There’s so much attention given to what to serve during football games that we now have what we are designating a new category of food: Game Day Cuisine.

We identified some 25 different game day favorites, and

 
We’d like to add something new to the list: a cheeseburger baked potato (photo #1).

It combines two comfort foods in an easy-to-eat format.

This recipe was created by Milisa Armstrong of Miss In The Kitchen, and sent to us by the Idaho Potato Commission.
 
 
RECIPE: BACON CHEESEBURGER BAKED POTATO

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Scrub the potatoes and pat dry. Place them on a baking sheet and bake one hour or until the potatoes are cooked through.

2. REMOVE the potatoes from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. Lower the oven temperature to 375°F.

3. CUT the potatoes lengthwise about ¾ of the way through carefully, leaving them attached on the bottom. With a spoon, scrape the insides into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, sour cream, 1 cup of cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Mash together or whip with an electric mixer, depending on your desired texture.

4. SPOON the filling into the potato shells and place on a baking sheet. Toss the ground beef with the barbecue sauce and spoon equally over the potatoes. Sprinkle each potato with the remaining cheese, bacon and green onions.

5. BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until the potatoes are heated through and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

[2] We cool the bacon and then cut it into squares with a kitchen scissors (photo © Edwards Virginia Smokehouse | Facebook).

[3] Scallions and green onions are the same thing. The usage is regional: In the Northeast, for example, it’s scallions. We prefer “scallions” because it’s easy to confuse green onions with spring onions, a different variety (photo © David Tanis Market Cooking).

Colby-Jack cheese. This popular blend is available shredded by Sargento and Kraft (photo © Joe Green | Golden Age Cheese).

An recent American cheese recipe, Colby Jack is a combination of two popular cheeses, Colby and Monterey Jack. Both are semihard cow’s milk cheeses.

Colby contributes a sharper taste than Monterey Jack; Jack contributes its smooth meltability.

Colby cheese is the orange cheese in the blend (photo #4). It is similar to Cheddar in look, taste and texture. Colby is a dry cheese, slightly crumbly and like young Cheddar, slightly sharp.

Colby cheese was developed in 1885 in a cheese factory near Colby, Wisconsin. The benefit over making Cheddar is that Colby does not take as long to age before the sharp taste is achieved (it skips the “cheddaring” step.

Monterey Jack cheese is a mild, creamy, white cheese, and a great melter. The surprise is that Monterey Jack is a renaming of Mexican queso blanco.

In the 18th century, queso blanco was made by the Mexican Franciscan friars of Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo in Monterey, California. It was then made by other dairies in the area.

Much later, in the late 19th century, a local businessman named David Jack owned a dairy along the Salinas River. Like other dairies in the area, it produced queso blanco.

Jack’s dairy subsequently formed partnerships with other regional dairies, to sell their cheeses throughout California. His queso blanco was mass marketed, first as Jack’s Cheese and eventually as Monterey Jack.

Variants of Monterey Jack known include Dry Jack (an aged version) and Pepper Jack (with peppercorns).