am trying to work on my laptop!  Geesh!!

Smothered Chicken Breast with mash-baked potatoes!

A good friend of my Mom's emailed me asking if she could forward my blog link to someone she knows who is trying to learn how to cook.  To be honest, first I was totally flattered.  Second, I chuckled a bit because I too am such a novice in the kitchen.  Third, I thought of chicken breasts.  Why would this make me think of chicken breasts, you may well be wondering?  Well, I'll tell you.

Chicken breasts are my favorite meat of choice and yet prior to starting my blog I didn't like to prepare it myself.  There are a couple of reasons for this: 1) my attempts at cooking chicken breasts in the past would result in an overcooked, very bland and dry hunk of meat which wasn't all that I knew a chicken breast could be from the countless restaurants I order that very thing at, and 2) I was afraid of my kitchen. In some deep, crazy way I thought it better for me to stick to cooking frozen meals, boxed foods or other convenient partially prepared food.  God forbid I even dream of cooking anything from scratch.  I guess it was largely because you can't hide from how a dish you make tastes.  Whoever eats it will KNOW whether or not you can cook well. 

The greatest thing this blog has done for me is help me see that it never hurts to try something you have never done before in the kitchen and if you fail at it quite miserably by over-cooking, under-cooking, under seasoning or over seasoning it is ok because those are the very times when you really begin to learn how to cook.  Those are the breakthrough moments. 

Through trial and error, I can now cook chicken breasts so that they turn out juicy (not dried out at all) and flavorful and really just so darn good I am amazed at myself.  All because I experimented with cooking times, methods, marinades and sauces.  I know I will continue to fail at some of the dishes I attempt to make, I made pancakes the other day that turned out really dark brown almost burnt on the outside and were completely undercooked inside.  Blicky-poo!!!  I'll try it again though until I master the art of pancake making, lol!!!  Just from doing this blog, where I have basically forced myself to get in the kitchen, cook foods from scratch, and find new recipes to try every week, I am becoming more and more confident, no longer afraid of my kitchen, and as a big time plus I am actually enjoying myself. 

Ok, now for the recipes I made for today's meal.

Smothered Chicken Breasts (adapted from the Pioneer Woman's Ranch Style Chicken recipe)

Ingredients:
½ cups Dijon Mustard
½ cups Honey
Lemon juice from one half a lemon
½ teaspoons Paprika
½ teaspoons Sea Salt
6 whole boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts, pounded flat
12 slices thick cut bacon
About 1/4 cup reserved Bacon Grease
Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese, a couple handfuls
1/4 cup Canola Oil

Directions:
1.  Mix the mustard, honey, lemon juice, paprika and salt in a large bowl.
2. Place the chicken in the marinade, coat well and let sit in the fridge for 1-3 hours. 
3. Bake bacon on a foil lined baking pan in a 375F oven for about 15 minutes.  Set the bacon aside and pour about 1/4 cup of the grease into a skillet along with canola oil. 
4.  Heat skillet to medium-high and add then add chicken. Cook each side about 1 minute, so the outside is a dark brown color. 
5.  Place chicken on a large baking sheet in a 400F oven for 10 minutes.  Add bacon and cheese to the top of each piece of chicken and place back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Mash-Baked Potatoes (adapted from Pioneer Woman's Fluffy New Potatoes recipe)

Ingredients:
10 good sized Red Potatoes
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
½ cups Sour Cream
4 ounces, Cream Cheese, softened
1-½ cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
1 clove Garlic, Pressed
Salt And Pepper, to taste


Directions:
1. Clean and dry the potatoes and place them on a baking sheet. Lightly coat each potato with olive oil. 
2. Bake the potatoes at 400F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until tender. Allow the potatoes to cool so you can handle them easily, about 15-20 minutes.
3.  In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, salt and pepper and set aside.
4.  Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides with a spoon only leaving a small layer of potato.  Add the potato scoops to your large bowl and mash everything together well.
5.  Spoon the mixture into each potato boat and bake at 375F until nice and warm and the cheese melts, about 6-8 minutes. 

One more thing, a new goal I have has to do with photography.  I now know why bloggers become so into photography, because you want your food or whatever it is you are talking about to look good.  I am no different.  I want my food to look as good as it tastes or if it sucks to at least look good while sucking, lol! And so, I am hoping to read up a bit on photography, possibly even get a new camera with all those extra bells and whistles that I have no clue what to do with now but hopefully after some trial and error I can figure out enough to start taking some great pictures to share. 

Enjoy and thanks for reading my blog!