Recipe: Twice Baked Potatoes & Cheese Fondue*

I don’t know if it’s just our family, but we seem to have the same foods every single Christmas.  First of all is our traditional Christmas Eve Fondue Party.  When I was a girl, this was a relatively simple event, consisting of our family’s favorite Cheese Fondue with chunks of French bread for dipping, along with pieces of fruit with chocolate and caramel sauce.  Through the years it has expanded greatly (every time we try something new, it gets added to the list!) until this year the planned menu includes, among other things, French Dip sandwiches (yes, I cook and slice my own roast—but this could also be made from sliced roast beef from the store deli), Homemade Eggs Rolls with sweet and sour sauce, Stuffed Mushrooms, Cold Shrimp with cocktail sauce, Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip, Jalapeno Bacon Wraps. . . the list goes on.

Christmas Dinner is also pretty consistent—usually Baked Ham and--this part isn’t negotiable--Twice Baked Potatoes.  My grandma used to make these every single year for Christmas dinner and it’s another of my “no recipe” recipes.  Our kids always fight over the biggest one, and my brother always asks if he can have a second, no matter how big they are!  There are a lot of versions of twice baked potatoes out there, but I've included mine here.  I am also including the recipe for our family Cheese Fondue.


For Christmas breakfast, I usually make either Belgium Waffles with raspberries and cream or Crepes with fresh 0range butter, along with bacon.  Breakfast Casserole is also a good choice, because it’s made and in the fridge the night before, ready to pop in the oven as soon as you get up without taking time away from the festivities of Christmas morning.

Grandma's Twice Baked Potatoes

1.     Buy once and a half as many large baking potatoes as you need for the number of potatoes you want to make (if you are serving 10 people, buy 15 potatoes).

2.     You will need sour cream, grated medium cheddar cheese, butter, evaporated milk, salt and pepper, and paprika.  If it's summer, I love to add fresh chives from my garden.

3.     Wash the potatoes and bake at 400 degrees (do not wrap in foil) until well done—at least an hour or so.

4.    Let cool on counter no more than 20 minutes.  You want them cool enough to handle, but warm enough so they’ll mash well.

5.    Using a serrated knife, cut a ½” thick slice off the tops, then with a small spoon carefully scoop the potato out of the shell into a large bowl, trying not to tear or break the shell.  Scoop the little bit of potato out of the sliced off top as well.  Line up the shells into an oblong glass or metal baking dish to wait for the filling and see if they’re all going to fit.

6.    When they are all scooped out, you can discard the shells you don’t like—those that tore, or are small or ugly or whatever, because you baked more potatoes than people you need them for.  Save just enough for your number of people (plus an extra one for your brother, Bart).

7.    Mash the potatoes.  Then add melted butter, maybe about a stick for 8 to 10 LARGE potatoes, 1 to 2 cups of sour cream, quite a bit of salt and pepper, and about a pound of grated cheese or so (about 4 cups).  Add a little evaporated milk as needed to make it the right consistency.  Mash it up with your potato masher—don’t use an electric mixer or it will be a weird sticky consistency.  Add more cheese if you want, and taste it to get the salt and pepper right.  When it looks and tastes good, fill the shells, mounding up to get all the filling in.  Don’t tell anyone, but I usually do this with my impeccably clean hands so I can get as much filling into each shell as possible.  Cover with foil that you have sprayed with cooking spray so it won’t stick to the potatoes.  Place in fridge, covered with plastic wrap until ready to cook, or cook right away.

8.    Cook potatoes at 350 for about an hour or longer until you stick a butter knife into the middle potato and your knife feels hot when you remove it.  That will let you know they’re heated well.  Remove the foil for the last 20 minutes or so.  

9.    Have slices of cheese prepared to place on the potatoes. Remove from oven, placing the slices of cheese and press down slightly (slice your own cheese or buy pre-sliced).  Sprinkle lightly with Paprika.  Turn off oven, and put potatoes back in just long enough to barely melt the cheese. Serve right away.

It's an unwritten rule in the family that Dani gets the biggest one.  (Unless her Uncle Bart is there to fight her for it!)

 

Favorite Cheese Fondue

1 stick butter

½ cup flour

1 teas. salt

½ teas. pepper

½ teas. dry mustard

½ teas. Worcestershire sauce

3 to 3 1/2 cups milk

5 cups shredded sharp or med cheddar cheese

Melt butter over low heat in medium sized heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Whisk in all other ingredients except cheese and milk.  Then carefully whisk in milk so it doesn’t lump.  When it’s thickened and bubbly, remove from heat and stir in cheese.  Add more milk if it’s too thick, or wait until later when reheating.

Serve immediately or cool at room temp for a half hour (if you are want to use it later), then stir and store covered in fridge.  When reheating, heat and stir on low until warm and ready to serve.  Dip chunks of fresh French bread cut into bite sized cubes with an electric knife.

*Originally distributed December 2013