Bacon Blue Cheese Burger Skins

For 22 years of my life, I avoided blue cheese like the plague.  I don't know why I refused to try it.  I don't know what made me decide that I'd despise it.  All I know is that, for the large majority of my life, I deprived myself of one of the most enjoyable flavors I have yet come to know.   It was wrong.
 
It was so, so wrong.
 

 
Luckily, after college (and after living for four years with the biggest blue cheese fanatic you've ever met), I started working on this blog, and I began to eat a lot of foods that I previously disliked.  You might already know that if you've read about my new appreciation for steak, or mangoes, or burgers.
 
Yes, I once even disliked burgers.  Now, I pile a ton of blue cheese onto my burgers as if to make an obscene gesture in the direction of Past Morgan's poor taste.   I have come such a long way since those dark times.
 


 
Anyway, a few weeks ago, I asked my friend Amanda for some potato skin inspiration for football season.  She suggested I make cheeseburger-filled potato skins, which sounded like a great idea to me.   But by now, you should know that I don't cut any corners when it comes to piling on the tastiness.  I decided that if I was going to make burger skins, it'd have to be the kind of burger I love most-- one piled high with beef, caramelized onions, jalapenos, bacon, and of course, blue cheese.  So that's exactly what I did, and it turned out even better than I expected.  Even my friends who don't like typically blue cheese liked these and ate a few of them.  They were that tasty.
 
This new twist on an old favorite really is going to blow people away at your next party.  The Bacon Blue Cheese Burger Skins also make a great appetizer to accompany a buffalo wing spread, so get them on the table before half-time begins and be amazed at how quickly they disappear at the hands of your favorite football fans.  They're even more delicious with a cold beer or two!
 

Bacon Blue Cheese Burger Skins

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5 from 1 review

• Author: Morgan
• Yield: 4 1x

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Description

Crank up the flavor with this new spin on an old favorite! Bacon, blue cheese, burger meat, caramelized onions, and jalapenos bring these potato skins to the next level!

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 russet potatoes, cleaned well
• ½ lb bacon
• ½ sweet onion, thinly sliced
• ½ can jalapenos, drained
• ¾ lb ground beef
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cups blue cheese

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Pierce each potato twice with a fork and then place on a baking sheet. Cook for an hour.
2. As the potatoes cook, cook the bacon in a large pan until crispy. Remove to a plate with a paper towel to absorb excess grease, and then crumble the bacon.
3. Leave the bacon grease in skillet and turn to medium-low heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about a minute, and then add the jalapenos and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Cook until lightly caramelized-- when you cook them in the oven it will finish the job.
4. Transfer the onion and jalapeno to a bowl, and brown the burger meat in the pan. If you'd like, feel free to add your signature burger seasonings (salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, whatever you like). I simply add a dash of salt and pepper.
5. Once the potatoes are cooked and have cooled completely, cut them in half, lengthwise.
6. Set broiler to high.
7. Carefully scoop about ⅔ of the potato out with a spoon. Brush the melted butter on both the inside and outside of each skin and set them back onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.
8. Broiler the skins for about 10 minutes, or until the skins become slightly crisp. Remove the skins from the oven and add ground beef, half of the bacon, and half of the blue cheese. Place back in the oven for 2 minutes, or until the blue cheese has just begun to melt. Remove from the oven, add the caramelized onions and jalapenos, more blue cheese, and bacon, and then cook for another 2 minutes. Serve warm.

• Category: Appetizer