Baked Potato Skins

When the kids and the hubby go to our local Pizza Hut, we usually order assorted appetizers. One of our favorite appetizers is the Baked Potato Skins. Since we have a dearth of potatoes at the house at the moment, I decided to fix it for our afternoon snack.

What you need:

Whole Cooked Potatoes with their skins on them (Baked, Steamed or Boiled)
Mozzarella cheese
Oil (Bacon or vegetable oil)
Savory toppings such as Bacon, Sausage, Pepperoni, etc.

How to fix it:



1. Take a cooked potato, and cut it in half.




2. Hollow it out with a spoon. Make sure you leave about half a centimeter of potato flesh on the skin. Do that with the rest of the potatoes.








3. Take a baking tray and lightly grease with oil. I believe bacon grease is the best but that is just me.




4. Put the potatoes, cut side down, on the baking tray and baked it in a 350 degree F oven for 5-10 minutes until the skin gets crispy.


5. Turn it over and add your cheese first and then add your savory topping. Make sure the cheese covers the entire potato bottom.

6. Bake the loaded potatoes for about 5-6 minutes or until the cheese is golden. Take out the finished potatoes and wait for about 3-4 minutes before serving (the hot cheese would be molten and would burn eager tongues and lips).

Enjoy!

Crispy Spam Rolls

There are those who hate this word with a passion - SPAM. No, I am not talking about that rubbish you get in your inbox. I'm talking about that pink luncheon meat in a can. Hey, I'm Filipino and we inherently love Spam (it saved us from hunger in the 2nd WW).

Now there are different ways to fix Spam and make it more tasty for those who can't stand it. One way, wrap in spring roll wrapper and deepfry. Dunk in a lemony-salty sauce and you've got yourself a winner. Now let me show you how it's done. (I first encountered this when I was in high school and in one of our dances, this was served).

CRISPY SPAM ROLLS



This makes for great appetizers or party food for kids.

Ingredients

1 can of spam
the egg white of 1 egg (save the yolk for other uses)
any preferred cheese, the meltier the better (heck you can use Velveeta if you want)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
spring roll wrappers
oil for frying


Directions:

Cut spam into think sticks, maybe McDonald's french fry thickness.
Do the same with the cheese.
Take your spring roll wrappers and cut it into half (either in triangles or long rectangles).




Place a Spam stick and a cheese stick at the edge of the spring roll and proceed to wrap tightly. Make sure everything is covered so that the cheese won't leak out.
Do the same for all the other spam/cheese and wrappers.





Heat up the oil in a deep dish pan and start frying the rolls when the oil gets medium hot. Take out the rolls when the skin gets golden brown. (Tip: Take a tall colander, line up with paper towels and drain your rolls standing up. All the oil will drain leaving your rolls staying crispy longer).

Make your dipping sauce with soy sauce mixed with lemon juice.

Serve rolls hot with the sauce. Enjoy!