Fancy Stuffed Potatoes

I was delighted when I received a copy of BBC Good Food magazine from my mom when she briefly passed through London.  Bored and stranded at the airport, she saw this fun food magazine and the inventive recipes inside.  I skimmed it quick and spotted a lot of cool, non-traditional ideas that I couldn't wait to try.  One of these included a recipe for potatoes, stuffed with the most imaginative ingredients.  It was cool to read about a different spin on this simple food, and as soon as I saw the hummus, roasted red pepper and arugula permutation, I had to try it. 

Making this dish was relatively fast and easy, and since potatoes are one starchy veggie, it was also very satisfying.  While the ingredients and the construction for this fancy potato is anything but, just make sure you use great quality ingredients that will shine in the potato.  And sometimes it's OK to pay a little extra for good ingredients.

Fancy Stuffed Potatoes (serves 2)

Ingredients:
2 medium sized Idaho potatoes
2 small handfuls of fresh arugula
2 pieces of roasted red peppers (thinly sliced)
2 tbs of roasted red pepper hummus
1/2 fresh lemon
Pinch of paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Bake potatoes for about 45 minutes on 350 degrees or until tender.  Slice in half and scoop out some of its flesh (but not all of it).  Fill with arugula, roasted red pepper strips and the hummus.  Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper and a pinch of paprika.

Mundo Introduces La Papa - Baked Potato Bar

Image courtesy of Mundo

When Meg told me last week that a baked potato bar was opening in Astoria, I got mighty excited. And when I heard that it's from the owner's of Mundo, my enthusiasm grew! Introducing, La Papa in the old Pastalicious space on 30th Avenue.

La Papa's show-stopper is the mighty baked potato (apparently a popular fast food in Turkey), which after baked, its contents are mashed with butter (or olive oil) and kasseri cheese. The rest is up to you, as you can choose unlimited toppings or you can go with a suggested "papa," such as:

LaPapa Classic - Beef franks, Russian salad, pickles, green olives & corn

LaPapa Chili con Carne - Chili con carne with beans, jalapeno, tzatziki, corn & tortilla chips

LaPapa Vegetarian - Corn, mushrooms, Russian salad, beets & green olives

LaPapa All-American - Corn, sour cream, bacon bits, fresh broccoli & pickled cucumbers

Or you can choose any of these toppings: artichokes, bacon bits, beef franks, beets, black olives, black olive paste, corn, green olives, jalapeno, mushrooms, pickled cucumbers, roasted red & green peppers, Russian salad, sour cream, sweet & sour red cabbage, tortilla chips, tuna salad, tzatziki

If you're not in the mood for a potato, they also have soups, a jumbo hot dog and Turkish-style paninis. A sweet treat that caught my eye was the Supangle (dark chocolate pudding).

Prices are very affordable with all baked potato options being just $6 (except for the chili con carne, which is $6.50). In fact, nothing on the menu is over $6.50, which is quite the steal.

I plan on trying them soon and will let you know my thoughts.

LaPapa - 25-13 30th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11102

718.777.7879

N/W Train to 30th Avenue
www.lapapaonline.com

Get Totally Baked - Legally!

Totally Baked - 8 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011

646.336.6118

N/W/R/4/5/6 Train to Union Square or F/V/L Train to 14th Street

Totally Baked is feeling happy, euphoric, amused to the point that you laugh for no reason and most importantly you feel full! Ummm please rewind? Full!? Isn't the effect usually the opposite? What kind of magic baking are they doing?

Ok, we can all get our minds out of the gutter because Totally Baked is not what you think--it's Manhattan's new baked potato bar, offering unique spins on the beloved starchy spud. My work colleague Harris and I lunched there today and we're still baked (um, I mean full).

And though TB's spudniks come at a premium, ($7 - $55) these are anything but your plain ol' taters.

Atmosphere and Service:

The vibe is cool and the decor is minimalistic. Upon stepping in, you're greeted by a saccharine staff. I've heard people actually complain about the niceness of the staff and I now know what they meant. It seems like the staff almost has to act that way or they'll be nixed from their baked potato ambassador-ness. And that's exactly where the problem lies--are they really that nice or are they being fake? Who knows and who cares. Although the staff can get annoying, you deal with them for less than 5 minutes, as this is not a table service kind of place.

Some noteworthy aspects of TB's decor are the Mr. Potato Head figurines at the register and the original Mr. Potato Head sketches on the walls. The counters have modern containers filled with chives, which I found clever and really nice to look at. The only thing that's a bit unfortunate is that TB doesn't have traditional tables--instead it seats customers at long counters with semi-uncomfortable stools sans back rests.

The Potatoes:

And this is the reason that I'll be coming back here and trying all of their 15 varieties of potatoes--they're phenomenal! The two that we sampled today were:

Pulled Pork (with pulled "pernil" or Puerto Rican pork and Mexican slaw) - This was my tater and I destroyed its core and its jacket. How could I not? The inside was oozing with flavor and the juices from the pork and the slaw melted the inside, giving it a mashed consistency. The pork itself was soft and succulent and tasted slightly charred from the grill. The slaw made this dish even better because it was crunchy and refreshing--the combination of the hot (pork) with the cold (slaw) was very pleasing to the palate. It was like a mini BBQ inside a potato--ingenious!

Buffalo Chicken (with spicy chicken, blue cheese, carrots and celery) - Can we say Monday night football on a plate? I know so many guys who are probably salivating at the sound of it. Although I didn't sample this dish, I was thoroughly impressed with its fixins--the pieces of chicken were generous and the blue cheese looked oooey-gooey. Harris liked it too and said "it definitely hit the spot." I'm happy to report that he also put his buffalo chicken spud to rest--skin and insides, nothing was spared.

Both potatoes came with a small and tasty side salad with a house dressing. The veggies were fresh and juicy, nice complements to the starch.

Cost:

As I mentioned, TB is not cheap but it will not break the bank either, except if you get the truffle butter potato for a whopping $55. The majority of potatoes range between $7-$10 and you could even make your own for $7. Dessert spuds are made with none other than the sweet potato ($7) and you'll also find this ingredient in their gelato, $4.50. Salads are available for $9-$11 but why get salad here?

I hope that I've convinced you to get totally bake-aked!

3 Mmmms