Bacon Cheeseburger Twice Baked Potato

I'm on the cooking contest bandwagon, this time with a savory recipe. Potatoes, Taters and Spuds is hosting a Twice Baked, Twice as Smart Recipe Photo Contest. The objective is to create an original twice baked potato and upload the picture. I chose to create a bacon cheeseburger stuffed potato with bacon, of course, and ground turkey.

You start off by roasting potatoes. I washed, scrubbed, and dried 4 potatoes, placed on a bed of salt and lightly drizzled with olive oil. These baked for around an hour and a half, until easily poked with a fork.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, each potato is sliced in half and scooped out.

Added to the potato pulp is sour cream, bacon pieces, cheddar cheese, dill pickle juice and onion powder. Folks, onion powder is the reason these potatoes taste exactly like a McDonald's cheeseburger. It's freaky how close the filling tastes to one, so although this version is a bit healthier thanks to the ground turkey, you really don't miss the beef. Or at least I don't think you do.

Each potato skin gets stuffed and topped with cheddar cheese, then baked for another half hour to heat thoroughly.

For the garnishes, you have finely chopped onions, dill pickles, and more bacon! Are you hungry yet?

And that's how you make a bacon cheeseburger twice baked potato, answering the question, "Do you want fries with that?"

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Bacon Cheeseburger Twice Baked Potatoes
Recipe by Christina Provo

Serve 4 as a main course

ingredients -

4 large Russet potatoes
3 tablespoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
10 strips of bacon
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 1/4 shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
4 dill pickles, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
Mustard, for serving

directions -

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Sprinkle rimmed baking sheet with 3 tablespoons salt. Wash and scrub potatos, patting dry. Poke each potato 5 times with a fork, then place on baking sheet. Drizzle the tops of each potato with 1/4 teaspoon olive oil. Bake until tender when poked with the tines of a fork, 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cool. When cool enough to handle, slice each potato lengthwise and scoop potato flesh out into a large bowl, leaving a shell.


2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook bacon strips in two batches, until crispy. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Crumble bacon when cool. Remove all but one tablespoon bacon grease from skillet; add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Let cool.


3. Add turkey, half of the crumbled bacon, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, sour cream, salt, onion powder, and pickle juice to potato flesh; stir to combine. Divide between skins and place back on baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.


4. Remove from oven and serve with remaining bacon crumbles, dill pickles, onions, and mustard.

KitchenAid Tea Kettle review

Please vote for my cupcakes!

As I mentioned a week ago, I am reviewing three items I got from Wayfair as part of their Preferred Blogger program. The purchases were compensated with a gift code, but this doesn't deter the objectivity in my reviews.

I appreciated how timely their offer was, since my old tea kettle had broken and I was looking for a replacement. I had debated between an electric kettle over the traditional stove top kettle with a whistle. The pros for the electric kettle was rapid heating (in under 5 minutes for a full pot) and auto shut off, though I'm lazy and if I walk away I might forget I had heated up water in the first place. I also lack the counter space so I went with this lovely and sleek KitchenAid Gourmet Essentials 2 Quart Tea Kettle in Brushed Stainless Steel. The price is $49.98, and shipping is free on this item when purchased through Wayfair.

Besides the pretty brushed 18/10 stainless steel body, which adds style to the kitchen, the handle features silicone grips on the top and bottom. I'm not sure why they didn't decide to wrap the handle entirely with the silicone, though the handle remained cool so in the end it doesn't matter.

Unlike my former tea kettle, the whistle cap isn't opened with a sliding mechanism attached to the handle. You have to flip the tab open, which rests under the handle, but it doesn't feel awkward so I didn't have an issue there. Obviously you need to put the cap back down for next time. The pot is fairly lightweight when empty, so it's not too heavy when filled with water.

For first time use, the instructions tell you to wash with warm, soapy water, drying the outside when finished. There's a line on the outside underneath the spout that says "maximum", though on the inside there is no line indicator. It would have been a nice feature to have, like my coffee percolator, though all you need to remember is to keep the water level under the spout, otherwise it will interfere with the whistling process. I filled the pot about 1/2 an inch under the spout and place on the stove. The handle is somewhat obtrusive when it comes to filling the pot with water, but not enough to make it a hassle.

