For this week’s spotlight on Thanksgiving sides we’re talking potatoes. Mashed potatoes grace dinner tables year round as they are probably one of the greatest inventions of mankind. They go with everything and they’re simple.
Even the simplest of things require a little work. I will freely admit I have screwed up mashed potatoes before. There are two easy ways to ruin mashed potatoes; not cooking the potatoes long enough or adding the wrong amount of liquid. Perfect mashed potatoes should be creamy, fluffy and also have a bit of flavor. No one likes a flavorless starch paste or runny potato goo.
Ingredients
Serves 4
5-6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed – these make the creamiest mashed potatoes. Reds work well too. Only use Russet Burbanks in a pinch. Russets just don’t have the same creamy texture.
4 tablespoons (56g) butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
Heavy cream
Method
Get a medium pan and fill it halfway with water. Peel your potatoes if desired then cube them up and add them to the water. I prefer my mashed potatoes to be on the rustic side, so I leave the skins on my potatoes. If you leave the skins on be sure to scrub them with a stiff brush to remove the excess dirt.
Boil the potatoes on high heat until they are fork tender. I’ve never timed how long this takes but if I had to guess it would be around 15 minutes.
Drain the potatoes of all the water. Add the butter, salt and pepper. Drizzle the cream once around the pan of potatoes and start mashing. I use a hand masher as I like some chunks in my potatoes. If you want super creamy mashed potatoes use a mixer to beat them into submission.
As you’re mixing keep adding the cream a little bit at a time until you get perfect fluffy mashed potatoes.
Enjoy with almost anything.
Image via Jenessa Hooper for BitchBuzz