Divine Chocolate is sponsoring today’s post. In exchange for sharing this unique #Choctoberfest recipe, I received four bars of baking chocolate. All thoughts, ideas, recipes, pictures, and general silliness contained within this post are solely my own and not necessarily that of the sponsor. CLICK HERE to learn more about Divine Chocolate.
There’s a secret ingredient used in these potato skins which helps make them taste absolutely amazing. Can you guess what it is? Chocolate. Adding a little bit of bittersweet baking chocolate to the nacho beef mixture stuffed inside of these oven-baked potato skins truly does make all the difference. Don’t believe me? Give them a try and see for yourself.
Secret ingredients can always be fun, especially when trying to stump adventurous dinner guests. I know that I myself often find it interesting to see if anyone will notice a certain key ingredient or if they’ll even believe me when I fess up to what that key ingredient actually is. In the case of these oven-baked potato skins filled with a beef nacho mixture, chocolate is the secret ingredient that makes all the difference. Yes, you read that right, chocolate. Not only does it help to cut the acidity from the tomatoes, but it also adds a depth of flavor that would otherwise be missing. Don’t believe me? Well then, give these little guys a try. I guarantee you’re gonna love them. Plus, you’ll get to nibble on a little chocolate while making them. That’s just an added bonus.
Ingredients:
- 10 Medium Red Potatoes, Scrubbed & Dried
- 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Divided
- 2 Tablespoons Salted Butter, Melted
- Cold Water
- 2 Dried Ancho Chiles
- 1 Pound 90% Lean Ground Beef
- 1 (6-oz.) Can Tomato Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 (14.5-oz.) Can Petite Diced Tomatoes
- 1/2 (5.3-oz.) 70% Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar, Finely Chopped
- Finely Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Chopped Scallions
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the scrubbed and dried potatoes on the baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Use your hands to rub the olive oil into each potato. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before cutting in half lengthwise and scooping out the inside of each potato. Place the inside of each potato into a bowl and save it for use later in another recipe. Place the potato skins back onto the baking sheet. Brush the inside of each potato skin lightly with melted butter and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
- Fill a small pot with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cut each ancho chile in half and remove the stem and seeds. Add the chiles to the boiling water, remove from heat, and allow to steep for 10 minutes.
- Remove the softened chiles from the hot water and place them into a food processor with 1 cup of cold water. Purée for 1 minute.
- Place 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the ground beef and cook until browned. Add the tomato paste, stir to combine, and then cook for 1 minute.
- Add the salt, oregano, cumin, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder, stir to combine, and then cook for 1 minute.
- Add the petite diced tomatoes and pureed ancho chiles and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the finely chopped bittersweet chocolate and allow to cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Fill each potato skin with beef nacho filling, and then top with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and scallions.
Suggestions:
- Lining your baking sheet with foil will help make it easier to clean.
- The amount of baking time may vary depending on the size of your potatoes.
- Allow the potatoes to cool enough to where you can handle them without burning yourself before you attempt to cut them in half and scoop out their insides.
- Use the leftover potato scraps to make mashed potatoes or potato pancakes for another night.
- Make sure to discard the hot water that the ancho chiles steep in. The liquid can sometimes taste bitter, so it is better to use fresh water to purée them instead. Don’t be afraid to work with dried ancho chiles; you can find them in most markets, they are easy to store, and once the seeds are removed, they are more smoky than spicy. I do, however, suggest wearing food-safe gloves when handling them.
- Make sure to use bittersweet or 70% dark chocolate in this recipe or else the nacho beef mixture will be too sweet.
- To help melt the cheese faster, feel free to place the potato skins back into the oven for a minute or two after filling them with the beef nacho filling and topping them with the shredded cheese. By using very finely shredded cheddar cheese, I was able to skip this step.
Improvements:
- If you like spicy food, you may choose to leave the seeds in the ancho chiles before soaking and puréeing them.
- Replace the cheddar cheese in this recipe with queso fresco or pepper jack cheese.
- Top with finely diced jalapeños for extra flavor.
- To save time, serve the nacho beef mixture in this recipe with tortilla chips instead of potato skins.
- CLICK HERE to check out all of our great Choctoberfest recipes.
Ingredients:
- 10 Medium Red Potatoes, Scrubbed & Dried
- 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Divided
- 2 Tablespoons Salted Butter, Melted
- Cold Water
- 2 Dried Ancho Chiles
- 1 Pound 90% Lean Ground Beef
- 1 (6-oz.) Can Tomato Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 (14.5-oz.) Can Petite Diced Tomatoes
- 1/2 (5.3-oz.) 70% Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar, Finely Chopped
- Finely Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Chopped Scallions
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the scrubbed and dried potatoes on the baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Use your hands to rub the olive oil into each potato. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before cutting in half lengthwise and scooping out the inside of each potato. Place the inside of each potato into a bowl and save it for use later in another recipe. Place the potato skins back onto the baking sheet. Brush the inside of each potato skin lightly with melted butter and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
- Fill a small pot with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cut each ancho chile in half and remove the stem and seeds. Add the chiles to the boiling water, remove from heat, and allow to steep for 10 minutes.
- Remove the softened chiles from the hot water and place them into a food processor with 1 cup of cold water. Purée for 1 minute.
- Place 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the ground beef and cook until browned. Add the tomato paste, stir to combine, and then cook for 1 minute.
- Add the salt, oregano, cumin, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder, stir to combine, and then cook for 1 minute.
- Add the petite diced tomatoes and pureed ancho chiles and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the finely chopped bittersweet chocolate and allow to cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Fill each potato skin with beef nacho filling, and then top with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and scallions.
PIN THIS RECIPE
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Make sure to check out all of the other great #Choctoberfest recipes below.
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