Southwest Loaded Baked Potato

Ahhh the potato. Is there a starch more versatile than this glorious spud? What would a hamburger be without french fries? A summer BBQ without potato salad? A late night snack run to the kitchen without potato chips? Your Thanksgiving feast without mashed potatoes? And it's not just Americans that have perfected recipes highlighting this staple crop. I adore potatoes in perogies, spicy Indian curry, or Spanish tortilla just as much as the recipes I grew up with! When I bought the "on sale" sack of potatoes this week at the grocery store, instead of exploring the variety of international cuisines and cooking techniques that a potato can adopt, I decided to take the spud back to basics. We are making a baked potato!

I am guilty of fake baking potatoes in the microwave. When I'm starving, and not in my right mind, 5 minutes cooking time ALWAYS trumps 60 minutes cooking time. However, my apartment in Spain does not have a microwave. Sure, I could invest in a new appliance, but I like that I'm forced to be a little more resourceful than I am back home in my fully stocked and completely operable kitchen. Here, I am required to do a little more menu planning.

When you give a potato the hour it deserves to bake slowly in an oven, it rewards you for your patience. Its crispy exterior crunches delicately under your fork before opening to reveal a burst of steam and soft, cloud-like, creamy potato flesh. At this point, a little salt and pepper is all you need to make a baked potato sing. I'm giving it some Southwestern flair with a roasted red bell pepper, sauteed onions, an egg, and lots of melty cheese!

This is another infinitely adaptable recipe. You can fill your baked potato with just about anything you have in your fridge, including diced chicken, turkey, or ham. After you've tried my Southwest inspired recipe, tweak your potato filling to make this recipe your own!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a fork, prick the potato a few times on all sides. Rub a teaspoon of olive oil on the outside of your potato and salt and pepper liberally. Bake for 1 hour until a knife inserts easily into the potato. Set potato aside to cool briefly.

  

While your potato cools, start working on your onion and bell pepper. Heat the remaining olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Saute the diced onion until soft and translucent, 10 minutes. Set aside. Turn your broiler on to high and place the pepper in the oven skin side up. Check its progress often and rotate if needed to achieve an even char on the surface. If you have a gas stove, char the pepper on your burner directly over the flame.

 

Place pepper in a ziploc bag until cool enough to touch. This will allow steam to accumulate around the bell pepper, making it easier to peel when cool. Peel the skin from the pepper and dice the flesh.

Now, back to the star of the show! Remove a layer from the top of the potato and scrape out the insides. You can either save the inside of the potato or eat them. I almost always eat them! Leave a thin potato layer on the sides when you're hollowing it out.

Now we are to the fun part. Fill your potato with the diced onion and pepper leaving enough space at the top for.....

 

The egg. Just crack that baby directly into your potato.

Sprinkle some cheese on top and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the egg white is set and the yolk is soft.

Here is the finished product. Fresh out of the oven, it looks quaint and semi-interesting....

but after you attack the potato with your fork and the soft egg yolk cascades over the melted cheese and roasted vegetables, you know it's time to dive in! I made a little side salad out of my leftover vegetables. Waste not, want not! 

Southwest Loaded Baked Potato

Recipe by Sweet & Savory

Ingredients:

1 medium potato
1 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
salt and pepper
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper
cheese (the amount you use is up to you!) 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. With a fork, prick the surface of the potato a few times on all sides. Rub 1 tsp. olive oil on the outside of the potato and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour until a knife inserts easily into the potato. Set aside until cool enough to handle with your hands.

While your potato cools, prepare the onion and bell pepper. Heat the remaining 2 tsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion and saute until the onion is translucent and soft, 10 minutes. Set aside. Heat your broiler to its highest heat setting. Place the bell pepper half under the broiler skin side up. Check the pepper's progress often, as you may need to rotate it to get an even char on all sides, and remove from oven when skin is charred black. If you have a gas stove, you can also blacken your pepper directly on your stove top over the flame. When the bell pepper skin is charred black, place in a plastic bag until cool enough to touch. Peel off the skin and dice the pepper flesh.

