Conference turris::cooks

    I've seen potatoe skins done 2 ways. The first I'll mention is faster
    but not as good, in my opinion.
    
    Method 1:  Take the potatoes and cut them in half, or the size you'd
    like. Scoop/cut out the middles, leaving some potatoe on the skin.
    Now deep fry these as you would french fries. Remove and drain.
    Now fill with you favorite things (cheeses, bacon pieces, brocolli,
    etc) place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until
    everything melts or is cooked. 
    
    		This is te method alot of restaurants use because it
    is realitivly quick and they can fry up the "shells" in advance.
    
    Method 2: Bake the potatoes as you would for regular baked potatoes.
    Cut in half or quarters and scoop out most of the filling. Fill
    with whatever you want and bake above, usually about 10 - 15 minutes,
    depending how full they are. 
    
    		Personally, I like this method more because they are
    easier to scoop out (raw vs cooked potatoes), not as greasy, and
    if you don't scoop out the potatoes evenly in method 1, you can
    have some crisper edges once they are fried. With method 2, you
    will have the leftover insides of the potatoe. You can use these
    to make mashed potatoes, potatoe pancakes, Shephard's pie, etc.;
    all depending upon how many you make. I'm sure there must be some
    perfect recipe for potatoe skins, but method 2 has worked well for
    me. I like to taste the potatoe and it's filling, not something
    like a french fry with cheese and bacon on it.
    
     	I have also see frozen skins in the supermarkets (by the french
    fries). I tried these once when we suddenly decided to have a 
    SuperBowl party. I think I cooked them almost all the time they
    said to cook them and then loaded my toppings onto them and continued
    baking. Believe it or not they weren't bad.   Good luck!!!

    I use a combination of 756.1's methods #1 & #2.
    
    I bake the potatoes until nearly done.  Slice in half and scoop
    out.  Then BRIEFLY fry in very hot oil to crisp slightly.
    Fill with a few of my favorite things OR provide an assortment and
    let guests build their own before running under the broiler.
    
    Annie
    

Paul Prudhomme's Louisana Kitchen cookbook has a wonderful recipe for stuffed
potatoes (potato skins, more or less), Cajun style.  Made it the other night--
wonderful stuff.  I'm not going to post the recipe here--get the cookbook.
You'll be glad you did.

--PSW

Argh!! the system ate my note and now has it marked wierd like I'm still
writing it...oh well, here's the skins:

bake good, big idaho spuds, cut in wedges and scrape out potato pulp,
leaving a generous layer in the skin.  Brush the skin wedges liberally
with oil, and bake in a 400 degree oven until crispy and brown.

Remove from oven and add:

either shredded cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon
or shredded cheddar cheese and diced scallions or red onion
or shredded swiss cheese and diced ham or pastrami, or....

be creative!

Return to oven to melt cheese.

Serve with hidden valley ranch dip (or blue cheese dip, or salsa, or whatever)

			HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH DIP

	make Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing and use sour cream instead of
	buttermilk.

THIS IS NOT DIET FOOD FOLKS!

    This is how I do it.
    
    Back 6 med sized potatoes in oven until just done.  Remove and let
    cool.  When cold slice each potato in to fourths the long way..
    remove potato down to 1/2 inch from the skin.. if the potatoes are
    nice and cold they'll keep their shape nicely while you are doing
    this.  (save the potato that you remove for hash browns).
    
    Now lay on a lightly oiled baking sheet potato side down and brush
    the skins with oil.. turn over and repeat.. bake for about 15 minutes
    on one side and another 15 mins on the other side until really crisp
    and browned..  I usually use a fairly hot oven for this (and I've
    got a convection oven so things brown really well). 
    
    When crisp and brown remove from oven and serve with any of the
    following dips:
    
    sour cream and chives
    sour cream and spring onion
    thick cheese sauce and jalapeno peppers
    thick cheese sauce and imitation bacon bits
    thick tomato sauce
    chili
    etc etc.
    
    I started baking my potato skins years ago when I discovered they
    came out just as nice as they do when fried with a fraction of the
    oil.  I'm quite sningy with the oil when I brush them before baking
    and you'd never know that I did not fry them!  
    
    gailann
    
    hint:  I keep my oil in a plant spray bottle and actually spray
    the oil on most of the things I bake that I previously fried.  I've
    measured my spray into a spoon to see how many sprays equal 1 teaspoon
    and for my spray bottle it is 20! 

    
    	Cut whole potatos in half and bake them till there tender.  Then
        with a spoon scrap out potatoe, leaveing 1/2 inch of potatoe.  Place
    	on a serving platter and top with melted cheddar and Crumbled bacon.
    
    	I sometimes make a bunch of potatoes and then frezzzzz them, then
    	you can just drop them in a deep fryer to reheat or in the oven.
    
    	This is how they made them at the resturaunt I used to work at. 
    	They we're great!
    
    2)	Have you ever had baked stuffed potatoes?  These are real easy to
        make.  After baking the potatoes scrap out the potatoe and mash
    	with butter, salt, pepper, parsley, and sour cream.  Then put
    	mixture into a zip-loc bag, cut the end, and squezz the potatoe
    	mixture back in each potatoe.  Put under the broiler to brown.  
    	I sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top and then broil.  1 per 
    	person is usually enough.
     
     	I don't have exact measurements, you can just mix the potatoe to
        your tast.  I hope this helps!!
    
    	Michelle