kitchen Angst!

Mashed potatoes are a staple at my house for any occasion! However they hold an even greater spot at the dinner table for the holidays. As a starch to round out a meal, potatoes are a no brainer.  mashed, or boiled, they always found their way on my plate. I have also relied on them over the years in my professional career as well, When you are designing a dish for your special in a restaurant, you have to include a few things… a Starch, a Protein, and a Vegetable. This make it a well rounded dish, therefor more appealing to the public. Mashed potatoes, or potatoes in any form, are a cheap way to give you a starch that is well received by almost everyone! What you do to them is what sets you apart from the rest! Roasted Garlic mashed is a staple now days, I have also added different curries, Lemon, basil, even figs! Yes even fruit ( handled correctly ) can be added to your tubers with great results. It all come down to the basic rule of thumb, of what do you want to bring out in your main dish ( Protein )?

If your protein is a juicy steak, why not horseradish mashed potatoes? Or if It’s Salmon. lets try lemon-dill mashed! See it is all about complementing your main component. So lets talk Turkey! I feel that either Garlic, or rosemary, or even thyme are the traditional way to go, this way you aren’t stepping to far out of peoples comfort zones, and alienating then on such an important day.

Roasted garlic is most likely the biggest seller in the restaurant, as well as one of the easiest to prepare. All you have to do is roast your garlic, boil you potatoes, and mix! OK lets dive into this a bit more…

To roast your garlic:

The best way I have found is to use fresh heads of garlic, just cut the top off of the heads ( not the root end), and place them cut side down in an oven safe dish, add enough milk to come half-way up the heads, cover with foil, and bake until the heads are soft (about an hour at 450 ) . Pour off, but reserve the liquid, and return the garlic to the oven uncovered to dry it out just a bit ( about 30 min. ) set aside and let cool. Peel and cut you potatoes, and in a large stock pot cover with COLD water, bring to a boil, and reduce to a slow boil. Once a knife penetrates them easily they are done, remove them from the liquid and let them steam dry for about 5 min., to remove some of the access liquid. Using half the poaching liquid from the garlic, half heavy cream, and whole butter. Mash your potatoes, Squeeze the meat out of your roasted garlic heads into the potatoes,  add salt and white pepper to taste and you are done!

Remember to add your liquid and seasonings, a little at a time! You can always add more, but you can’t pull it out once it’s in!

P.S. You want to start your potatoes in cold water because hot water will activate the starch’s and your end result will be gummy! Starch dissolves in cold water, so the end result will be creamy and soft on the palate!

James

Any questions?, Please ask!

Otherwise… I will assume you got it!