For truly great mashed potatoes one must do more than
boil and mash these elegant
tubers...
Here are some tricks to make quick,
delicious mashed potatoes:
1.) Practice your peeling. Yup, probably the second longest process in making mashed potatoes, is peeling those potatoes. Once you get this down you'll find yourself making quality mashed potatoes in no time. Also start your water boiling while you're peeling.
2.) Cut those buggars up. Cutting the potatoes into smaller (but evenly sized) pieces allows them to cook faster.
3.) Use cream and butter! Really, there are no substitutes for these simple
ingredients that just make mashed potatoes into fluffy, creamy heaven on a plate.
Now the basic recipe:
Ingredients:
Potatoes (about 1 1/2 per serving)
Butter (about 1 tbsp. per serving)
Cream (about 2 tbsp. per serving)
Salt
Freshly ground black or white
pepper
In a large
pot, boil water with a few pinches of salt. Peel your potatoes and cut off any discolored bits. Chop the potatoes into smaller pieces (I usually go about 2" square, roughly). Boil until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Strain well and place into a
bowl. Add your
butter and
cream, mash until smooth, salt and pepper to taste, serve in
generous portions.
Easy? Yes! But there are many variations:
For Vegans: Replace the butter and cream with
Vegetable stock and truffle or good olive oil.
Roasted Root Vegetable: Take some sweet
root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, etc..) peel and dice them, coat them lightly in
olive oil and put them on a baking sheet in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes (or until
fork tender). Mash these in with your potatoes (they will probably not all mash
smooth but don't worry about it).
Of course
Garlic Mashed Potatoes are simply
sex on a plate.
You can add all sorts of things to Mashed Potatoes to liven them up, be
wild, go
crazy. Mashed potatoes go well with a variety of entrees, and make a great base for spectacular
presentation. Use Them!