Twice Baked Potatoes (Pan Style)

A little over a month ago, my family got together to celebrate the holidays.  One night which has always been a quandary for us is new years eve.  Traditionally, the family celebration has always been new years day.  The night was a time spent preparing for the next days party, as many dishes need to be started the day before serving.  This year, even without my mother, things were no different.  The family party, which was generously catered by my cousin, was on January 1.  This left me with time to have a few family members (those who did not have another party to attend) over for dinner.

My dad happened to be in Safeway on a day when New York roasts were $5/pound.  He left Safeway with 3 roasts and could not believe his good fortune.  I could not believe my MISfortune, as the New York cut is not a cut I enjoy eating.  My dad has been through a lot of shit this year, so instead of arguing, I agreed to cook, not one, but TWO New York roasts.

In an attempt to placate myself by serving something I would enjoy, I attempted to make twice baked potatoes in the shells.  It was the first time I even considered making it in the shell, and I thought it would look fancy next to the slab of roast beast.  I guess it wasn't my time to make it happen because I ended up making it in a casserole dish.  It turned out to be a huge hit (in addition to the salad).  My cousins loved it.  I made 1 1/2 recipes, and most of it was gone by the end of the evening.  That's a lot of potato pulp for less than 10 people!

Since my cousin Otee is a devoted Kikukat follower, I thought I'd post the recipe for the potatoes (and a link to the dressing is above) for him.  Although he doesn't cook much, he is known to hibachi a steak.  He can print out the recipe for the potatoes and have his brother make it for him!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Twice Baked Potatoes

     4 russet potatoes

     2 tbsp butter

     1/2 tsp salt

     1/4 tsp pepper

     1 c sour cream

     1 c shredded cheese, divided

     1/2 c bacon bits

     chives

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake potatoes for 1 hour, directly on rack.  Let cook 15 minutes.  Scrape pulp into a bowl.  Combine pulp with all other ingredients, reserving 1/2 c shredded cheese for topping.  Place in an au gratin dish and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cranberry Orange Biscotti

I didn't realize Thanksgiving was so close!  I saw some kind of Taste of Home post on Facebook and I had to actually run to the calendar to see for myself.  No shit!!!

The work week this week is only 3 (2 by the time this is published) days, but short weeks tend to drag on, and the kids are totally gone.  Adults too.

But in a few days it will be Thanksgiving, and that gives me something to look forward to.  Its not just the break from work.  I love Thanksgiving food.  I love all the white meat from the turkey and all that you can do with the leftovers. The other big deal about Thanksgiving is cranberry sauce.  I love cranberry sauce, and I think Williams-Sonoma makes the best.  I need to check the pantry to see if I have any left.  One year, I made my own cranberry sauce, and it was unreal sour.  Since then, I've left the cranberry sauce to the experts.

It doesn't seem right to have cranberry sauce outside of the holiday season, so I don't make anything with cranberry sauce beyond the holidays, however dried cranberries are fair game year-round.  I keep a Costco-sized bag of dried cranberries on hand.  The Ds sprinkle li hing mui powder on it and eat it as a snack.  I love to use dried cranberries in recipes as a substitute for raisins.

While cranberry orange biscotti recipes abound, the recipes I tried lacked orange flavor.  Bummer.  In my experiments with biscotti making, I came across a recipe which included a topping.  After tinkering with the ingredients, I came up with a recipe which has the pronounced orange flavor I was looking for - its in both the biscotti and the topping.  In addition to cranberries and orange flavor, this biscotti gets its crunch from chopped marcona almonds. 

This biscotti is a little trickier to make than my previous biscotti recipe because of the baked-on topping.  This biscotti needs to be sliced very carefully with a serrated knife.  Using too much pressure will cause the topping to pop off.   I suppose you could leave the topping off, but the orange flavor would be less prominent.

just after the first bake

slicing biscotti using a serrated knife

getting ready for the second bake

 click on recipe title for printable recipe.
Cranberry Orange Biscotti

     1/4 + 2/3 c sugar, divided

     2 tbsp + 1 tsp orange juice, divided

     6 tbsp butter, softened

     zest of 1 orange

     2 eggs

     1/2 tsp almond extract

     1/2 tsp vanilla extract

     2 c flour

     1 tsp baking powder

     1/2 c dried cranberries, chopped

     1/2 c marcona almonds, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl, combine 1/4 c sugar and 1 tsp orange juice.  Mixture will be rather dry.  Set aside.  Grease 2 biscotti pans or line a flat cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Cream butter and remaining 2/3 c sugar.  Add 2 tbsp orange juice, zest, eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract.  Stir in flour and baking powder.  Add cranberries and nuts.  Shape dough into 2 2" wide rectangles in/on prepared pan(s).  Using half of sugar/orange juice mixture for each loaf, pat onto top of each rectangle, taking care not to spill any on baking sheet.  Bake 20 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes.  Using a serrated knife, slice 1/2" on the diagonal.  Place on a cut side and bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.  Flip over to other side and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

NOTE:  Cranberry Orange Biscotti would make an excellent snack for Black Friday shopping, that is, if you choose to indulge in that sport.  After the stampeding sounds in Wal-Mart last year, I will be staying home.  There is no need for me to be in the throng of people.  I'm sure the Ds will be home too.  I know neither were happy last year.  I just hope Kikukat Mom's curiosity about Black Friday shopping was cured last year too.