Chili-Cheese Potato Armadillos

Ingredients

1 thick slice good quality Pullman white bread
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons Frank’s Red Hot or other hot sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder, a palmful
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika, half a palmful
1 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic, 1/3 palmful
1/2 cup shredded sharp yellow cheddar cheese, a couple of handfuls
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, a handful
4 large red skin potatoes, cleaned
EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling

Salt and pepper

Yields: Serves 4

Preparation

Preheat oven to 250˚F. Place rack in middle of oven.

Pulse-grind bread in food processor to form soft crumbs. Place rack in middle of oven. Scatter crumbs on baking sheet and toast 15 minutes, until light golden. Raise oven temperature to 450˚F.

Let the crumbs cool in a bowl and melt the butter. Toss crumbs with butter, hot sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder and cheeses.

Cover the cooled baking sheet with parchment paper. Trim a thin slice off the bottom of each potato, giving it stability. Trim the ends then thinly slice the potato across but not all the way through the potato -- stop 1/4 of an inch shy of all the way through. Slices should be 1/8 of an inch thick but no more than 1/4 inch.

Gently fan out the potato slices and rinse off the starchy juice. Turn potatoes cut side down on a microwave-safe dish and cook on high 10 minutes. Let cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes, then set the potatoes cut-side up on baking sheet, leaving lots of room around each potato. Coat with liberal drizzles of EVOO and season with salt and pepper.

Roast potatoes 30 minutes then remove from oven and gently stuff the chili-cheese mixture in the ridges of the potatoes. Turn on broiler and broil potatoes in the middle of the oven until deeply brown and bubbly, 3-5 minutes.