Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
- Nov 14, 2017
- 3 min read
This post is long overdue, but better late than never, right? This mashed potato recipe (courtesy of Christine Byrne from Buzzfeed) is what accompanied my cod dish a week and a half ago, which if you haven't read about, you can do so here. Byrne's article goes into much more detail about the preparation and cooking process, but I think I still have a few useful tidbits to add. Maybe. We'll see. Let's just dive in.
Ingredients:
Servings: 10
5 pounds russet potatoes, washed
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions:
1. Fill a large pot about halfway with cold water. Peel the potatoes and chop them into rough 1-inch cubes, putting the cubes straight into the water as you chop (this will prevent browning). When all the potato cubes are in the pot, they should be covered by about an inch of water; add water or pour some out, as needed, then stir in 2 tablespoons of kosher salt.
(If I'm being honest here, I'm 90% sure that I forgot to add the kosher salt.)
2. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer the potatoes until they are tender and mash easily with a fork, about 15-20 minutes. Drain the potatoes, shaking off any excess water, then return them to the pot and cook over very low heat for 2 minutes, just to dry them out completely.
3. While the potatoes are drying, heat the milk and cream in a small sauce pot over medium heat until it is heated through and just starting to simmer, about 2 minutes.
(I didn't do this because I didn't want to wash another pot.)
4. Remove the pot of potatoes from the heat, and add cubed butter, a tablespoon of kosher salt, and some freshly ground pepper. Use a spoon to transfer the cooked chunks of potato and butter to the potato ricer, and press them through into a large bowl. When all of your potatoes have been pressed, add the warm cream mixture and stir everything together with a wooden spoon.
(I do not own a potato ricer, so my mash was not as smooth as Byrne's.)
5. Serve immediately.
My Conclusions:
1. This was a very stressful dinner to make. Between the cod and the mashed potatoes, both the kitchen and I were a mess. Like I said above, I think I forgot to add the kosher salt to the water while the potatoes were boiling, so that might have been why they tasted a little bland. I also kept flipping back and forth between the fish and potato recipes, so I accidentally added the butter and liquids (I used half and half instead of heavy cream because my dad needs to watch his cholesterol or blood pressure or something) too early. If I were to do this again, I would have paid more attention to the directions and mashed the potatoes first before adding in the good stuff. I don't know if disrupting this order of operations had anything to do with the consistency of the potatoes or if I was using a masher that wasn't effective, but I squished those starches long enough for my FitBit to record that I was exercising and there were still lumps. It was quite disheartening, but the potatoes were still delicious!
2. My potatoes also needed a lot more liquid than the recipe called for. This could be for a range of reasons, but I think that's something to keep in mind when you go out and buy your ingredients (i.e. make sure you have a little extra milk/heavy cream/half and half/liquid of your choosing).
3. If fluffy mashed potatoes aren't your thing, Byrne also has three other alternative recipes, which I'll link down below:
These four recipes can also be found under Byrne's master post "How To Make The Mashed Potatoes Of Your Dreams."
Well, that's all from me! I'm making another dinner tonight, so stay tuned for that, and let me know if you try out one of Byrne's mashed potato recipes (maybe for Thanksgiving???).
Sincerely,
SUPPERGIRL
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