Bacon & Chipotle Twice-Baked Potatoes

While I may not have the well traveled taste buds of a true food connoisseur, I like to think I have pretty good taste when it comes to one particular class of cuisine. Bar food. Wings dripping in hot sauce. Heaping piles of hot, salty French fries. Gooey deep fried mozzarella sticks. If there was an expert in such a field, it would be yours truly.

So when I recently made an amazing bar-worthy cilantro turkey burger with a spicy chipotle ketchup, I needed the perfect accompaniment. And what better way to tame the heat of a spicy meal, than by serving an even spicier side dish? (We definitely like it hot around here. But to those with sissy taste buds, omitting the chilis will yield a milder, yet equally delicious potato.)

This was my first experience making a twice-baked potato, and the creamy, cheesy, bacony deliciousness left me fervently regretting all those wasted dinners with sub par burger sides. Sorry French fries, but I've moved on to greener, tastier pastures...that are covered in bacon.

And even better, these potatoes are extremely simple, too. First, wash and bake your potatoes for about 50 minutes, then cool, slice in half, and scoop out the flesh. You want to make sure you leave some of the potato in the shells. If you attempt to scoop it all out, the shells will loose their shape and could fall apart.

Next, mash the potato with a  potato masher to get the pulp nice and creamy, then mix in bacon, green onion, sharp cheddar, low fat buttermilk and spicy, flavorful chopped chipotle chiles.

And to really speed things along, it's pre-cooked bacon to the rescue. Just zap the strips in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Then stuff all that creamy, cheesy goodness back into the shells, top with more cheddar and bake for 15 minutes. (The perfect amount of time to cook your burgers.)

These potatoes were AWESOME. The skins were crisp and the filling, well, definitely didn't taste light. Heavenly is more of an appropriate adjective.

Luke and I majorly chowed down. Bite after bite, we stuffed our faces with delicious spicy cilantro burgers and creamy spicy potatoes, ignoring the fact that our tongues got no intermission whatsoever from the chipotle's heat. We didn't care. This meal was so good, we seriously felt like we were at a sports bar. (Note: The kind of sports bar that serves awesome bar food, not the kind that smells like a frat house.) 

So while our tongues definitely took a hit with this ultra spice-filled meal, it was worth it. You just can't beat the combination of bacon, chipotle, green onions and cheese. Spicy. Creamy. Cheesy. And gone in seconds.

Bacon & Chipotle Twice-Baked Potatoes
Lorrie Hulston Corvin, Cooking Light, December 2008
Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed shell)

Cookbook Note: If you don't care for the spicy chipotle chiles, omit them—these simple potatoes are good either way. Remember this side dish next summer; it is quite good with barbecue.

Ingredients:
6  medium baking potatoes (about 3 pounds)
1 1/4  cups  low-fat buttermilk
1 1/4  cups  (5 ounces) shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/3  cup  thinly sliced green onions
2  tablespoons  finely chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
1  teaspoon  salt
4  bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (drained)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork. Bake potatoes at 450° for 50 minutes or until done; cool slightly. Cut each potato in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell. Combine potato pulp, milk, 3/4 cup cheese and remaining ingredients in a large bowl.

Spoon potato mixture evenly into 10 shells; discarding remaining 2 shells. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese evenly over potatoes. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 241 (22% from fat), Fat: 6g (sat 3.1g,mono 2g,poly 0.3g), Protein: 9.6g, Carbohydrate: 37g, Fiber: 4.1g, Cholesterol: 19mg, Iron:1.9 mg, Sodium: 464mg, Calcium: 168mg.
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