For Ken’s birthday this year I got him an all day BBQ course with the BBQ master Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk. Ken had a fabulous day learning how to smoke many things. He brought home a bounty of smoked meats. We just have a small inexpensive electric smoker but it works great and I don’t have to be a BBQ widow as he marries himself to maintaining a big smoker all day. It works great for us!!! The regular BBQ can also be a ways of creating some great smokey flavour as in these magnificent baked potatoes. A little extra work but it is all worth it in the end. With a simple grilled steak and a big beautiful salad you have an amazing dinner. Give them a try this summer on your backyard BBQ.
1 alder plank, soaked overnight or at least 1 hour
3 baking potatoes
Kosher salt
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter, divided
3/8 cup whipping cream
1/4-3/8 cup milk
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1/2 cup grated Romano
1/2 grated parmesan
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Smoked paprika
Sour cream
Chopped chives
Preheat oven to 400F. Wash the potatoes, poke them with a fork and microwave for 4-5 min. While still hot rub with the Kosher salt and then bake for 50-60 min. Saute the onion and garlic in 2 Tbsp. butter until the onions are translucent approximately 6-8 min. Allow the potatoes to cool enough to work with them, using a sharp knife cut an oval “football” shape making sure not to break the skin. Scoop out the pulp, saving it to re-stuff and leaving roughly a 1/4 inch of the flesh on the inside of the potato.
Combine the potato pulp, sauteed onion and garlic remaining 2 Tbsp. butter, whipping cream and 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Mash together. If you find it too dry start to add the milk, 1/4-3/8 of a cup. We like it if it is really creamy. Then add in the cheddar and Romano cheese and mix gently to combine. Spoon the mixture back into the potatoes evenly and top with grated Parmesan cheese. Drizzle the top with olive oil and sprinkle with smoked paprika.
Preheat your grill on medium high for 5-10 min. The temperature should be above 400F. Rinse the soaked plank and place it on the cooking grate, cover and heat the plank for 4-6 min. or until it starts to smoke and crackles lightly. Reduce heat to medium-low and place stuffed potatoes on the plank, cooking for 12-15 min. or until cheese is nicely browned. Serve immediately with a dollop of sour cream and chopped chives.
Recipe adapted from Barbeque Secrets Deluxe! by Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk
These look SOoooooo good! I have to try them ASAP! And I love your blog, so I nominated you for an award. See my post for details: http://tinyurl.com/7plqvlr
Thanks again for the award!!
Gonna try these when/if the rain stops long enough this weekend. Randy gets long planks at Rona/Home Depot/Windsor and cuts them down to size. Much cheaper than buying little planks at the grocery store.
Good idea!
Jill, you just have to be a little careful when you do that, you never know when the “clean and untreated” board that you are buying was on the rack under a bundle of “treated” lumber, and it rains (like it’s been doing here for ever!), the chemicals from the treated wood could be carried on to the untreated wood by the rain water.
Good point Ken. I’ll pass it on to Randy.
How long do you soak a plank for? We try for at least 2 hours and have gone for as long as 24 hours. The trick is to put a heavy weight on it so it stays submerged. Have you tried reusing planks?
In the recipe I said 1 hour at least and up to 24 hours. Ken is more of the expert on this subject but I don’t think he has ever reused a plank.
Ken didn’t recommennd reusing the board but said it would make good firewood!! LOL
Yum Yum Yum. These look so good. My husband would love them. Tara, be sure to come by on Friday. We are having a flip flop giveaway!
Thanks and yes your husband would love them!!
These are the best looking baked potatoes I’ve ever seen. I definitely need to make these over the summer!
I can’t wait to have them again tomorrow night!!
so yummy!
Thanks, I love potatoes!! And who doesn’t!!
What a delicious looking tater!
Thanks!!
This was delicious. Thanks for sharing
Tara,
These potatoes look amazing! We are definitely potato hounds around here and I look for any excuse to make them. I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday last week. I can’t wait to see what you link up this week. Have a wonderful weekend.
Michelle
These were delicious and a hit in our house! thanks
I am glad you tried and liked them!!