These are classic mashed potatoes, brightened up with a substantial amount of garlic. Feel free to adjust the garlic to taste, and to deepen the flavour, try roasting the cloves before mixing them in with the potatoes.
Ingredients —
• 3 lbs. Idaho potatoes, peeled • 6 cloves of garlic, peeled • ¾ cup hot milk • 6 tbsps. butter, softened, or 2 tbsps. olive oil • Salt and freshy ground black pepper
Directions —
• Cut the potatoes into uniform 2-inch chunks and place in a heavy saucepan along with the garlic. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and lower heat to medium. Allow to cook for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
• Drain the potatoes and garlic and then mash them together to a smooth consistency. Stir in the hot milk and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the butter, or olive oil, and mix well. Serve hot.
• Gather 6 - 8 asparagus spears into a bundle with the tips together, and wrap a slice of prosciutto securely around the middle. Repeat to make 6 bundles. Brush a rectangular baking dish (large enough to hold the bundles in one layer) with 1½ tbsps. of olive oil. Place the bundles seam-side down in the baking dish, arranged side-by-side, with the tips facing the same way.
• In a small saucepan, heat the truffle butter and 1½ tbsps. of olive oil until the butter melts. Drizzle it over the bundles. Sprinkle with ¾ tsp. fleur de sel, ½ tsp. pepper, and the Gruyère and bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until the butter is sizzling and the cheese melts and begins to brown. Serve hot.
The secret is in the water; literally, it’s IN the water.
See, when you boil potatoes, a lot of special starches and sugars and stuff leeches out into the water. When you drain the water before mashing them, you throw away a lot of good stuff, which is a big part of what makes mashed potatoes “dry” and bland, even when you add large amounts of cream and butter and things.
So don’t throw out any water.
Here’s how you do that:
First, cut your potatoes into smaller cubes than you probably do. (I’ve left the skins on for flavor and also, that’s where a lot of a potato’s nutrients are, like protien and iron and vitamins B and C, just to name a few)
The reason for cutting them smaller (besides avoiding giant peices of skin) is so that there is less space in the pot between each peice for water to fill, so you use less water to cook them. That’s important because you won’t be draining any water, so you can’t afford to have too much water! For the same reason, just barely cover them with water when they go on the stove.
But! Before you do that, put the pot on the stove with some butter, garlic, and seasonings; let the butter start to sizxle just a little then put most of a single layer of potatoes in the pan and let the brown and sear. Turn them, brown them on all sides, get ‘em fairly dark (I forgot to get a pic here because I was worried I’d burn the butter).
Ready? now throw the rest of the potatoes in right on top, and add your water, give them a stir. This way, you’re boiling in some of that lovely fried potato/french fry flavor.
Okay, so, as they cook, you may need to add a little water, not too much! ideally the very highest piece of potato will be poking just above the surface. Now, when your potatoes are really really soft, mash them directly into the water. Just pull them off the stove, leave all the water in, and start mashing. Trust me. At first you’ll think there’s too much water. If you get them mashed and they ARE a little too liquidy, just put ‘em back on the stove. You’ll have to stir often or constantly, but they will steam off additional water without losing any good stuff.
Now add some salt, and taste. Right?! And you haven’t even put in any cream or cheese or anything yet.
Speaking of which, you can use like, a third of the amount of butter or cream or anything, and they will still taste better than usual. So they taste better AND they are higher in nutrients AND lower in fats and salts! That’s a lot of win — enjoy your potatoes!
Fuck Columbus! Indigenous Rights! And happy Thanksgiving!
lol this got on the tumblr radar again, got like another thousand notes in the last little while… all the stuff I write and make, all the time I invested getting out of my 20+ year restaurant career, and this is what tumblr likes from me lmao
Maple-Glazed Roasted Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients for Chicken
1 whole chicken
Seasoning blend [may or may not use all of it]: 6 tbsp kosher salt, 6 tbsp ground black pepper, 2 tbsp Herbes de Provence, 1 tbsp ground rosemary, 1 tbsp granulated lemon, 1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup barbecue sauce (I used Williams-Sonoma Honey Chipotle barbecue sauce)
1 tbsp honey
½ tbsp kosher salt
Ingredients for Mashed Sweet Potatoes
3 large sweet potatoes, diced into medium chunks
1 ½ tbsp chili powder
¼ cup raw honey
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cinnamon
½ cup +/- heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions for Chicken
Preheat your oven to 430 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oven has preheated to the correct temperature, heat a cast iron pan for 25 minutes.
To prepare your chicken, dry the skin with paper towels – a dried surface ensures that the skin will become crispy in the oven.
Generously rub olive oil all over the bird and season liberally, the inside and outside.
If you are using aromatics, stuff them inside of the bird along with the seasoning and tie the legs together with wet kitchen twine.
NOTE: Soaking the kitchen twine in water a few minutes before using ensures that it will not burn in the oven.
Once the cast iron is preheated, quickly place the bird into the pan and return to the oven for about 50 minutes or until the breast meat registers 150 degrees Fahrenheit internally.
Once the breast meat registers 150 degrees internally, turn your oven to broil.
Generously glaze the chicken and broil for 1 minute.
Apply one more coating of glaze and broil until skin is caramelized.
Allow chicken to rest until breast meat comes to temperature (165 degrees Fahrenheit).
Directions for Maple Glaze
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and adjust to your preferred taste.
Directions for Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the potatoes until tender.
Once the potatoes are tender, drain them and return them to the pot.
Add in the seasonings. Mash the potatoes.
Adjust to your taste before adding the heavy cream.
me, halfway through making standard mashed potatoes: wait, doesn’t dean martin have a recipe for mashed potatoes?
3 pounds of golden potatoes (1.5 kilograms)
½ cup of butter (1 stick)
3 cloves of garlic
2/3 cup of milk or cream (160 millileters)
salt and pepper
basic, but are they the right ratios?
step one: peel the potatoes and dice them. boil the potatoes in salted water until they can be easily pierced with a fork. drain in a collander and place back in the pot.
step two: mince the garlic. melt butter in a saucepan on low heat and add the garlic.
step three: add milk or cream to potatoes and mash with potato masher while pouring in garlic-butter mixture. season with salt and pepper.
dean’s tips: don’t overmix! serve with shrimp and whiskey sauce.
my thoughts: i think another clove of garlic wouldn’t hurt, but they were really good!
