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Some time ago a friend took he to a comedy club. The most memorable thing from that night was the food we had to eat because it was either that or buy drinks to meet the cover requirement. He had potato halves hollowed out and filled with meat and cheese and stuff, and I thought it was cool. So, without further ado, I give you my artistic interpretation (i.e. the best I can remember it).

What you'll need:

Small potatoes
Ground beef, mushrooms, cheese, and any other toppings you fancy

Vent the potatoes by poking single holes in the skin with a toothpick. Don't use a fork; the rows of holes this creates can weaken the skin, making it rip later on. Bake the potatoes, then slice them in half along the long axis so you have two "boats" from each spud.

While they are hot, score the potato flesh with a knife, being careful not to cut through to the skin. Scoop out the potato after the scoring has loosened it, leaving some on the inside of the skin. Fill it with the toppings, or top it with the fillings, however you wanna look at it.

The filling can be pretty much what you want. Pizza-like toppings in general work well here. As with okonomiyaki, I like to brown some ground beef with thinly-sliced mushrooms, drain it well, then fill the potato with that. To keep the stuff in place I mix the meat & mushrooms with more potato, which absorbs the flavor nicely. Putting shredded cheese over the top and then microwaving it to melt it creates a cheese "net."

This is definitely finger food. I wouldn't want to try to eat these with chopsticks.