Stuffed Jacket Potatoes with Leeks Cheddar and Boursin

I receive regular updates from http://www.eatttheseasons.co.uk/ and tonight tried this recipe found by following a link to what turned out to be Delia online at the following link http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/stuffed-jacket-potatoes-with-leeks-cheddar-and-boursin.

I have never (funnily enough) tried stuffing any vegetable, so this was a big adventure. It was deicious.

In case the link does not work, here is Delia's recipe;

Stuffed Jacket Potatoes with Leeks, Cheddar and Boursin
In this recipe the potato is scooped out, mixed with soft cheese and topped with leeks and melted cheese.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 large baked potatoes
1 leek about 4 inches long, trimmed and cleaned
1 ½ oz mature Cheddar, coarsely grated
1 x 80g pack ail et fines herbes Boursin
1 Tbsp single cream
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

To prepare the leek, slice it almost in half lengthways, then fan it out under a running tap to wash away any trapped dirt.

Now slice each half into four lengthways, then into ¼ inch (5 mm) slices.

After that, put the Boursin into a medium-sized bowl and cut the potatoes in half lengthways.

Protecting your hands with a cloth, scoop out the centres of the potatoes into the bowl containing the Boursin, add the milk or cream and season well with salt and freshly milled black pepper.

Now quickly mash or whisk everything together, then pile the whole lot back into the potato skins.

Now scatter the leeks on top, followed by the grated Cheddar – pressing it down lightly with your hand – then place on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the leeks are golden brown at the edges and the cheese is bubbling.

Stovies

Someone asked for a recipe for this and I promised to post my mother's recipe, however I cannot find it, so this is one that I have made.

Many recipes call for corned beef, but I don't think that is nearly so good as beef (roast, pot roast or even boiled)

I love onions, so have put in two, although I know my mother would have put in only one, whole, to be removed when the stovies were cooked; this was because my father could not eat onions.

As for the dripping, if you have roasted the beef, you will have your own, but many butchers (if you can find one that is not a supermarket) will sell dripping for stovies. This often has a layer of lovely beef jelly underneath, in which case you will not need beef stock, just a little water added to the cooking stovies.

I never give seasoning as I use very little and if you use the butcher's dripping with jelly you will probably need none.

I have vivid memories of going to Hunt Balls in my young married days and having stovies served up at about 6am before you went home.

Anyway, enough of this blethering - here is the recipe.

Ingredients

2 lb potatoes
2 onions
2 oz dripping left over from roast beef
½ pint water or beef stock
Left over beef, cut up

Method

Melt the dripping in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a low heat
Add the onions and increase heat to medium
Stir until all are browned
Turn down heat to very low
Peel and slice potatoes into pan
Add a little of the water or gravy
Cook over a very low heat until potatoes are soft and breaking, stirring every 10 minutes or so, and adding a little stock when necessary to prevent sticking.
Add the meat, stirring until hot through.

Easy peasy!