Potatoes are a simple comfort food, but making a consistently great recipe can often pose a challenge. Googling mashed potatoes and you will recieve over 4 million results which confirms there are multiple potatoes to choose from and countless recipes.
Some factors to consider when mashing your spuds:
Potato Varieties
The main categories are baking potatoes and boiling potatoes.
- Russet or Idaho potatoes are a starchy potato which is great for baking, French Fries and make a great fluffy mashed potato if prepared right.
- Boiling or waxy potatoes are also good in their own right and varieties include; Red Bliss and New Potatoes, Yukon Gold and Kennebec.
Mash, Mix or Rice????
To achieve a smooth and creamy mashed potato restaurant chefs often use a food mill or ricer to force the potato through small holes in a sieve. If you don't have one you can use a colander, using the back of a large spoon or a smaller bowl with even pressure to push the potatoes through. It is more labor-intensive, but it will work.
Starchy potatoes retain more texture and can be mealy, so the food mill is an ideal way to deal with that.. Waxy potatoes on the other hand, can simply be mashed by hand or "smashed" as the current trend. In either case, make sure the potatoes have been completely drained of water, even oven dry in a 350 degree oven to remove excess moisture before mashing or ricing.
Whipped potatoes can be achieved by mixing at a low speed until crumbly then gradually adding remaining ingredients and giving a short whip on a higher speed. Over mixing potatoes will result in a gluey un-appealing texture.
Adding Fat to Mashed Potatoes
Once again there are multiple varieties to choose from when seasoning your mashed potato. Butter , milk or cream are the typical ways to go. Other possible mediums include, sour cream, cream cheese, buttermilk, roasted garlic puree or adding no or little fat with chicken broth.
Buttery potatoes are part of the comfort staple and the content should be around 12 % or around 2 ounces per pound. Famous French Chef Joel Robuchon make his potato puree famous by adding 25% butter to the puree for a super rich potato.
Milk or Cream should be around 25% or around /2 cup per pound of potatoes. How much is actually hard to say because the starch content of the particular potato being used and this can vary with each type, time of year, and storage (sugar converts to starch or vice versa, depending on storage). For stiffer mashed potatoes use a little less.
So a good rule of thumb is to have these percentages ready and warmed to add to the riced or crumbled potatoes and gradually mix.
Seasoning
This is a personal choice. Garlic mashed have been overdone the last few years but if you want to go that route you can try either mashing roasted garlic in for a subtle flavor or adding a few cloves of garlic when boiling the potatoes. For a different twist and since many people claim allergy or digestive problems with garlic try adding scallions or leeks to the potatoes for some added zip.
Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- 2 pounds russet, Yukon gold, or long white potatoes
- 1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 cup milk or cream
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pinch white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Directions:
- peel potatoes
- boil or steam until you can just pierce with a knife or toothpick
- heat milk and butter
- drain and dry potatoes, rice into a bowl
- gradually add warm cream mixture
- season to taste
