Two Perfect Potato Dinner Ideas

Roasted Potato Wedges

The first and easiest potato recipe is one that requires little effort or time, a perfect side dish for any protein based meal you have planned. Roasted potatoes can be made from any variety of the vegetable, and can be combined with a menagerie of ingredients that will add an immense amount of flavor. A plateful of crispy potatoes will leave you satisfied and fulfilled plenty! For this particular recipe, I will be specifying the sweet potato version, although you can replace with the necessary ingredients as you see fit. For example, if you do not have sweet potatoes, you can use regular potatoes. Luckily, potatoes are a very receptive dish, and therefore will work with most if not any seasonings you use.

• 1-2 Sweet Potatoes
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Ground Cinnamon
• Sea Salt
• Olive Oil
• Fresh Mint Leaves
• Salted Butter

With these ingredients, your sweet potatoes will be even sweeter, and yet delicious all the same.

You will want to start by bringing your oven to 200 degrees and placing an empty pan on the higher tray. Set a pot to boil, sprinkling some salt and baking soda the water so the potatoes boil faster and come out of the pot with a more crispy exterior. Cut the potatoes into wedges that are about an inch and a half thick each.

Be careful not to wait too long for the potatoes to be fully boiled, or else they will end up a sloppy mess, perhaps up to 6-7 minutes. You want the potatoes to be firm enough for you to move them into a mixing bowl with all of the ingredients, and toss them generously. Be sure to be careful when mixing the potatoes with the seasonings, a three tablespoons of chopped mint leaves, and two tablespoons of ground cinnamon will taste perfect. 

Being too rough with the potatoes could cause them to be as mushy as they would be when boiled for too long, about thirty tosses in the mixing bowl will do. While the matter of seasoning is subjective, around one tablespoon of vanilla extract, Once finished mixing the ingredients, take the pan out of the oven (be careful not to burn yourself) and place three tablespoons of butter into the pan, allowing the butter to melt entirely before placing the potatoes inside. Make sure the butter evenly covers the surface of the pan so that the potatoes are all cooked at the same rate. After about thirty to ten minutes of oven roasting with a careful eye on them will result in a pan full of crispy and nearly candied sweet potatoes. Afterwards, simply plate and enjoy!

Double Baked Loaded Potato

The double baked loaded potato is one of the longer recipes, so be sure that you start in the kitchen earlier than normal. The overall time it would take to cook this dish is around 2-4 hours, especially depending on your preference regarding variables like skin thickness as well as filling taste. The double baked potato is mostly so that the potato skin is hardened and the substance of the potato softened. While waiting for these effects on your potatoes, you will spend time cooking a filling of your choice (I use vegetarian ingredients) so that you may have a crispy and crunchy inside for your potato. Having that sort of surprise of baked cheese inside your potato is one that is always something that is unexpectedly amazing. If you liked baked potatoes, you will love this recipe.

• Regular Russet Potatoes
• Mushrooms
• Tomatoes
• Lemon Juice
• Bell peppers
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Ground Black Pepper
• Garlic Salt
• Parsley
• Dried Chives
• Unsalted Butter
• Seasoning Salt
• Olive Oil
• Cooking Brush

The Doubled Baked Loaded Potato is one that requires carefulness as well as patience. Once you finish washing your potato, you should set a sheet of parchment paper onto a pan of your choosing. This will allow a smoky flavor to envelop your potatoes. Use your cooking brush to smooth out a layer of olive oil onto the entirety of your potatoes, thus causing the following seasonings to better stick onto the skin of the potato, and causing it to be thicker as a whole so you do not make any mistakes later on while cutting open the potato. 

Make sure to evenly cover the potatoes with seasoning salt, cumin, and ground black pepper. Luckily a wider variety of spices on the skin will be unnecessary, as the flavor will be focused on the inside of the potato, whereas the skin will be moreso enjoyed for its texture. Keep in mind that of course the higher you set your oven, the faster the potatoes will bake, however you also want to consider the strength of your potato's skin so that you are able to keep it intact when loading it. The first bake should be around 360 degrees and left for an hour, or until the potatoes are completely baked inside and out.

Within that hour of potato baking, set a pan onto your stove on high. place 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter into the pan and allow it to melt completely. Dice your vegetables or meats, preferably bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and bell peppers. Afterwards, set the stove back to low and place your diced ingredients onto the pan. We want the ingredients to simmer whilst gaining a crispy texture until the potato is ready to be opened.

When the potato is well baked, after the first hour, you should be able to cut open the potatoes from one end to the other. Be sure to not cut the skin all the way to the sides, as it will be difficult for the potato to hold the filling that you will place inside, you essentially want the potato to open like a coin purse. Once you cut open the potato, use a large spoon to scoop out the potato's substance, placing it into a bowl and then mixing it with the cooked filling that you have prepared on the stove. Before filling the potato with the substance once more, cover as much as you can of the potato's empty inside with your cheese of choice, preferably slices as shredded cheese will be difficult to spread on the inside. I have made the choice of Muenster cheese, and then using Aged Sharp Cheddar to top off the filled potato so that the potato closes properly while baking for another hour at 360 degrees. 

Simply top off with some sour cream as desired and plate with some steak knives, and you'll enjoy a healthy and fulfilling meal of potatoes! Enjoy friend.