What makes great mashed potato?

Question

I am quite proud of my potato mashing skills, even if they are somewhat basic; I use Maris Piper, with a splash of milk, an egg, a nob of butter and salt and pepper.

Although this is a tried and tested recipe, does any noe else have any other methods or ingredients that work?

(Nothing overly exotic or complicated please!)

Thanks!

Answer 1

To your lovely mash recipe, add any of the following to ring the changes yummily:

a spoon of wholegrain mustard
grated cheddar cheese
grated nutmeg
parsnip (cooked with the spuds)

And please can I have some too? You've made me so hungry! ;D

Answer 2

Sweetie,i answered a question like this previously.I like basic mashed potato.I do not,eat anything from a box.To make my mashed potatoes i use those little red skinned potatoes.I believe they have a more buttery taste.Mash them with a hand held old fashioned(not electric) mixer.I use cream not milk,butter maybe a tablespoon or two of butter.

Leftovers,you have to make potato cakes.Take your remaining potatoes,one egg(or replacement equivalent to) and add it to the potatoes.Next add some flour,salt pepper,and some grated onion.Mix it up really well and spoon into a skillet.Cook in vegetable oil until golden then flip.Cook the other side until golden and serve.Yum! Fattening,but worth the indulgence every once in a while.Good luck hun,and have a good day!!

Answer 3

When I make mashed potatoes, I like to use either the baby redskin potatoes or Yukon Golds. Leave the reds whole, quarter the Yukons, do not peel either of them. Boil until not quite fork tender, drain the potatoes and add back to the empty pot over medium low heat for a few minutes to cook out a bit of the retained water. Add a few tablespoons each of butter, milk and sour cream and a whole head worth of roasted garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash, but just enough to incorporate the liquids(gotta love smashed, not mashed potatoes). You can top with some shredded cheddar cheese, some chopped scallion tops and some very crispy bacon bits.

Answer 4

Oh, you poor guy- you should just come over our house and eat mashed potatoes. This is the recipe I use:
About 1/2 bag potatoes
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cream or half and half
Salt and pepper to taste

WE sometimes use an 8 ounce bag of chedder cheese to mix in with the rest of the ingredience if we feel like something cheesy that night.

1. Peel, Cut and Boil potatoes
2. Put the stick of butter at the bottom of a large mixing bowl.
3. After the potatoes are cooked through, drain them and let them sit in the colander for 3 minutes
4.. Pour them over the butter and add the rest of the ingredients.
5. Beat them with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth

And thats it. Of cource you can replace the half and half with just plain milk f you want and instead of cheddar cheese you can use any other shredded cheese. You can also add parley and garlic/garlic powder to your ingredients. Be creative. Im sure your recipe will be great.

Answer 5

That sounds great - I use Maris Piper too. I often use all the ingredients you suggest except I haven't tried the egg and will do so now! Thanks for the tip.

If you are entertaining folks on a low calorie or low cholesterol diet (sounds boring but you might have a lovely old mother or a gorgeous model girlfriend) try substituting polyunsaturated margerine (like Flora) for the butter, low sodium salt, and some plain yogurt. Believe it or not, it is tasty as an alternative! You can still use pepper, of course, and you might like to add some Parsley or Oregano (fresh herbs are delicious!)

This has made me feel hungry so I'm off to cook some mash!

Answer 6

First of all you need to pick the right kind of potato. Stay away from from potaotes with a real high starch content. Your best bet is with a yukon gold or your standard idaho russet. Red bliss are very high in starch and make for a gluey not fluffy mashed potato.

Try adding some minced garlic, prepared hose radish, or even a little mustard does the trick to your mashed taters. It really depends on wht the main coarse is to determine what way you want to go with the taters. Either way you will be amazed with the wonderful tastes that are indured.

Answer 7

I like red russet potatoes. Start them in cold water. Don't peel them, just boil whole until tender in the skin. Drain and cool enough to strip the peeling off. Mash with butter, an egg, salt and pepper and maybe some Parmesan cheese. If you skip the cheese, fresh parsley finely chopped.
If you add the cheese you can brown under the broiler for a nice presentation.
Not peeling or cutting up the potatoes preserves the vitamins and flavour.

Answer 8

Yeah, Maris Piper is my potato of choice too. Also I've just learned that the milk & butter you add to your mash should be heated (I nuke it in the microwave for about a minute) - something to do with keeping the temperature consistent. And it makes great mash! I tried mash with chopped fried leeks in butter and just add the whole lot to the mash and stir in - obviously no need to add more butter. Now that is really great!!

Answer 9

Use your normal way of making mash without the egg and then you could add these things.

Garlic
cheese mature cheddar
cheese different sorts, goats, mozzarella etc
cream cheese with herbs
onions
crispy bacon
crispy bacon and cheese
peas and onions
leeks
mint sauce and salad cream
mayonnaise
horseradish when you are serving beef.
extra virgin olive oil.
sauteed mushrooms.
buttered sweetcorn
egg
mix in cooked swede
mix in cooked parsnip
rosemary
chives
thyme
sun dried tomatoes
sweet potato
peppers green, red, yellow or orange or mix
mustard's english, french etc
yoghurt's greek, plain etc
curry spices

Answer 10

i like to use yukon gold potatoes they just cook up and mash better than anyother potato ive used... after draining the potaotoes i add cream, butter, salt and you can use white pepper instead of black.. roasted garlic is also great in potatoes. also you could make red skinned mashed potatoes and leave the skins on.. then addyour other ingredients.you can find a recipe to make roated garlic on the food network web site

Answer 11

I find the type of potato used makes all the difference. If I use idaho or russet, I mash with plenty of real raw butter, raw milk and raw cream, If I use yukon gold potatoes, that are more waxy, I just mash them with a little veggie stock and they get nice and creamy. With klondike rose potatoes, I use veggie stock, and just a splash of raw cream. I season them with real sea salt and freshly ground mixed peppercorns Lovely