|
Let's talk about
mashed potatoes. For mashed potatoes always use white
potatoes. Red potatoes are too waxy and will result in gooey
mashed potatoes. I make Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and they
are always well-received.
|
For
this recipe you will need:
|
|
First let's talk about
roasting garlic. Roasted garlic has such a wonderful smoky
flavor, is a little milder than fresh garlic and is incredibly
easy to do. You can get roasted garlic in the produce section
in little jars but it's much better if you roast it fresh
yourself. Look for the big, mild heads of garlic in the
produce section.
 Roasting
the garlic is one of the things you can do the day before to make
things easier the day you prepare the meal. To roast the
garlic cut off the top half inch or so of the head and leave
it whole. Put the head in a small ovenproof dish or pan. Drizzle a
teaspoon of olive oil over the garlic. Add a quarter-cup of water
or stock to the pan.
Place the pan in the
center of a 350°F oven and roast until the head of garlic is
soft. This will take from 30-45 minutes depending on the
size of the garlic head. But when it's done roasting the
garlic should be soft and spreadable almost like butter.
Remove from the oven and when the garlic is cool enough to handle
you can just squeeze the soft garlic out of the head. If you
have more than you need you can put the leftover garlic in a
little olive oil and seal in a little jar or
container. It will keep for quite awhile in the refrigerator
and you can use it for other dishes.
Now that we have the
garlic roasted let's prepare the mashed potatoes. Peel the
potatoes then cut into about a 1" dice. Put the
potatoes in a large sauce pan with enough water to cover with a
couple of inches over the top of the potatoes and about a
tablespoon of salt. Remember most of the salt will wash away
with the water but you want the salt flavor to cook into the
potatoes.
Bring the potatoes
to a boil and boil gently until fork tender. The time will
vary a bit depending on the size of the dice and the variety of
white potato but usually takes about 20-30 minutes. When the
potatoes are tender remove from the heat and drain with a colander
bowl or strainer.
Then here's the
trick of nice fluffy mashed potatoes. Put the drained
potatoes back in the sauce pan dry. Put the burner on low
and return the potatoes to the burner for just a few
minutes. Watch the potatoes and stir them so they don't
scorch. This process dries the excess water out of the
potatoes that they absorbed during cooking.
Put the potatoes in
the mixer bowl with the butter and mash. Start the mixer on
low so the potatoes don't go everywhere. Once the butter is
melted into the potatoes you can start adding the milk a little at
a time until you get a nice fluffy consistency. During this
process you can add 4-5 cloves of the roasted garlic.
Be careful not to
get too much milk or the potatoes will be runny. You want
them to make a nice fluffy pile on the plate. When the
potatoes are fluffy, taste to check for seasoning and add the
cracked-pepper and a little more salt if necessary.
|
