It might seem like a time-saver, but don't turn that tap to hot when prepping to boil and mash potatoes.
Posts with tag MashedPotatoes
Perfect Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes - Tip of the Day
Making buttermilk mashed potatoes can easily go wrong. The buttermilk can curdle, and too much butter can obscure the buttermilk flavor. Check out these easy tactics to prevent such problems.
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Mushroom Mashed Potatoes
By now, we're all familiar with the wonder that is garlic and mashed potatoes. It's so prevalent these days that I'm almost surprised when I get the option to have garlic-free taters. (Not that I'm complaining -- potatoes and garlic are always welcome in this mouth!) But sometimes it's nice to change things up -- especially with something as friendly as potatoes. They go with almost anything!
So another easy way to amp your taters is to add a nice cup of sauteed mushrooms. It's simple -- dice up some of that tasty fungus, and saute it while your potatoes boil. Since the shrooms are diced, they won't take very long to cook and should be fragrant, brown, and delicious by the time you're ready to mash. Just throw them in with the milk, butter, and anything else you add to your mashed potatoes, and mash away.
It gives your potatoes a wonderful earthy flavor, and is an excellent way to use up leftover mushrooms before they dry up.
Meatcake!
When a friend of mine recently asked me to help throw her a baby shower, I had many questionable suggestions-- like making it race-car rather than baby themed (accepted) to making a baby-shaped red-velvet cake with gooey red filling, except the diaper part, which would have brown icing filling (rejected). But one of the things she was most excited about was my suggestion that I make a meatcake. That is, a cake made of meat, an idea I had found (like so many nutty ideas) on the interwebs. I took the concept, but created my own recipes--two, since a non-red-meat eater needed turkey. It may sound peculiar but the result was delicious and even rather spectacular. If you want to try it yourself....
Cheesy Sausage Potato Mountain
Earlier, I blogged about my latest foray into collard greens. The above is the dish I came up with to have alongside it. I'm not sure why I tend to make towers of food when I get creative in my kitchen, but welcome the repetition since every one has turned out so darned good.
This one came about because I didn't have time to thaw anything big, had no bread, and didn't want to have a salad for the third day in a row. So, the one thing I could thaw quick came out of the freezer, sausage, and a small, leftover chunk of cheese came out of the fridge.
I lined a bowl with foil to make sure the potato wouldn't stick (make sure it's oven safe!), then coated the bottom and sides of the bowl with non-stick spray, and then the mashed potatoes. This created a bowl that I put my sauteed, chopped elk sausage and cheese in, before topping with more potatoes, covering with foil, and throwing it in my toaster oven for a bit to melt the cheese. When the greens were done, I took it out, opened the foil, flipped it onto a plate, and peeled the foil away.
It was quick, easy, and quite delicious paired with the collard greens. I think kidlets making mashed tater mountains have the right idea!
Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Veg - Feast Your Eyes
While I like desserts as much as the next girl, when it comes down to the question of sweet verses savory, I will always go in the direction of savory. Give me buttered toast, seeded crackers or potatoes of nearly any variety and I'm a happy camper.
These Roasted Leek and Carrot Mashed Potatoes with Thyme from Kate of Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails speak directly to the savory food lover in me and make me want to run out and buy some potatoes and leeks (I've already got carrots) in order to whip them up. To truly tantalize yourself, make sure to check out the full recipe on Kate's blog.
Delicious! Thanks Kate!
Creative Uses For Leftover Mashed Potatoes
Leftover mashed potatoes? Please allow me to direct your attention to Not Made of Money's article on what to do with your starchy surplus. Their 10 creative ideas include shepherd's pie, Thanksgiving casserole, mashed potato soup (!), mashed potato dumplings, mashed potato patties, mashed potato and egg hash, mashed potato rolls, and mashed potato and salmon croquetes. Or you could just eat them cold with a spoon in front or the fridge at 2 a.m.. Not that I do that or anything.Incredibly rich mashed potatoes - First time Thanksgiving
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When it comes to Thanksgiving mashed potatoes, I've generally found that the key element is quantity. I save the truffled, blue cheese-infused, roasted garlic potatoes for the rest of the year, when everybody is in the mood to try something new. On Thanksgiving, nobody really wants to be impressed: what they're really concerned with is being full.And there's nothing more disappointing than running out of potatoes.
