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Loaded potatoes two ways

Time:

90 min

Serves:

4

Level:

Intermediate

About the Recipe

Today, I would like to tell you about the loaded potatoes that I make. Being in love with my Polish roots and my new American life I decided to show you what came out from my kitchen by marrying those two parts of my life. You would think that maybe in English language potatoes are just potatoes. But are they?

Russets, reds, yellows, whites, purples, fingerlings and petites... there are over 200 varieties of potatoes, an option for every taste and every day. No matter which potatoes you are a fan of, they are all fairly easy to prepare and pair with a variety of cuisines.

Ingredients

For potatoes

4 big potatoes (russets)
3 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of your favorite dry herbs (I use herb de Provence)

Loaded with Polish staffing - with the GZIK

500g of farmers cheese
1 cucumber (peeled, finely chopped )
2 tbsp of yogurt
1 tbsp of Bryndza*
salt, pepper
big bunch of chives (chopped)
1 garlic clove (peeled and chopped)
the inside of the baked potato

Loaded with American staffing

6 slices of bacon (5 chopped, 1 full- for garnish)
the inside from the baked potatoes
1/2 tbsp of butter
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
big bunch of chives (chopped)
1 tbsp of BRYNDZA (I use instead of sour cream)

Preparation

Step 1

Wash and scrub the potatoes, to save the water put a big bowl in the sink, fill it up with water and use it to scrub, just rinse them at the end (You can use it that to water your flowers).
Set the oven to 400F. Take the potatoes and pat them dry (do not skip this part).

Step 2

Prepare the dressing. In a small bowl mix together olive oil, garlic powder, salt, herbs. Brush on the dressing on each of the potatoes and cover each one with aluminum foil. Put them in the oven for an hour.

Step 3

While the potatoes are baking, prepare the gzik. First peel and chop the cucumber then put the farmers cheese in a medium bowl and crumble it with a fork. Add yogurt, Bryndza, salt, the chopped cucumber, chives, pepper, garlic clove. Set a side in the fridge.

Step 4

Fry the bacon, let it soak the extra fat into a paper towel.
After an hour take out one potato from the oven and with a fork check if they are soft. If they are, take them all out. Unwrap and cut them lengthwise. Carefully scoop out flesh from the center of each potato into a two medium bowl (it will look like mash potato, and it will be hot so be careful).

For the Polish staffing- add gzik to the first bowl with the potato mash, and mix everything, the ration should be 2:1.
For the American staffing - add butter to the second bowl of mash and mix it, then add cheddar cheese, Bryndza, chives, and chopped bacon. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 5
Spoon filling back into each potato. Sprinkle the "American potatoes" with some more cheese and return to the oven until melted, about 5 minutes. Top with chives greens and remaining bacon. The "Polish potatoes" just garnish with chives and the fried slice of bacon.
 


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