Baked & Blue: Baked Potato, Blue Cheese, Crispy Carrots & Onions
Photo by the noble home
by Maggie Noble
YIELD 2 main course servings or 4 side or starter servings
INGREDIENTS
onion one, julienned, (cored and sliced along the vein in about 1/8” strips).
carrots one bunch. Peeled & sliced, (1/8” round slices).
olive oil maybe 1-2 Tablespoons
russet potatoes 2 large potatoes, washed well, skin on.
blue cheese Point Reyes is delish. About 1-2 oz crumbled.
sour cream as much as you like on a baked potato
SALT and pepper to taste
TOOLS
sheet pan
spatula
chef’s knife
cutting board
METHOD
Heat oven to 400F.
Bake potatoes rinse the potatoes so they are wet. Rub a heavy amount of salt all over the potato skin, more than you would care to eat. Bake on a sheet pan (that’s right, no foil and no hole poking with a fork, the salt prevents the potato from over-steaming and exploding) for 50 -60 minutes or you can pierce with a pairing knife and the knife comes out easily.
Make the crispy onions & carrots toss onions, carrots, olive oil and salt together on a sheet pan. Break the onions apart to individual pieces and make sure they don’t overlap, this will help them to all crisp. Bake at 400F for 30 - 40 or until brown and crispy…keep checking after 30 minutes for that golden brown color on the onions. This means you are putting the carrots and onions in 20 minutes after getting the potato in the oven so everything is ready at the same time. However, you can do the crispy veg up to two hours in advance of baking the potatoes if you don’t need them to be hot.
Bring it all together slice the potato in half width-wise and prop up in the serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Top with crispy carrots and onions. Dollop sour cream and crumble blue cheese overtop.
Serve.
NOTE
We have baked potatoes fairly often so I’ll be posting more of our go-to toppings. I’m a bit Irish and it feels like a shout out to Great Grandma Nelly. It’s also vegetarian and cheap! The potato gets a bad rap due it being a starch or carb. Just about every fruit or vegetable has carbohydrates. Potatoes are higher in carbs than most but they also pack a punch with vitamins like C, B6, niacin, phosphorus and manganese…which are good for you, right?
I always serve with some sort of salad even if it’s just romaine and tomatoes in a dressing of choice. Simple dinner. If you are making these for 4 people, you can double the recipe or just double up on onions if you only have one bunch of carrots. Feel free to ask questions below!
