Oofahh…

Well I had a great run of two whole recipes without effing something up, so I should’ve known I was due for a total debacle. And today folks, that debacle is called Goldfish Twice-Baked Potatoes.

Not only did they come out bad, but it was a total mess to make and was a generally frustrating experience.  In case you actually know how to cook and what to give these a shot, here’s the recipe I followed:

-4 large potatoes
-1/2 cup of milk
-1 cup sour cream
-1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
-8 chives, diced up small
-4 tbsp of buttah
-1 cup of shredded cheddar
-1/2 cup of Goldfish crumbs

OK, so you’ll want to preheat your oven to 350 and poke some holes in your potatoes with a fork because I hear they can explode in your oven if you don’t (is that even true?).  Toss ’em in the oven and bake for an hour.  In the meantime, throw the milk, butter, sour cream, salt n pepper, half of the cheese and half of the chives in the bowl.  When the hour is up, take the potatoes out, let them cool for 10 minutes, and then slice them in half:

I’m fairly sure that the potatoes weren’t baked enough and I should’ve put them back in for another 10 minutes or so, but I figured they’d get a chance to bake again when I bake the 2nd time.  Now take a spoon and gut out the potatoes and try your best to leave the skins in tact without tearing them or leaving big chunks of potato in them.  This is an impossible endeavor.  I was trying to take a photo while holding a potato in one hand and a spoon in the other, as you can see from the masterpiece below:

All I can say is to take your time scooping and don’t rush.  Also, be sure to completely separate the potato halves cleanly, because some of mine tore when I tried to separate them.

Now that you’ve dumped your tater flesh into the bowl, get a hand mixer or a whisk and mix everything up.  Once its all smooth and creamy, get your spoon and scoop the mixture back into the potato skins.

At this point I am sweating profusely from the heat of the oven inside my already hot apartment.  Good times.  Now sprinkle the Goldfish crumbs and the rest of the chives and cheese on top (I forgot to add the cheese in the chaos of the moment) and throw those puppies back in the oven.

Bake for about 15 minutes and then take them out, and they’re ready to serve.

Hoo-boy, were these a mushy pile of sh!t.  I couldn’t even pick up the potato without it nearly falling apart in my hand like an over-topped slice of pizza.  They had the consistency of mashed potatoes and didn’t have the crispy skin on top like good twice-bakeds have (my Aunt Patricia makes the best ever).  Definitely too much sour cream and milk.  These would be a lot better if I used 1/4 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of sour cream.  Also, the Goldfish on top just spilled off and had a dusty texture when you ate them with the mushy potatoes.

I mixed the Goldfish crumbs up into the potatoes and that helped a lot though.  I’m tempted to take the leftover potatoes out of the skins and throw them in a bowl and just reheat them as mashed potatoes because they wouldn’t be too shabby that way.  I’d much rather punt them out the window.  So yeah, definitely use less milk and sour cream, and don’t forget to add the extra cheese on top of the refilled potatoes because I think that helps give it the skin.  I don’t even remember what website I found the twice-baked potato recipe on, but I remembered to file it in the appropriate place:

Oh well.  This will probably be the first of many “Goldfails”, so stay tuned!  I’ll post a poll for my next taste test later this week.