POTATOES POTATOES
Creamy & Dreamy
Diving right in—today we’re focusing on our potatoes. This is a classic Midwestern mashed potato recipe that I grew up eating, and it’s simple and delicious. There are countless varieties when it comes to making mashed potatoes. From tools to ingredients, skin on or skin off, the choices can be overwhelming. But from my years of cooking up mashed potatoes, I would argue that the “right” way to mash your potato is subjective to the individual. In the video, you'll see me doing a little demo using a fork, a tamis, and a ricer.
Now, let’s talk about the tamis (pronounced “tammy”). It's a kitchen tool shaped like a drum with a fine mesh bottom, perfect for sifting and milling all sorts of ingredients. To use a tamis for mashed potatoes, you simply place it over a large bowl and push the potatoes through the grate with a plastic dough scraper. If you’ve ever indulged in pommes purée—fluffy, creamy French mashed potatoes—you can bet a tamis played a role in achieving that dreamy texture.
My go-to tool for “mashing” potatoes is my trusty food mill (which is also referred to as a ricer). Milling the potatoes while they’re still hot results in incredibly fluffy, creamy potatoes. Plus, it’s a handy tool for making sauces, especially when processing fresh tomatoes. My food fill is one of my most beloved kitchen items because I use it for tomatoes / potatoes / breadcrumbs / chickpeas. For a tool that takes up a good amount of space it has to be worth it in my kitchen and pull its weight :).
But here’s the thing: if you don’t have either a tamis or a food mill, a fork will do just fine. You can also use a hand mixer to whip up some fluffy, creamy mashed potatoes. This isn’t an essay on how to become a perfect mashed potato maker. I’m all for the imperfect cook who gives it a try every single time.
Top two contenders for mashed potatoes have to be the russet and the yukon gold. And guess what? They both work. I’ve also made these with red potatoes too and still yum! Though I do prefer yukon golds if I can get them, I like their color and creamy texture.
MASHED POTATOES
Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add 3 tbs of salt to the water. Next, add the potatoes, full springs of herbs, and smashed garlic cloves (you can keep the skin on). Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they're cooked through, a fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance but not totally fall apart.
Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, remove the garlic cloves. If you’re using a masher or a large fork, mash the potatoes in the pot. If you’re using a food mill, mill the potatoes into the same pot that you can cook them that you can heat and cut down on dishes. YAY! I hate dishes.
Add the butter and cream cheese and stir into the mashed potatoes. Give them a taste. Add salt! Taste again. Add more salt if needed (you’ll probably need more than you think). Texture here is up to you as far as potato creaminess and density. If you would like the potatoes to be a little lighter and looser add in 2 tbls of room temperature heavy cream at a time (optional).
Plate the mashed potatoes, and add few extra pats of butter. In the video–I melted the butter first to create a butter moat! I love how it looks. Up the visual with chopped chives / parsley / etc.
PS. these potatoes are incredible under slow braised beef or as a topper for shepard’s pie.