Slice a layer off the top of the potato and hollow the inside out with a spoon, leaving a thin layer on all sides. Fill your potato with the diced onion and bell pepper. Crack the egg on top of the vegetables and sprinkle as much cheese as desired on top. Return potato to the oven for 20 minutes, until the white is set and the yolk is still soft.

Split Pea Soup (with vegetarian variation)

My favorite thing about cooking ONE of my many favorite things about cooking is finding recipes that were invented to re-purpose leftovers. I´m not referring to post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches, although they are fabulous, I´m talking about the more resourceful peasant dishes. The stews simmered with vegetables about to spoil, quick breads baked to save overripe fruit, and custards whipped up to save dozens of egg yolks from being wasted are some of my favorite recipes because I´m so interested in the history behind them. For example, while eating my way through Portugal, I discovered the pastry of my dreams-el pastel de nata. To me, it tasted like creme brulee nestled in a bed of flaky puff pastry. Are you booking a plane ticket yet? I learned that these pastries were invented hundreds of years ago by nuns. The nuns used egg whites as starch for their clothes, so they had a regular abundance of egg yolk byproduct. For this reason, Porto, Portugal is famous for its egg yolk-based confections. I can never remember a single thing from history class, but if you put a food spin on a history lesson, I eat it up! (Ha) Why is that?

I paused halfway through my pastel de nata to snap a picture. Note the buttery, flaky exterior,the tender egg custard in the center, and the sweet, broiled sugar crust on top. Yes, that is the perfect pastry. I do not have a kitchen tested recipe for pastel de nata (give me time), but I do have a belly warming split pea soup recipe invented to reuse the ham bone!

Those of you who look forward to holiday hams, look forward to eating this soup for days after. Like all soups, the flavors are always better the day after it´s cooked, so I like to make this soup at night after a holiday meal and eat it the next few days. This soup can easily be made vegetarian if you skip the ham bone and add vegetable stock instead of water. Still satisfying and delicious!

This soup is simple to prepare and very inexpensive. Rinse and pick through the peas. Leave peas to soak in water while beginning the soup base.

Like all good soups, this one begins with a mirepoix (meer-pwah), equal parts celery, onion, and carrot. Roughly chop or large dice the vegetables. They will be pureed later, so uniformity is not important.

In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and stir to coat the mirepoix. Sprinkle with salt to encourage the vegetables to release their water to start the cooking process! Cook for 5 minutes, until the onions start to appear translucent, then add garlic and cook for 3 more minutes.

Add water (or vegetable stock if making the vegetarian version), rinsed and soaked peas, bay leaf, and the beautiful ham bone (or not if making vegetarian). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and allow soup to simmer for 70-90 minutes, until the peas are tender. The longer it´s simmered, the thicker your soup will be.

Remove ham bone from stockpot. Add pepper, italian herb blend, and paprika.

Puree with an immersion blender or puree in batches in a blender. Be very careful, the soup will be hot! If the soup appears too thick, add a little water or vegetable stock and blend.

If meat remains on your ham bone, remove from the bone, chop, and add back into the soup. If you do not want meat in the soup, simply skip this step. That´s the beauty of split pea soup, you can make it just how you like it. Top with garlic parmesan croutons and serve hot. Enjoy!

Split Pea Soup

recipe by Sweet & Savory

Ingredients:

1 lb. split peas, rinsed and soaked
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 bay leaf
2 quarts water or vegetable stock
1-1 1/2 lb. ham bone
1/2 tsp. italian herb blend
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Instructions:

Rinse and pick through peas. Leave to soak in water while beginning soup base.

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add chopped onion, carrot, and celery and stir to coat with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and cook for 5 minutes, until onions become translucent. Add garlic and cook 3 minutes more. 

Add ham bone, water (or vegetable stock for vegetarian variation), peas, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Simmer for 70-90 minutes. The longer the soup is simmered, the thicker the end result.

Remove ham bone and add italian herb blend, paprika, and pepper. Blend with an immersion blender or puree in batches in a conventional blender. Remove meat from the ham bone, chop, and add to soup. Taste to adjust seasoning and add more water or stock if the soup is too thick for your taste. Serve hot.