Before I tell you how I learned to make incredibly creamy, fluffy, makes me go weak in the knees delicious mashed potatoes, I must introduce you to the exciting topic of blanching green vegetables. Today we learned that almost anything you are cooking on the stove should be brought to a boil and then turned down to a simmer except two things: pasta and green vegetables. Green vegetables should be cooked in lots of boiling salted water. Adding salt has two purposes; it seasons the vegetables and raises the boiling point of the water which makes your vegetables cook faster. Once you add the vegetables to the boiling water, let them cook for a little while and then taste one. There is no set amount of time that they need to cook and as Chef Chris says, "The kitchen is all about common sense," so take them out of the water when they taste done. For me this turned out to be harder than it sounds. I cooked three separate batches of green beans before I got the okay from Chef Chris that I could move on to cooking broccoli. Regardless of what vegetable you are cooking, as soon as they taste done, remove them from the boiling water and serve then immediately or plunge them into an ice bath so that they stop cooking.
Alright, now lets move on to the exciting stuff. One potato will yield about one cup of mashed potatoes so adjust the recipe accordingly.
You will need:
4 potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup of cream + 1/2 cup of milk (or 1 cup of half an half)
1 1/2 sticks of butter diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Roughly chop the potatoes into approximately two inch cubes. Place them into a large sauce pan an cover with water. Season the water generously and when you think you have added enough salt, add a little bit more just for good measure. Put your pot on the fire and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down and let the potatoes simmer until they offer no resistance when pierced with a fork and can be easily mashed with your finger or the flat side of a knife. While the potatoes are simmering, put the cream, milk, olive oil, and 1 stick of the diced butter into a separate pan and also bring it to a boil. Don't walk away from the stove or it will probably boil over like mine did. When it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and set the mixture aside to be used later. Process the potatoes as soon as they are done and never shock potatoes with cold water like you would green vegetables because they will absorb too much water and become runny.
For the next step you have a couple of different options depending on the equipment you have available. If you have a KitchenAid mixer with a whisk attachment, put in your potatoes and keep the speed low. You could also use a food mill, ricer, or you could mash the potatoes by hand. Which ever option you choose to follow, slowly whisk in the cream mixture and season to taste. When you think the potatoes are perfect and you're thinking about eating them all right out of the mixing bowl, whisk in the half stick of butter that you cubed earlier and season them again. If you aren't serving the potatoes immediately, store them covered in the refrigerator. They can be reheated in the microwave or oven before serving.
If you are interested in trying some variations on the traditional mashed potato, you could stir in some chopped parsley or chives at the end. You could make garlicky potatoes by stirring in some garlic puree or using garlic oil instead or olive oil. If you are thinking there is no way you could eat potatoes with so much butter, try replacing the cream mixture with some vegetable broth and olive oil. This is a very basic recipe so experiment with it and see what happens. I'll let you know if I come up with anything good!
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