Super Spud

Went to a deli on Franklin Street this friday and got a spud...was a little disappointed with the hugh amount of cheese but lack of other interesting toppings. So, Salil and I decided to come up with our own recipe for an overflowing potato!  You can get as creative with the toppings, but here is what we had last night.

The POTATO:  2 good, uniformly cylinder shaped russet potatoes about half pound each.  Clean the potatoes under running water to get rid of all the dirt. Dry them well, and poke deeply with a fork about 5-6 places so the steam can escape. Coat them with oil and sprinkle salt liberally all over. Pre heat the oven at 350C and set the potatoes in the top rack for 60 minutes. Keep a tray in the bottom rack to collect the drippings if any.
At the end of baking, the skin should be crispy but the flesh inside should remain soft. Cut the potato in half and you can mash/ slash it a little with a dab of butter. Its ready for the toppings now.

TOPPINGS:

Mashed gruyere cheese: This was the first layer and it melted instantly on th soft hot potato. Gruyere has a bold taste - slightly bitter. But I put very little cheese, just enough to make a thin layer on the potato and the bitter taste paired perfectly with the starchy sweetness of the potato.

Sausage: I used 2 chicken andouille sausages but any spicy sausage will work here. Take the sausage out of its casing and chop up real fine. Put a teaspoon of olive oil in a saute pan and once the oil heats up, add the sausage. Let it cook on medium heat untill the sausage browns and you see some oil/fat separateing out into the pan. Should take about 15 minutes.

Mushrooms: I used regular white mushrooms, chopped finely about 2 cups raw. Sauted them in the same pan after the sausage was done to get the yummy flavor of the pan drippings. Seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Mushrooms will shrink conbsiderably after cooking but the flavor will concentrate, so a little goes a long way.

Chick-peas: This was mainly to bump up the protein content of the meal, but potatoes and chick-peas are a classic combination in the Indian Street food scene (paani-puri), cant go wrong with that! Heat a teaspoon of oil and saute a finely chopped shallot or a very small onion. Once it starts to turn brown, add finely chopped fat big clove of garlic. Let the garlic cook for about 30 seconds (dont let it turn brown, completely changes the flavor profile) and add 1 cup chicke peas (soaked overnight if using fresh or use a can). Once the chickpeas are coated with the onion garlic mixture, add a tablespoon of water and cook for 10 minutes till the water evaporates. For a dash of color, add a small pinch of turmeric to the onion. Season with salt.

Finely chopped jalapeno peppers, deseeded: Dont take off the seeds, if you are brave. Want more heat, use the small and thin Indian chillis or the thai chillis. Want a milder flavor, skip this topping.

Finely chopped green onion.

Assembly: Once the potao comes out of the oven, add a layer of cheese that will melt on the potato and hold all the toppings like a glue. After this, go nuts! Dont forget to add a dollop of sour cream or whipped curds, especially if you have the chillies.

I figure that this is a great dish for entertaining. As long as you have an oven, you can bake any number of potatoes at the same time. Get creative with the toppings and the guests can build their own! Other topping ideas - chopped olives, salsa, italian pickeled vegetables...

Pick a theme and run with it :).