With that in mind, here's a basic recipe for making ten pounds of incredibly fattening mashed potatoes. The heavy amounts of cream, milk, and butter give it a smooth, rich texture, while the nutmeg gives it a nice, rounded tone. If you are concerned about having completely white mashed potatoes, use white pepper and omit the nutmeg; otherwise, feel free to use regular black pepper.
10 pounds yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into pats
1/2 cup whole milk
Salt to taste (I start with a tablespoon and work up from there)
Pepper and nutmeg to taste (I generally use a heaping teaspoon of each)
Drop potatoes into boiling water. Return water to a simmer, but do not boil. Cook until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Drain, place in large bowl, and mash with a potato masher or two forks.
Heat cream and butter in a saucepan until butter is melted. Do not allow to boil. Add cream mixture to potatoes and, using either a spoon or a hand mixer, mix until potatoes are smooth. Add milk as needed to achieve a smooth texture. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
Serve immediately.
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Thanksgiving - Traditional with a twist
No matter how far I dive into the foodie world, I have one stead-fast rule: You don't mess with Thanksgiving. Now I don't mean to suggest that you can't do a little experimenting and change up the flavors here and there. It's a waste to not adapt your classic Thanksgiving recipes -- the whole process of cooking is learning the basics and then adapting them to suit your own taste-buds. But we're talking about a classic meal here -- one that is meant to not only evoke stuffed groans of pleasure, but also tap into your memories of the past -- the heaping piles of meat, the creamy mashed potatoes, and the family gathered around the table. Rather than ditching the classics for a whole new approach, perfect the traditional recipes at your disposal.
What follows are recipes for a classic Thanksgiving dinner -- taking the dearly loved basics of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and cranberry sauce, and making them pop without removing the beloved tastes and experiences. This Traditional with a Twist meal includes recipes for brining and giving the bird a good under-the-skin rub, a sausage stuffing, roasting, homemade cranberry sauce amped up with some port, and finally, mashed potatoes flavored with some caramelized shallots.
Bon Appetit!
Caramelized shallot mashed potatoes - Traditional with a twist
Any traditional Thanksgiving meal must have mashed potatoes, but that doesn't mean you have to go with the plain butter variety, or even garlic. What about this recipe, courtesy of Bon Appetit and Epicurious? If you want something a little less rich, I suggest the Chive and Parsley Mashed Potatoes -- light and delicious.
Caramelized-Shallot Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
6 tbsp of butter, divided
2 cups sliced shallots
3/4 cup whole milk
2 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes -- peeled and quartered
- Melt 2 tbsp of the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until tender and brown, stirring often. (Approx. 20 minutes) Transfer the shallots to a bowl, add milk to skillet, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, bring the potatoes to a boil, then let simmer until tender. Drain them and then stir over medium heat until dry.
- Add remaining butter to potatoes while bringing milk to a simmer in the skillet. Scrap any browned bits and add the milk to the potatoes. Mash, stir in shallots, and season with salt and pepper.
. Put the garlic aside and season your potatoes with chives and parsley
I love garlic. I grew up on it. In my house, there were two things always on-hand to season a dish -- pepper and garlic powder. (My family almost never used salt!) I can't do without either, and that also means that I eat a lot of garlic-flavored dishes, like garlic mashed potatoes. (Good to keep the vampires away, and the mens.)But now I have a new beloved mashed potato flavor -- chives and parsley. Wanting something fresh and light to go with my Lamb Hunter-Style, I found this recipe on Epicurious for Chive and Parsley Mashed Potatoes. It's not quite as easy as throwing a little garlic into the mix, but the effort is worth the great flavor.
