Once we went here with a good friend to hang out with his friend that we hadn't met until then. Isn't that always a funny situation? Meeting your old friend's new friend always promises sort of an awkward time. You don't really know the person at all, you attempt to pretend to get to know this person that you may never speak to again, and you and the new friend both are busy asserting your friendship with the connecting friend in a pretty much territorial way. What usually happens after such an occasion could go one of two directions:
A) Later, your friend gives you some weird reason why you all had to join in on this in the first place.
or
B) You must hear at length why the friend is awesome; isn't he great? Don't you think so?
Hopefully, during such occasions, at least there's some food to distract. One thing that could be ordered to be vegetarian at this particular establishment where our fateful meeting took place was the potato skins. Total bar food, but good, so we wanted to make these our own. We tamed them with coconut bacon -- and no frying allowed, of course! -- and they are going to be hard to resist making again every week now.
Un-Fried Potato Skins with Smoked Coconut Bacon
1 cup Smoked Coconut Bacon
6 small organic russet potatoes (halved lengthwise)
2 tablespoons canola oil
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped chives (to garnish)
Make the Smoked Coconut Bacon according to the recipe. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the potatoes cut-side-down on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush the skins with half of the canola oil. Bake for 30 minutes. Place the warm potato halves one at a time into a clean kitchen towel and scoop out the meat of the potatoes using a spoon. Reserve the insides for another use.
Place the potato skins cut-side-up back on the baking sheet, brush them with the remaining oil, and return them to the oven for another 30 minutes. Remove the potato skins from the oven and set the oven to broil.
Season each potato skin with salt and pepper and divide the cheese among the skins. Place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the edges of the potato skins are deeply colored. Garnish the skins with equal amounts of the smoked coconut bacon, sour cream, and chives. (Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as an appetizer.)
