I love using my egg plates, and I have a LOT of them, however deviled eggs are not on every menu nor are they the “right treat” for every occasion that calls for you to take a dish to a potluck or appetizer gathering.
In our neighborhood we often gather for pre-dinner wine and a collection of appetizers. Putting round or oval creations on a flat dish is often an appearance disaster after a walk down the street. I decided to try out an egg plate. You can choose your egg plate to match the gathering from backyard picnic to sit down dinner.
I had wonderful results. So I will begin sharing my ideas and recipes for other uses for my collection. Hopefully you will begin experimenting as well and share new discoveries.
Twice Baked Potatoes
I first used the egg plate to serve small “twice baked potatoes”. I used small potatoes. I roasted them until soft at about 375 degrees. I then scooped out the middles and mashed them with butter, salt, pepper and enough milk to obtain desired consistency. I used my portable mixer to get a smooth potato mixture. While making the filling, I put the skins (on a foil covered baking sheet) back in the oven to brown and become firmer. Then I just filled the skins with filling and added cheese and other toppings before putting back in the oven to melt the cheese.
I placed each potato in a depression on the egg plate and I was ready to serve. Since I have many egg plates, I can turn them in multiple serving dishes for larger gatherings or I can have some appetizers on an egg plate to serve while another batch is ready to put in the oven to melt the cheese. The potatoes can be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated on the baking sheet and then heated as needed for serving.
I like to vary the type of cheese and the toppings so that people have a choice on the same plate. In this picture I used a red Fiesta Ware plate (a Christmas gift from my son two years ago) and topped with pimento, olives, and jalepeno. A tasty topping is a sprinkle of Mexican oregano over the cheese.
These twice baked potatoes are great on a cold winter afternoon or evening as a tasty snack along with a movie or game of cards. I will add additional recipes and pictures as the summer get-together season arrives.