Say Cheese for Spuds!

First and foremost – let’s hear it for a fellow blogger, Julie Hyzy, for winning the Barry and the Anthony Awards for her debut novel, State of the Onion!!!

Wahooooooooooooooooo, Julie!!!!!!

Needless to say, Julie looks as happy as a kid on Christmas, right? Everyone was wishing her well. And the well-wishing was well-deserved. Her debut novel is a fun, "thrill-sy" book. (Combination cozy and thriller.)

Now, check out her second, Hail to the Chef. You won't be disappointed.

And now for today’s blog.

Warning: this blog is not diet-conscious. There is butter and crème fraiche and cheese involved. [Oh, hooray, right?]

Comfort food.

Why are there days when we crave it? Supposedly, in ancient times, people ate heavier foods as winter drew near to pack on extra pounds to weather the, um, weather. A harsh, cold winter didn’t provide the best assortment of veggies, know what I mean? But that’s not the only reason to enjoy comfort food. The main reason to crave it is because…IT’S GOOD!

My protagonist in The Cheese Shop Mysteries, Charlotte Bessette, loves a good stuffed potato. The sports bar in her fictional town of Providence, Ohio, Tim’s Tavern, serves a different baked potato each week. Here’s a sample.

For this recipe, I used a Seaside Cheddar from Ford Farms, located by the sea in a beautiful part of Dorset, England. Check out their website: Ford Farms.

TIM’S TAVERN BAKED CHEDDAR POTATO

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. crème fraiche
1 large brown-skinned potato
2 Tbsp. chives, snipped
2 Tbsp. Seaside Cheddar Cheese, diced

Directions:

Lay potato on foil. Brush potato with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Wrap foil tightly around the potato.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Open the foil, slice the potato lengthwise. Press at ends to “pop” open. Using a fork, break up the meat of the potato. Add 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. crème fraiche. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. snipped chives. [Note: I use scissors to snip chives. So easy to make a consistent cut.]


Layer with 2 Tbsp. diced cheese.

Put under broiler for 6 minutes, until cheese melts and becomes a light golden brown.

Remove from oven, set on plate with extra chives and pepper. Sprinkle top of potato with chives.

Serve hot as a main “vegetarian” entrée.

Note: if you’d like this as a side dish…before broiling, cut potato in half, top each portion with half the ingredients, and broil for 6 minutes.

Little tidbit: Potato – slang, “spud.” Some people believe the Irish people dug their potatoes with spades and from spade we get the moniker spud. Other’s believe the word was used as a term for a short knife or dagger, probably related to Dutch spyd.

If you have the time, check out my website: Avery Aames for other recipes and little "tidbits" about The Cheese Shop Mysteries.

Enjoy!