The potato connection

Potato was the very first vegetable I ate. If I had been fed any other vegetable before I was old enough to remember anything, well, it’s impossible to say.

But I do remember potato. It wasn’t in the form of French fries. What I remember are potato wedges in a beef stew that my father cooked. As was his style when cooking tomato-based meat stews, he didn’t merely drop the potatoes into the pot during the last half hour or so of cooking. He fried them first until the edges were browned and crisp. And then, he added them to the meat simmering in the sauce.

I’ve been a potato girl since. And I learned to love this vegetable in many other ways. For example, when my daughters were gradeschoolers, we had satellite TV and my older girl, Sam, saw how baked stuffed potatoes were cooked. And, with her as guide, we did our version. Imagine that, my gradeschool-aged daughter introducing me to a new dish. What can I say? I grew up on (mostly) Asian food and baked stuffed potatoes were new to me.

Years later, with Sam home for the holidays, we had a new version of basked stuffed potatoes. I have the photos but what I can’t recall is whether Sam cooked the dish or I did.

A Christmas Eve dish

I wish there was a proper recipe to go with this, with measurements and all, but this was something we had on Christmas Eve in 2013 and, you know, who has time to document? But I can describe the process of making it. So, if you want to replicate this dish, here’s how.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Rinse and scrub a couple of large potatoes then split them into halves.

Place a rack over a baking tray, arrange the potatoes in a single layer (they shouldn’t touch one another) and bake for about 45 minutes or until the flesh is soft enough to be scooped out but not mushy. The exact time depends on the size and variety of potato you’re using.

Take the potatoes out of the oven and cool a bit.

Scoop out the insides of the potato halves with a spoon or teaspoon, leaving a generous border, then brush the hollowed out potato halves and skins with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Take the part that you scooped out, roughly chop, then toss in blanched broccoli florets. Fill the potato halves with the mixture, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and top with grated cheese.

Arrange the potato halves back on the rack and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes.

More ways to enjoy potatoes

Yes, the title was inspired by Kermit’s song.