How to make Loaded Potato Skins

Having people over..having a movie night..or just want something different? Loaded potato skins are a great tasting finger food!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• 3 potatoes (serves 3)
• oven and/or fryer (frying optional)
• Shredded Cheese (colby or favorite) 1 cup (optional)
• Fry salt (or regular salt) 1/2 tsp. (optional)
• Bacon Bits 1 tbsp. (optional)
• Sour Cream 2 tbsp. (optional)
• Green Onions 1 tsp. (optional)
• butter (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to cook potatoes
2. wash your hands.
3. Wash and dry 3 nice sized potatoes
4. Cook them as you usually do your potatoes
5. Once they're done cooking, thoroughly, take them out of the oven and let them cool.
6. Once cool, cut each potato in half.
7. Using a spoon, dig out the potato to leave just the skin -that's what you're going to use (you can save the actual potato for something else, if you'd like, if you don't want to waste it)
8. Preheat fryer to 350 degrees. (for those that do not like to fry, like me, you can use your oven -if so, set the ovens degrees, to whatever it takes, to make the skins golden brown, without burning)
9. submerge potato skins into 350 degrees fryer until golden brown. (for oven users: Place on a lightly greased (like butter) cooking sheet. Have the skins turned upside down (skin part facing you). Foil covered so they won't dry out. If you want to keep them uncovered, that is your call. Keep the skins in the oven, until the potato skin is golden, at least)
10. once golden brown, remove the skins out of fryer (or oven) and place them on something to drain the excess oils, if any.
11. Turn off fryer.
    Turn off oven.
12. Preheat your oven to about 150 - 300 degrees -just enough to melt cheese. (if you used your oven, it should still be hot enough to melt the cheese- even off -if not, reset to the stated degrees)
13. place skins on a clean lightly (like butter) greased baking sheet/pan upside down (with the skin of the potato facing you) (for oven users, of course, you can reuse the same baking/cooking sheet; just clean it)
14. evenly sprinkle with fry salt or regular salt. (optional)
15. flip them back to normal. (potato part facing you)
16. Evenly sprinkle your shredded cheese and bacon bits over the potato skins.
17. Place in the oven to melt the cheese (and maybe heat the skins up some)
18. While waiting for the cheese to melt, place some light sour cream in a small bowl/ramekin in the middle of the plate. (optional)
19. Sprinkle the green onions over the sour cream (optional)
20. once the cheese has melted, remove from oven.
21. place the skins around the small bowl of sour cream.
22. if you'd like, sprinkle green onions on the skins (optional)
23. Serve Hot. (but not too hot)

Tips & Warnings

• Use fresh potatoes
• Serves 3 people (each potato serves 1 person)
• Do not fill fryer with more than 2 potatoes slices to ensure they are cooked evenly
• Do not use potatoes/skins that are torn, have 'eyes', have holes or that have too much potato bruising