I really love twice baked potatoes.  I don’t ever remember eating them while growing up. I do remember always having loads of butter and sour cream (or IMO) to top our baked potatoes though, which I always took full advantage of.  After smashing and mixing in all of the butter, sour cream, and S & P, the piping hot baked potatoes, we grew up on, were transformed into something like a twice baked potato. I believe, we ate baked potatoes at least once a week.  I was raised, and still live, in Idaho though so this is sort of expected of me.  Potatoes are a way of life here.

Although, I did have a funny experience while visiting Orlando, Florida a few years ago.  It made me think that the biggest and best of our Idaho potatoes don’t remain in the state of Idaho.  I think they are exported to super fancy restaurants in other states.  While we were in Florida on an All American Disney World Vacation we ate at a Shula’s Steakhouse.  Their menu boasted a twice baked Idaho potato.  Even though we had probably eaten thousands of Idaho potatoes by this point in our lives we ordered one.  It was the biggest, most beautiful, breathtaking potato I had ever seen!  It could have probably fed a family of four by itself.  Anyway, it was then that I discovered that we probably just get the has-been, leftover potatoes in Idaho.  Oh well, they still taste great.  Especially when you add every manor of animal fat to them!

-4 to 5 large baking potatoes (washed and sliced in half length wise)

-2 heads broccoli or about 2 to 3 cups florets (washed and cut into 1 inch pieces)

-1 packet garlic and herb seasoning (I used Good Seasons)

– ½ c. sour cream

-2 c. shredded cheese (I used Kraft Three Cheese with a touch of Philadelphia)

In a preheated 400° oven arrange potatoes on the middle rack (directly onto the rack) cut side up. Bake for ~60 minutes until flesh is soft and until potato is easily pierced with a knife. Remove potatoes from oven and set aside.

  Meanwhile place broccoli in a large microwave safe dish and cook in the microwave, on high heat, for 6 minutes.  After the broccoli is done remove from the microwave.  Gently scoop the inner flesh from ¾  of the  baked potatoes (right in with the broccoli) leaving about 1/8 to ¼ inch of the flesh intact with the skin to keep sturdy maintain shape of potatoes. The flesh from the other ¼ of the potatoes must still be scooped out but can be discarded or reserved for another use. Because you are adding the broccoli there will be too much filling if you use all of the potatoes flesh. If the potatoes are still very hot I will hold them with an oven mitt while scooping out their flesh.

Next, add seasoning packet, sour cream, and 1 and ¾ cups of the cheese (reserve ¼ cup of the cheese to top the potatoes) to the potatoes and broccoli. With a hand mixer, mix all ingredients together very well.  The broccoli should be cooked to the point of mushy so that it incorporates well using the hand mixer.  After all of the ingredients are well combined scoop them into a heavy (gallon sized Ziploc) bag.  Snip off a large corner of the bag to pipe the stuffing back into the potato shells.

Arrange the potatoes onto a foil lined cake type pan so that their sides touch and they help each other stand up.  Pipe each shell full with the filling (until the filling comes just above the rim of each hollowed out half shell).  Top all potatoes with remaining shredded cheese.  Place potatoes back into a 350°oven to melt cheese and warm through (about 20 minutes). Remove from oven, plate, and then EAT!