This past weekend, we hosted a mini-steak grill off between friends, and it was a blast! How can you go wrong with both grilled steaks and steak sandwiches!? (Click here if you missed that post.) But then I had a problem. All the steak made me crave another steakhouse classic: the wedge salad. You know the one I’m talking about. Nearly every good steakhouse in the country has a version of it. A wedge of iceburg lettuce topped with blue cheese dressing with bits of bacon, onion, and blue cheese crumbles everywhere. Delicious! So I thought about recreating one of these tasty salads at home…but then I decided to mix it up a bit instead. I had some potatoes leftover from a previous recipe, and I began to wonder what would happen if I turned the classic steakhouse wedge salad into a twice-baked potato. Well, wonder no longer. The result was incredible. I definitely invented a new staple in our house!
So I have a confession: I used to not like blue cheese. I thought the stuff smelled a little funky, and the taste was even worse. Plus, who in their right mind would voluntarily eat moldy cheese? I just didn’t get it. Then I tried a blue cheese dip that came with an order of buffalo wings…and I didn’t hate it. In fact, I kinda like it. And I began craving it more and more. Chunks of straight blue cheese were still a bit questionable…but I no longer found them disgusting. Quite the opposite in fact! (Somewhere my wife is reading this and saying “I told you so.”) So you can imagine her surprise (and mine, too) when I found myself craving a blue cheese wedge salad! What do you think about blue cheese: amazing or disgusting??
Ingredients
- 4 large Russet Potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed
- 3-4 green onions, thinly sliced (plus more for garnish, if desired)
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1/3 cup blue cheese, crumbled
- 3-4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Instructions
- Using a fork or sharp knife, pierce each potato about 10-12 times at regular intervals.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until done.
- Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice each in half lengthwise with a sharp knife.
- Using a large spoon, carefully scrape out most of the potato into a large bowl. (Leave a little bit of potato near the skin just to provide structure and keep the skin from ripping.) Set skins aside.
- In the bowl with the potatoes, add the green onions, butter, salt, pepper, and buttermilk. Mix well.
- Scoop the potato mixture back into each potato skin. Top with diced tomato, crumbled blue cheese, and crumbled bacon.
- Bake stuffed potatoes at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
- Serve warm or freeze.
Can you believe that after all that pizza these still sound SO good to me? I adore baked potatoes with loads of fixings- especially bacon and cheese!!
I know! But honestly, can you ever really have enough bacon and cheese?
This is my definition of comfort food. I love the twist on a classic twiced baked potatoes. I love blue cheese especially with all these flavors. Yum:)
They’re delicious, Katie! And they also freeze well for quick weeknight dinners. Easy and tasty!
Baked potatoes have always been one of my favorite foods. Add some bacon and blue cheese and they are unstoppable! Just added this to a Catello cheese Pinterest board called “Bacon & Cheese” 😉
http://pinterest.com/arlafoodsusa/bacon-cheese/
Thanks so much, Lauren! And yes, I agree that baked potatoes + bacon + blue cheese is a perfect combination of deliciousness. 🙂