Chris said:
Now, mashed potatoes are the bane of my culinary existence. Can't make
decent ones to save my life. If only they had a small appliance for that!
:-)
C
There are a couple of tricks to mashed potatoes (stirred with a tool
called a
potato masher, leaving hunks of potatoes in the mix) and creamed potatoes
("whipped potatoes" to the Yankees <VBG> and beaten with a mixer until
smooth and fluffy).
Use red-skinned ("boiling"😉 potatoes only (no white, baking potatoes, no
yukon golds, etc).
Peel them, cut them in chunks (a small potato about the size of a golf
ball should be halved. cut larger potatoes so that the finished chunks
are about the size of these halves. Size here is very important. Too small
and you have potato soup; too large and you have potato salad makings.
Once you get used to making them, the larger size hunks won't be much of a
problem. It's only a problem until you get the feel for the cooking time)
Put the potato chunks in a pot with enough room to totally cover the
potatoes and then some (It's like cooking macaroni, pasta, or dry beans.
The potatoes don't "swell" but you've got to have a good bit of water.
Like with macaroni and other pastas, you'll be pouring the excess water
and starch down the drain.)
Put the potatoes in a cold pot and cover with cold water. Turn your burner
on "HI" heat and bring the pot to a boil. Turn down heat to a gently
rolling boil (about Med Hi). Boil uncovered. [here's why plenty of water.
You don't want to have to add more water, but if you do, add HOT water,
kick the heat back up to HI in order to bring to a boil in a hurry and
then turn heat back down. (the deal here is that you don't want your
potatoes to "soak" and soak up a lot of excess water).
Cooking them perfectly "done" is a major trick. This will just take some
practice. This is why all the chunks should be as close as possible to the
same size (so they will all be "done" at the same time).
"perfectly done" will be the consistency of a perfect baked potato.
{sorry}
It takes about 20 minutes to cook potatoes (in the perfect "chunk" size),
but that will give you a guideline.
When a chunk can be speared with a fork, lifted out of the pot, placed on
a hard surface (like a plate), and gentle pressure of the tines of the
fork against the chunk will cause it to mash into a fluffy,
baked-potato-like consistency, it is done.
Not-quite-done: the chunk won't lift out of the pot without breaking (or
it feels like you are spearing an apple)
Too-done: the chunk dissolves when speared or it comes out of the pot only
to collapse in a starchy pile when mashed.
If you "cream" (which is what we do here in the South) the "too done", you
will have something akin to wall paper paste.
If youcream the "not-quite-done", you will have something akin to chunky
peanut butter.
On both accounts, boo,hiss.
Until you get the hang of it, you might want to drain in a colander.
Remove as much water as possible.
Work quickly. Potatoes cool off rapidly (again with the boo, hiss).
Creaming takes only a couple of minutes, so everything else on the menu
should be headed to the table.
Toss potatoes in a mixing bowl, add a big hunk of butter and a few
tablespoons of milk, S&P to taste, mix on low until the potatoes are
crushed. Turn mixer up. They should fluff - much like egg whites or
whipping cream. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. If they are a little
dry, add a touch more milk (or cream or half and half). If they are too
wet, you are screwed.
While the bowl is turning, stick a teaspoon into the potatoes. They should
mound in the spoon in a fluffy pile. Stick spoon in mouth. They should
taste fluffy and buttery. You should automatically say, "ooooh"
Share with others or keep all for yourself. <g>
Just a little practice will have you turning out super creamed potatoes in
no time.
Good luck
Elaine, too
