Seriously, who doesn’t love mashed potatoes!
A dish this rustic, delicious, simple should require no recipe. The most important things to remember is that potatoes don’t have much taste, they must be seasoned well, so keep your kosher salt handy! Next, the proper technique as detailed in the recipe is a must for fluffy potatoes that don’t turn gummy.
This technique involves letting your potatoes dry a bit with a lid closed after they are cooked, mashing them and then carefully folding in your additions, as aggressively folding those in, stirring, etc. can turn your potatoes gummy.
Other than that, you can be the master of what you add to your potatoes. Some mashed potato recipes call for insane amount of butter (restaurants notoriously rely on butter, butter and more butter to keep you coming back,) but in reality – a knob of butter, a splash of milk is all you need; however, adding some sour cream or cream cheese would give your potatoes another interesting flavour. In other words, create your own combinations of additions!
Place your potatoes in a pot. Fill it with cold water, add about a teaspoon of kosher salt and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and continue simmering for about 25-30 minutes with a lid slightly ajar, until potatoes are very tender.
Drain the potatoes well. Cover and let them stand for a minute. The steam will circulate inside the pot and dry out the potatoes contributing to the fluffy texture.
Mash your potatoes with a potato masher. Add some kosher salt to taste. Fold in cream, milk, butter or sour cream (whatever you end up using.) Folding these wet ingredients gently, instead of vigorously stirring them in, will retain the fluffy texture of the potatoes and help avoid the gumminess that improperly made mashed potatoes sometimes have. Taste, season with more salt and pepper to taste. Serve!
Note: quick homemade potatoes should not be a source of stress. Improvise the quantities according to taste. The most important thing for fluffy mashed potatoes is the technique. Add only enough cream, milk or sour cream to achieve the desired texture. I love sour cream as it adds some tartness to the dish, but often, I don't have it in the fridge, so milk or cream work well. A knob of butter gives it some much needed richness. Seasoning well with salt is absolutely necessary to avoid flat tasteless potatoes. Room temperature cream cheese could also work well.
Ingredients
Directions
Place your potatoes in a pot. Fill it with cold water, add about a teaspoon of kosher salt and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and continue simmering for about 25-30 minutes with a lid slightly ajar, until potatoes are very tender.
Drain the potatoes well. Cover and let them stand for a minute. The steam will circulate inside the pot and dry out the potatoes contributing to the fluffy texture.
Mash your potatoes with a potato masher. Add some kosher salt to taste. Fold in cream, milk, butter or sour cream (whatever you end up using.) Folding these wet ingredients gently, instead of vigorously stirring them in, will retain the fluffy texture of the potatoes and help avoid the gumminess that improperly made mashed potatoes sometimes have. Taste, season with more salt and pepper to taste. Serve!
Note: quick homemade potatoes should not be a source of stress. Improvise the quantities according to taste. The most important thing for fluffy mashed potatoes is the technique. Add only enough cream, milk or sour cream to achieve the desired texture. I love sour cream as it adds some tartness to the dish, but often, I don't have it in the fridge, so milk or cream work well. A knob of butter gives it some much needed richness. Seasoning well with salt is absolutely necessary to avoid flat tasteless potatoes. Room temperature cream cheese could also work well.
Happens to be Gluten-Free: as with all gluten-free recipes, ensure all your ingredients are gluten free and not cross-contaminated.
Happens to be Vegetarian.
