Baked Potatoes with Yogurt and Sour Cream

I think the title pretty much says it all. There is really not very much to this recipe. Instead of lumping a load of sour cream on a baked potato, Ina makes a sort of dressing using half sour cream and half greek yogurt.

I only discovered greek yogurt a few years ago. I didn't grow up eating yogurt and never really cared for it all that much as an adult. It wasn't really difficult to avoid since I am also lactose intolerant. It gave me a decent excuse not to eat yogurt despite its health benefits. But then I had some greek yogurt and in the words of the Fresh Prince, "my life got flipped, turned upside down." No! Not in that kind of way where you go live with your millionaire aunt and uncle doing the Carleton dance. But I am pretty sure they have greek yogurt in Bel Air.


We need to bring back Alfonso Ribeiro back to TV, people.

Anyway, here is the mise:


You say potato... I say poTAto. Forget it. Nobody says poTAto. Ignore my dirty oven. I know I have to Easy-Off that shizz.

Ina says to put the potatoes directly on the rack. So I did. I wonder if it makes a difference. I was going to put it in an old pie pan. She also didn't say to fork them, but I did anyway. I don't know if I needed to, but I'd rather not risk potato explosion.

Mix the yogurt, sour cream, chives and S&P together.


Seriously. That is it. EASY. Yay!


The Review:
Pretty good. It was pretty much as I expected. The greek yogurt gives the dressing a slight tang, which is nice, but I can see how some people might not like it. It's actually kind of a plain potato. I under-salted mine, and didn't put anything else on it besides the dressing. Usually I like the whole butter, salt, bacon bits, fully loaded she-bang. I would make the dressing again, but add more stuff to the potato to 'turn up the volume.'

Another Ina book!

Rejoice! Ina's new cookbook is out!

Here it is on Amazon It's called Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?

Fabulous! Double fabulous that I will get it for 40% off at Williams-Sonoma!

We Interrupt This Blog To Bring You Cupcakes

I know this isn't a Barefoot Contessa recipe, but I made creme brulee cupcakes for Joel's birthday. I KNOW! I am awesome!

But the reason I decided to post this was because this is my first attempt using fondant!

Now, I'm actually not a big fan of fondant. Sure, it makes cakes look gorgeous, but let's face it: It tastes like stale marshmallow creme mixed with chewing gum. It's just weird stuff and I usually peel it off and don't eat it. BUT, that doesn't mean that I am opposed to trying it out and playing with it for a bit.

I decided to make Joel some Super Mario themed cupcakes. Just because I saw these and thought they were ridonkulously cute. I was going to try the Pacman cupcakes, but read online that black fondant was difficult to make and didn't really taste good, so that plan was scrapped.

Here are my cupcakes!







Aren't they cute? I'm actually really proud of them. I don't think it was bad for my first time at all. Of course, it is nothing compared to Hello Naomi's cupcakes, but she is a professional. :) I'm particularly proud of my Mario and Princess Peach. I was never very good at drawing or art, so my free hand copy was pretty good. Best of all, they tasted really good! I hollowed out the cupcakes and filled the center with the caramel meringue frosting that is gluing the fondant to the cupcake. All in all, it was fun, but soooo time consuming. Not to mention labor intensive. I hand mixed about 9 different fondant colors!! My hands were sooo sore the next day!

Back to buttercream and our regularly scheduled programming.

Mashed Butternut Squash

I know I haven't updated in ages after promising to do so. Typical. Not that I haven't been cooking or cooking Ina dishes, or anything like that! This time I was just too lazy to document it.

But on this day, I am feeling sort of Fall-ish, even though its August. It's a chilly August day. I'm dying for some Fall! Pumpkin Spice Latte, apple fritters and scarves. FALL.

I had this butternut squash I bought, intending to make risotto with it, but instead I decided to make this mashed butternut squash recipe since it sounded so good.

Here is the mise en place:


Not too many ingredients. But note how it includes butter. Ahhh...

Squash, meet my Shun. Prepare to die.


Now, that I've dismembered my squash, it is time to roast it.... alive!!!11!!


Okay, this is a really weird, grim road I've gone down. Back to squash just being squash. Here's the roasted squash.


Now, Ina's instructions are to blitz the squash in a food processor. I'm going to do as told, but honestly, the squash is so tender that you can easily mash it with ricer, or a potato masher. I'm guessing that the food processor will make it more into a puree than a mash. I've added in the half and half and seasonings.


And here's the mash. So far so good.


Keeping it warm while I prep the rest of dinner. Man, that is really orange! What happened to the white balance on my camera? Damn my counter for making everything avocado!


The review:
Excellent. I thought the mash might be a little grainy or lumpy since it was in the processor, but it wasn't. It was really smooth and nice. You almost don't need the brown sugar since the squash itself it kind of sweet, but it does caramelize the squash and helps it to brown up. I would definitely make this again since it was easy. I could also see this becoming a really good start to a twice-baked squash recipe. So good.