TGIF Potato Skins

[Stonecutter]

I've got these things almost down to a science, but they're still not quite perfect clones of the TGIF skins.

TGIF Potato Skins
Skins:
Potatoes: as many as you like, 1 potato makes 2 skins
Bacon: 1 strip for every 2 potatoes
Cheddar Cheese: 4 tablespoons for every potato
Butter: 1/2 tablespoon per potato

Dip:
Sour Cream: as much as you like
Chives: Optional
Green Onions: Optional
Salt and Pepper: Optional

Bake the potatoes like you would bake any other potato (350 degrees for one hour or so)

About 15 minutes before the potatoes are done, cook the bacon. 1 strip is enough for 2 potatoes (4 skins) cut the potatoes in half and scoop out 50-70% of the innards of each potato (use it for some mashed potatoes) and then brush both the inside and outside of the potato with butter.

The butter is absolutely the key to getting the skins to taste like authentic TGIF skins, Usually I only butter the outside (the skin side) of the potato, but if you want to stay true to what the people at Fridays do, you've got to butter the whole thing.

Fill each skin with 2 tablespoons of cheddar cheese (or more. IMO you can't possibly use too much cheese) then top with bacon. If you want it to look like the ones you get at Fridays, cut the bacon into small pieces. Personally I find that tearing the strips into 10-12 medium pieces is fine.

Insert the buttered and filled skins back into the oven and bake until the cheese melts. I usually keep the temp at 350 but as I experiment, I'm beginning to think that you've got to rebake at a higher temperature. Perhaps 400 or maybe even 450.

The dip consists of sour cream with chives and green onions. Personally I think the chives and green onions aren't necessary, but you've got to have the sour cream.

Top the potatoes with salt and pepper (if you so choose) and eat with the sour cream.

Enjoy