Monday, January 24, 2005

Twice the Twice Baked Potato

I have learned that not everyone is a fan of sweet potatoes. These sorts of people often cannot offer a solid explanation as to why they don't like these sweetly delicious veggies. My personal theory is that they were scarred at a young age by being forced to consume some great-aunt's marshmallow and brown sugar saturated sweet-potato-from-a-can casserole. One of those dishes where you love the parts, but just can't stomach the whole.
I, however, love sweet potatoes, particularly because they are equally good in sweet and savory situations. I actually have it in mind to make a sort of mole flavored sweet potato salad in the near future.... But that is not what this post is about.
In an effort to win over some non-fans of sweet potatos, I made twice baked potatoes using a combination of sweet and regular potatoes. The presence of regular potatoes took a hint of sweetness off and these were thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Twice the Twice Baked Potatoes
1 large potato
1 large sweet potato
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese, plus more tor topping
chopped or dried chives to taste
Prick both potatoes with a fork and bake for 1 hour in 400F oven.
Cut potatoes in half and scoop out interior into a large bowl. Add cottage cheese, parmesan and chives and mash until potato is smooth.
Spoon filling into enpty potato skins or ramekins and sprinkle with parmesan.
Place back into oven until top is browned, 10-15 minutes.

Note: You may notice that in the picture above two of the servings are in glass ramekins. Sweet potato skins are not terribly sturdy, so either use ramekins or bake a sacrificial regular potato and skin it.