Twice Baked Potatoes With Bacon, Broccoli & Cheddar - potatoes

Method

• Preheat your oven to 400. Take butter out of the fridge and let rise to room temp.
• Scrub the potatoes and stick them straight on the bottom oven rack for 30m.
• Bacon & Broccoli Prep:
• You'll need a pan for bacon and a small pot for the broccoli.
• While the potatoes are warming up, set two burners to med-high (7-8 on the dial).
• Fry the bacon until crispy, and crunch into bits. Drop 2/3 of the bacon In a medium mixing bowl. Reserve 1/3 for garnish. Also reserve the bacon fat!
• In the small pot, add enough salted water to cover the broccoli (you don't need much) and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook until al dente. Shock and strain in cold water. Chop up 2/3 very finely and throw in same bowl as bacon. The remaining 1/3, cut into small florets and reserve for garnish.
• Grate the Cheese into the bowl, reserving a bit for garnish.
• Back to the Spuds:
• When the 30 minutes are up, puncture the potatoes 4-6 times with a fork and turn over. Puncture deep. Cook another 30m and remove from the oven. Let stand 10m so you don't burn your hands when handling.
• While the potatoes are cooling, add sour cream, garlic, butter, S&P, (paprika/chili flakes) grated cheddar and scallions to the pot with the broccoli and bacon bits.
• Cut the top 1/4 length off of the potato.
• Carefully scoop out the potato innards and add to your bowl of goodies. Scrape as much as you can while keeping the potato skins in tact!
• Add the reserved bacon fat to the bowl and stir to combine all ingredients - Basically, you are making really rich mashed potatoes here.
• Now, scoop the mixture back into the skins and place the stuffed spuds on a baking tray (a cookie sheet will do).
• Stick back in the oven and bake for 20m or until the potato stuffing starts to brown.
• Add the reserved broccoli, bacon and grated cheese garnish and continue to bake until melted.
• Remove from oven, let cool slightly and shove in mouth.