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Kimchi potato skins

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Bacon crumbles or thinly sliced and cooked pork belly wouldn’t be amiss here, added to the potato skins along with the cheddar; we omitted it just to keep things a little, little bit lighter.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 small to medium Russet potatoes (about ½ lb each, 4 lbs total)
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, divided
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 cup kimchi, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 6 ounces (1 ½ cups) shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese
  • To serve:
  • Sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
  • Cilantro
  • Scallions, sliced

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Thoroughly scrub the potatoes until clean and let dry. Rub the potatoes with oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. I used about 2 tablespoons oil and ½ teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Prick potatoes all over with a fork or knife, then place them on a baking sheet and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until skin is crisp and potatoes are tender.
  2. Remove the potatoes from the oven and turn the oven up to 500° F. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, halve them and scoop out the flesh, leaving a thin border of potato attached to the skins. (Save the flesh for another use; we mashed them with a bit of milk, butter, and salt and pepper.)
  3. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon sesame oil together in a small bowl. Brush both the skins and the insides of the potatoes with the sesame oil mixture and season the insides with more salt and pepper. Place the potatoes cut-side down and bake until skins are crisp, about 5-8 minutes, then flip and bake with the cut-side up until edges are browned, another 5-8 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together the kimchi, honey, and rice vinegar in a small bowl.
  4. When the potatoes are done, sprinkle each potato skin with garlic powder and 2-3 tablespoons shredded cheddar and return them to the oven for a final 3-4 minutes, just until the cheese is melted. Serve topped with kimchi relish, sour cream, cilantro, and scallions.

Notes

These are a bit more involved than I realized before I tackled them, but they’re not hard, just time-consuming, and can easily be broken down into manageable pieces if you plan ahead more than I did.  Bake the potatoes one day and scoop them once chilled, then save the skins to crisp up and fill with toppings on the day you’d like to serve them.

Find it online: https://tworedbowls.com/2017/02/15/kimchi-potato-skins/