Easy Side Dish: Mashed Potatoes

One of the best ways to make any meal feel more special is to add a side dish, and what side dish conjures up more happy memories than Mashed Potatoes? Even if you're just having a plain baked chicken breast for dinner, a side of nice, fluffy potatoes makes it feel like a real meal. I think it's a shame we don't see them made more often - these delicious spuds are often left for holiday occasions only. They're so simple, quick, and delicious that there's no reason we shouldn't see more of them. Besides, they play a key factor in the recipe I'm posting next Monday, so I figured I'd post the recipe today. If you don't have the time to make them before your raid, mashed potatoes can be made ahead of time and eaten whenever you feel like it, and the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for special occasions.


Now, before we get to the recipe itself, let's talk variables. Some people like some skin in their mashed potatoes, others find that gross. Some like their potatoes to had a uniform texture, while others like a lumpier potato. A lot of this variation comes from mashing technique. Let's do a quick review of available methods so that you know what hardware you'll need for your potatoes.

Hand Masher
Using a hand held mashing device like the one pictured here allows you direct control over the texture of your potatoes. You can make your potatoes as lumpy or smooth as you like, but it won't get your potatoes as perfectly smooth as some other methods. It takes a little bit more work and time than the other methods, but if you like your potatoes with more "lumps" in them like I do, then this is the way to do it. Hand Mashers are a common kitchen utensil - you may already have one but even if you don't, they can easily be found at your local grocery store on the aisle with "Kitchen Gadgets".


Potato Ricer
This medieval-looking device is called a potato ricer, and I had no clue what they were until I dated a guy who liked his potatoes really, really smooth. What you do is place a peeled, cooked potato in the basket and then use the press on it to force the potato through the tiny holes in the basket. This ensures a uniformly smooth texture to the potato. On the downside, ricing is not very skin-friendly, so if you like skin in your mashed potatoes, this is not the route for you. Ricers are a bit less common, but can be found in any kitchen supply store.

Electric Mixers
Using either a hand held or a stand mixer is the way to go if you like your potatoes whipped, fluffy and airy. They're an easy way to mash your potatoes and are probably the easiest and lest time consuming method of the three. Somehow, my mom can use a hand mixer and not get little bits of potato skin all caught in the little mixing things, but I have no idea how she does it, nor has she been able to tell me her secret voodoo regarding skin. So, if you like skin, you might want to be careful when using a mixer. Mixers are a common kitchen appliance, but if you don't already have one they can be found in most department stores such as Target, Wal*Mart or K-Mart.

But what about Potatoes?
When it comes down to it, there are really only two common choices for mashing potatoes - Yukon Gold and Russet. Both are high in starch to ensure a nice smooth mash. Some people swear by low starch, waxy potatoes like red potatoes because they hold up better when boiled, but they just don't mash up as well. Proper preparation of your spuds will ensure they come out just fine and not too watery.

Yukon Gold potatoes are yellow-skinned, very buttery in flavor, and mash up very smoothly. They have a very tasty skin, and so are the common choice for anyone who keeps skin in their mashed potatoes (like me). They tend to be a wee bit more expensive than Russets, but they're very worth it. Russet potatoes are cheap and tasty, but their skin is not good eats, and should be peeled before mashing. I also find their flavor to be a little more bland, but this is fine if you like to add a lot of extras to your potatoes. By the way, there's nothing wrong with combining types of potatoes when you're mashing them, so if you have some of one and some of the other - or even if you throw in waxy potatoes, that's just fine. By the time you're done mashing them, the different flavor and texture properties of the potatoes will combine very nicely.

Hey, enough of this kitchen talk, I thought you said this was an easy recipe!
Oh, it totally is. Let's get right down to the basic recipe itself!

Serves: 4-6 people
Prep Time: 45 minutes tops, for about 15-20 minutes of that you don't even really need to be in the kitchen.
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Large Pot with Lid
-Fork
-Colander (strainer)
-Mashing device of your choice (see above)
-Peeler (optional)

Foodstuffs
-2 pounds potatoes of your choice
-1 stick softened butter
-1 cup half&half
-Salt and Pepper

Wash and, if you'd like, peel your potatoes. Cut your potatoes into cubes no more than 2-3 inches large, and try to make them all about the same size. Place potatoes in pot, then add water until it's about an inch over the potatoes. Put pot on stove on high heat, add lid. Let potatoes boil until they can easily be pierced by a fork, which takes about 15-20 minutes. Drain your potatoes in a colander in the sink. Run cold water down the sink so that you don't damage your pipes, but DO NOT rinse the potatoes! Evacuate your spuds to a bowl. If ricing, rice your potatoes as you add them to the bowl. Once potatoes are safely in the bowl, riced or otherwise, add the butter. Mash using masher or electric mixer, or if you riced the potatoes, use a fork or hand masher to combine the dairy with your potatoes. Gradually add the half& half while mixing/mashing until you achieve the consistency you like - you may not end up using the whole cup of half&half. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Ta-da! Potatoes! Wasn't that easy?

A word on Extras

Butter, salt and pepper isn't enough for some people. Hell, it isn't enough for me! So what more do you add to your potatoes to give them a kick? My mom likes to use heavy cream instead of half&half, but that's a little too heavy for my tastes. I like to add a little bit of sour cream and a clove or two of minced garlic - not enough to really qualify as garlic mashed potatoes, but garlicky enough that they have that garlic flavor. Some people swear by adding a few teaspoons of Black Olive Paste to their potatoes. I didn't even know they made Olive Paste. Others use olive oil or duck fat instead of butter, but I find that to be sacrilegious - Mashed Potatoes and Butter are inseparable! A common addition is to cook up some onions or shallots with a little bit of butter until they're nice and soft, then add those to your potatoes. A little unorthodox, but very tasty.

If you have any other suggestions for additions to potatoes, feel free to comment below!