Rob’s Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Who doesn’t love the perfectly smooth and creamy texture and flavor of mashed potatoes. I like to embellish mine with either dill, chives or caramelized onions. These are perfect with steak, chicken or my Perfect Turkey Meat Loaf, my Grilled Lamb Chops with Balsamic Reduction, my Turkey Cabbage Rolls or just about anything. My favorite.
Yukon potatoes make the best mashed potatoes and if you boil them whole they retain their richness and don’t get watered down by the boiling water. And the biggest trick is to rice the boiled potatoes to assure a smooth, consistent texture. (See note) Warming your butter and milk, cream or half & half or sometimes sour cream) will help with blending and keeping your potatoes warm for serving. I make them in advance and then nuke them on “dinner plate” to serve.
Rob’s Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- potato ricer See note
- Kitchen Aid mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
- 1½ Yukon potatoes - approximately 5 – 7 potatoes depending on size.
- ¼ cup unsalted butter - melted
- ¼ – ½ cup milk, cream or half & half - warmed
- 2 tbsp. dill - chopped (optional) or
- 2 tbsp. chives - chopped (optional) or
- ¼ cup caramelized onions - See Carmelized Onion recipe (optional)
- sea or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a pot of salted water to cover, bring to a rolling boil and cook for 35 minutes. At that point, I remove one potato with a slotted spoon, run it under cold water then cut in in half to make sure the center is fully cooked and tender all the way through. If it is still too firm to easily pass through a ricer then I put the two halves back with the other potatoes and boil for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. You can then test again by halving another potato until they are soft enough so they fall apart and can easily pass through the ricer. By boiling the potatoes whole it helps them retain the starch that will give your mash richness.
- Once cooked through put the pot in the sink and run cold water into it until the potatoes have cooled enough to handle. Peel and slice in half or thirds to fit into the ricer. Rice into the bowl of the Kitchen Aid or just a bowl.
- Add the melted butter and mix on a medium speed ot with the hand mixer.
- Slowly add the milk, cream, or half & half until smooth and has reached the consistency desired, still retaining its fluffiness, not a puree.
- As an option you can mix or fold in either dill, chives or the caramelized onion.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- These can be made in advance, refrigerated or frozen for future use. Just defrost, if frozen, or just microwaved for 30 seconds to a minute to heat them back up before serving.
Notes