The trick to the green and tasty taters -- an herb olive oil. Just puree 1 cup of fresh chives, 3/4 cup fresh parsley, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and just over 1/2 a cup of olive oil. Once it is smooth, push it through a metal sieve. Take the remaining oil and pour some, to taste, into your potatoes. Since nothing is cooked, you get that fresh and light herb taste, which makes the potato a great addition to any rich and heavy meat dish.
Okay ... I have to admit that I cheated just a little and sprinkled some garlic-flavored sea salt on top, which made it even more delish!
A new-found love of bangers and mash
I am powerless to the allure of potatoes. I adore a good link of sausage. And heck, there's nothing I'd rather do after a long week than head to a great beer joint and have my favorite oak-aged beer, Innis & Gunn.
So why haven't I ever ordered bangers and mash before? Beats me! The other night, while drowning myself in I&G, and Carolus, I had a taste of my friend's bangers and mash. It was eyes-rolling-into-the-head awesome. But it wasn't a warm mixture of flavors. Rather, they all blended perfectly together as if there's a sausage animal walking around with gravy sweat, onion hair, and potatoes inside.
Of course, I had to have a meal of my own, so last night I hunted down a tasty-looking recipe at Channel4.com. Too lazy to measure anything out, I followed the recipe loosely and came up with the great plate of goodness above. It had a much more distinct flavor than my first introduction, but it was still darned good (even without the required apples) -- the red wine flavor mixing into the bite of the sausage, onions, and potatoes.
Obviously, there are a million different ways you can prepare this dish, so share your techniques below!
Leftovers: Transform your mashed potatoes into pancakes
I must admit that I could eat leftover mashed potatoes for days. An extra dribble of moisture (water, milk, gravy), a little spin in the microwave and I am good to go. However, I do realize that there are other folks out there who possess slightly more elevated palates. They want something more than mashed potatoes for days after Thanksgiving. For those folks, I suggest turning those mashed taters into cakes.
The sibling of latke, these potato pancakes are creamy on the inside and crisp on the outside. Search for mashed potato pancakes on the internet and you'll get a vast assortment of recipes. My favorite way to do it includes a couple of beaten eggs for binding, a few tablespoons of flour for extra texture and some finely diced onion or chives for a bit of extra flavor. You can also stir in some shredded cheese if you to give them added flavor (Parmesan cheese is excellent in mashed potato pancakes). After the jump you'll find my favorite recipe, which originally comes from Sara Moulton's Cooking Live show.
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Contraband, by way of mashed potatoes
In old movies and cartoons, it was common to see someone use a cake to smuggle a file, which they could use to break themselves out, into an inmate at the local prison. At the cartoon end, the file could be replaced with anything from dynamite to a jackhammer, as the characters didn't have to be particularly subtle to get themselves out of the slammer. Things have to be done more subtle for those who want to smuggle things into prisons in real life, but food can still play a roll. A prison guard at Leflore County jail in Mississippi was arrested after he was caught smuggling in money and marijuana in a large pile of mashed potatoes (That green stuff? Those are just chives...) in at lunch time, when an unidentified woman dropped them off for him. His undoing was a food preference issue, not being careless with the contraband itself. The thing that made investigators suspicious was that the officer said that he didn't eat potatoes and couldn't explain why he was getting such a large portion of them delivered to him at work.Bon Appétit celebrates 50 years
I've gotta start keeping better tabs on the food monthlies. I just learned from yesterday's Palm Beach Post that Bon Appétit is celebrating its Golden Anniversary. The Post features a fascinating interview with the magazine's editor, Barbara Fairchild. Amid her addressing such topics as whether people still cook today or live vicariously through celebrity chefs (her answer, a definite yes, her readership still cooks) is an interesting nugget of information.
When asked to name an iconic American meal she didn't pick Roast Turkey with Herb Butter and Caramelized-Onion Gravy; Chili-Rubbed Rib-Eye Steak, Pico de Gallo, and Red Chili Onion Rings, or any of the other wonderful recipes culled from Bon Appétit's archives that are featured in this month's issue.
Rather she told the Post that the classic American meal was "Roast chicken and mashed potatoes." Here's to keeping things simple in the kitchen and to a very happy 50th birthday.
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