There are a few rules to follow with this kettle:

• Use the correct size burner


• Don't heat higher than medium-high (most likely out of a concern for warping)


• When taken off the heat, let cool on a heat-proof surface or on a cool burner


• Don't allow to boil dry

Simple to follow, though I'll have to keep in mind about not cranking the heat all the way to the highest setting, as I've done with my old kettle. On medium high, the mostly filled pot took about 12-13 minutes to boil cold water on an electric burner, though times will differ based on your stove. This kettle also works for a wide variety of stove top surfaces, not just electric ranges.

As the water heated up, I prepared the large teapot with black tea bags, orange slices, and a few whole cloves in a tea ball for spiced tea.

The whistle on this kettle is pretty loud, so unless your iPod is cranked up to the max you won't have to worry about missing it. It's almost like one of those firecrackers with the reports, or at least that's what I initially thought of. The water doesn't dribble when poured, and although I didn't completely fill the kettle up I had enough water for a full pot of tea. I'm not sure how long the water remains hot in the kettle if you don't use it all, but I'm going to estimate that it stays hot for at least 10 minutes after removing the kettle from the heat.

This is a bit more than what I'd have payed alone for a kettle. However, since it doubles as a decorative kitchen piece it was worth the extra cost, and KitchenAid is a good brand. It's pretty, heats up to 8 cups of water, and is covered by a 1 year warranty which protects against general wear and use in the kitchen (basically, you won't be covered if you drop the kettle and it dents, but if the handle falls off or something like that occurs just by general use, KitchenAid will probably help you out). So far, I'm happy with this item and I like that I will continue to hear the whistle of the kettle when I make tea in the morning.

baked onion rings

Please vote for my cupcakes!

I was perusing blogs and came across a recipe for baked onion rings. What drew me to try them was that they really did look like the real deal, minus the hassle of frying. The coating evenly coated the onion rings and the mixture remained intact. After baking, the crunchy coating was evenly crisp with a perfectly cooked onion in the center. I was sold, and knew that the effort would pay off with crunchy deliciousness.

To start, you prepare a thick buttermilk mixture with flour and seasonings. You'll want to make sure this is properly seasoned since all the flavorings are mixed into the buttermilk mixture instead of the coating (which you can also jazz up with an herb blend, if desired).

For the coating, the directions call for cornflakes and bread crumbs, though I didn't have any. Rice Krispies make a good substitution, as well as bran flakes or any light, relatively flavorless cereal. I replaced a bit of the rice cereal with oatmeal ground to a powder. I liked the flavor it added, though the coating was a little mealy. Not enough to detract from the taste, so I might do it again.

A few pointers to ease the coating process:

• Make sure all excess buttermilk mixture has dripped off the onion rings, otherwise it'll leave to many clumps in the crumb mixture.


• Work with half the crumb mixture at a time, adding more when you get low. This will prevent more of the mixture from clumping.


• Use your other hand to coat the rings with the crumbs, preferably using a fork. The less you dip your fingers in the mixture, the less messy it'll be.

I found that the rings, once coated in both mixtures, can be left to air dry for a couple of minutes, or even up to an hour. You might then be able to freeze the rings and cook later. If you opt to try this out, freeze in a single layer on wax paper lined baking sheet. Transfer to a gallon size ziploc bag to freeze for up to a week.

To bake, a few tablespoons of oil are heated on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven before the rings are placed on the sheet. This most likely assures maximum crispiness and mimics the frying technique. It produces a very crisp ring with a light and crunchy coating. The flavor was great, and these make a nice addition to hot dog, sandwiches, and burgers as well as soups, or simply for general snacking. Serve alongside your favorite dipping sauce and you're good to go.

Recipe after jump.

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baked onion rings
Recipe from Martha Stewart

Serves 4

ingredients -

1 1/2 cups cornflakes
1/2 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Coarse salt (I used around 3/4 teaspoon) and ground pepper
1 medium sweet onion, such as Vidalia (or 2 regular white onions), sliced crosswise into 1/4-1/2 inch slices and broken into rings (discard small center rings)
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

directions -

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a food processor, pulse cornflakes and breadcrumbs until fine crumbs form, then transfer half to a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, flour, and cayenne and season with salt and pepper.


2. Dip onion rings in egg mixture (letting excess drip off) and dredge in cornflake mixture (adding more when needed); place on a large plate. Rings can stand for up to an hour. Pour oil onto a rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven and heat 2 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and tilt to coat evenly with oil. Arrange onion rings on sheet. Bake, turning once, until onion rings are golden brown, about 16 minutes.