Cooking Up a Hooley in The Kitchen: Quick and Delicious Appetizer
By Katie Gagne
This summer, while it went much too quickly, was filled with lot of impromptu get togethers and even more so nights when I was looking for something satisfying to eat but did not want to be tied to the kitchen for hours. These appetizers are simple to prepare and can work great as a snack or a small meal.
Irish Potato Skins
Makes approximately 24 skins.
Ingredients
12 medium potatoes –Russet or Yukon Gold work great
Cooking Spray
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
3 tablespoons Garlic Salt
½ pound sliced Corned Beef
8 ounces shredded Swiss Cheese
8 slices Swiss Cheese
1 12 oz package of Coleslaw Mix
½ teaspoon Celery Salt
2 cups Sour Cream
2 tablespoons Dill Pickle Juice
1 cup chopped Dill Pickles
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
½ cup chopped fresh Chives
Directions
Microwave potatoes until tender. Let cool until easy to handle. Cut each potato in half length-wise and scoop out the inside to form a nice well but leaving a good amount of the potato on the bottom and side.
Place the potatoes on a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray, sprinkle with garlic salt and bake in a 400* oven for about 8 minutes until the edges start to get crispy.
In a sauté pan on medium heat add the olive oil and chopped corned beef and sauté until starting to crisp up. Put on plate and set aside.
In the same pan, add the coleslaw mix and celery salt and sauté until wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.
Take potato skins out of the oven.
Put a small amount of the shredded Swiss cheese in each skin, top with the corned beef and a small amount of the coleslaw mix, Put the remaining shredded Swiss cheese on each skin and then top each skin with a quarter piece of the Swiss cheese slice.
Bake in the oven until bubbly and slightly golden.
Garnish with chives and serve with a dollop of Pickle Sour Cream.
Pickle Sour Cream
The twist on a typical potato skin topping has lots of flavor and blends well with the corned beef, coleslaw and Swiss. It has a fresh but slightly salty taste.
Mix together the sour cream, chopped pickles, pickle juice, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately with the potato skins.
This keeps well refrigerated and can be made ahead of time.
With these skins you can easily adjust the recipe to make more or less of them. The ingredients are simply and do not require lots of time to prepare and any size or type of potato can work with this dish.
*Katie Gagne teaches English at Trinity High School in Garfield Heights. She is also the owner of her in-home bakery Sassy’s Sweets and Oh So Much More. You can contact her at (440) 773-4459 or at [email protected], or find her on Facebook at @sassyssweetsandmore.
