Buttery Garlic Mashed Potatoes (No Gravy Needed)
Potatoes are my second favorite food and they go great with my favorite food. I can eat them any way you can cook them. I recently had some great garlic mashed in a restaurant, without gravy, and they were so delicate, mellow, and sweet. Not that heavy G-A-R-L-I-C breath stuff. I immediately went to work trying to duplicate them. But I failed. I came close when I roasted the garlic first, but no cigar. That's because I didn't know the secrets to great garlic mashed.
I belong to several internet discussion groups, and one day I read a note about garlic mashed from one of the people whose comments I always read on the SmokeRingBBQ list.
Chef Kurt Lucas of Organic Fresh Fingers develops organic meals for children. He has been the Executive Chef at Oregon State University and he has worked for Michel Richard, the famous French Chef of Citronella in DC. The secret, says Chef Lucas, is boiling the garlic to reduce its pungence and increase its mellow sweetness. And lots of butter. Most mashed potato recipes call for cream, half-and-half, or milk. This recipe is so good and creamy you don't need any cream in the mix or gravy on the table.
Recipe
Yield. 4 small servings
Preparation time. 30-45 minutes
Ingredients
2 pounds Russet Burbank or Yukon Gold potatoes, after peeling
6 medium cloves of garlic
1/4 pound butter (1 stick)
6 pinches of salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (must be fresh)
About the potatoes. Thee are many different potatoes to choose from (read my article The Zen of Potatoes). Russets are a great all round tater, fine for for mashing, and Yukon Golds have an especially nice buttery flavor. Select large potatoes because they are easier to peel. Each potato has a slightly different texture and flavor, so experiment until you find your fave.
About the garlic. If you have roasted garlic on hand, you can skip the first step, boiling the garlic.
Optional. Add 3 ounces grated cheddar cheese or boursin cheese spread.
Optional. Add 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs, not dried, chopped fine. Herbs are great in mashed potatoes. Try one of the Simon & Garfunkel herbs: Parsley, sage, rosemary, or thyme. Oregano and basil are also great. My favorite is fresh rosemary.
Optional. Add Three strips crispy bacon crumbled into bits.
Optional. Toss some leftover rib meat in the mix!
Do this
1) Peel the garlic cloves, remove the woody root, and cut them in half. Bring a non-reactive saucepan with a quart of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt and the garlic. Boil the garlic for about 15 minutes. You need lots of water to remove all the pungence of the garlic. Drain and mash the cloves into a paste with a fork.
2) While the garlic is boiling, get another pot of water boiling. If you have only one pot, you can do the garlic first, dump the water and use the same pot with fresh water for the potatoes. Don't use the garlic water for the potatoes! Make sure you have enough water to submerge the potatoes about an inch below the surface. Add two pinches of salt. Wash the potatoes and cut them into similar thumb-sized chunks. Try to get the chunks about the same size so they all finish cookin about the same time. When the water is boiling, add the potatoes and boil them until a fork pierces them with only a little resistance, about 15 minutes, depending on how large the chunks are. Don't overcook the potatoes so that the exterior is mushy and they fall apart when you pierce them. Chef Lucas warns that "overcooked potatoes tend to soak up water and can become runny."
3) While the potatoes are boiling, take the butter out and cut it into 1/2" chunks. Put it in the serving bowl, add the garlic, pepper, and three pinches of salt. Drain the potatoes thoroughly. I like mine with big chunks, more smashed than mashed, so I just dump them into the bowl and use an old-fashioned wire masher. If you like yours smooth, use a potato ricer (it looks like a giant garlic press). Squeeze them through the holes into the bowl and mix with a large spoon. You can dump them into the bowl and use a blender, but be careful not to whip them too much or they become gummy. Whipped potatoes are another technique and another recipe. Before serving, taste them and add more salt and pepper if you wish.
4) Optional. You can add other flavors if you wish. I recommend you do the recipe as is the first time, and then riff on it the second time if you wish. Try stirring in cheese, bacon, or herbs at the end.
5) Holding mashed potatoes. Getting all the parts of a meal ready at once is the trickiest part of cooking, so if the rest of the meal isn't ready when the spuds are, you can keep them warm in a slow cooker or heat them in the microwave for about 3 minutes just before serving.
This page was revised 10/21/2009
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