November Super-Stuffed Baked Potatoes

This recipe calls for 7 potatoes, but only 6 of them make it to the table. The remaining potato is used for its flesh; you should have 5 cups of scooped potato flesh in step 2.

Serves 6

Ingredients
7 large russet potatoes (about 12 ounces each), scrubbed
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , 3 tablespoons melted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (5.2-ounce) package Boursin cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup half-and-half
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees.

Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place a cooling rack on top of the cookie sheet for your cooking surface.

Prick potatoes all over with fork.

Place directly on oven rack for 30-40 minutes.
OR....
For less time, you can cook them in the microwave. Place them on a paper towel, and microwave on high until tender, 20 to 25 minutes, turning potatoes over after 10 minutes. Some potatoes may take longer than others to cook, so check them every so often, making sure they don’t overcook.

Once cooked, slice and remove top quarter of each potato. Let cool. Sscoop out flesh into a medium bowl, leaving 1/4-inch layer of potato on inside. Remember, one potato is going to be used for its filling and then discarded. Once you have all 7 potatoes scooped out, toss one of the empty shells.

Brush remaining shells inside and out with melted butter and sprinkle interiors with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Some butter will be left over to use later.

Transfer potatoes scooped side up to baking sheet fitted with wire rack and bake until skins begin to crisp, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix 3/4 of the Boursin and all of the half-and-half in bowl until blended.

Cook remaining melted butter with garlic in saucepan over medium-low heat until garlic is straw-colored, 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, then stir in Boursin mixture until combined. This will make the Boursin mixture warm up for better usage.

Use a ricer, or potato masher to break up the potato innards so they have a nice consistency for the filling.

Gently fold in warm Boursin mixture, 3 tablespoons chives, remaining salt, and pepper until well incorporated with the potato filling, set aside.

Remove potato shells from oven and fill with potato-cheese mixture.

Top with remaining crumbled Boursin and bake until tops of potatoes are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining chives. Serve.

*Notes

Bigger, Better Stuffed Potatoes During testing for our Super-Stuffed Baked Potatoes, we found that most recipes called for the baked potatoes to be cut right in half before being filled. But these skimpy spuds were far from the super-stuffed garlic potato I was looking for. Instead, I found the best way was to cut off only the top quarter of the potato—leaving a much more substantial spud to stuff.

Boursin is a soft, spreadable cheese that comes in several varieties available in every supermarket. The Garlic and Fine Herbs flavor is a key ingredient in our Super-Stuffed Baked Potatoes, as it adds creamy texture, cheese flavor, and a big hit of aromatic garlic and herbs. This versatile cheese works well as a sandwich spread (try it with roast beef), as a stuffing for chicken breasts, spread on steaks, in mashed potatoes, on crackers, in dips, or as part of a cheese plate.

Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen- Cook’s Country TV
From the episode: Steakhouse Favorites