Potato Puree, Mashed Potatoes, Pommes

[MSRadell]

I've never used a mixer of any type to make mashed potatoes, nor have I ever used a ricer to make them. My wife and I both prefer a few small chunks of potatoes in our mashed potatoes instead of ones that are perfectly creamy. For that reason we always use a hand measure when making them. It's just like most other food items, everyone has their own opinion. I certainly do like the idea of using the Instant Pot for cooking the potatoes however!

[andiesenji]

""  making mashed potatoes does seem to be a strictly male endeavor in my family ""

 

In my experience

 

Boys Like Tools.

 

Mixer A  or Mixer B   

 

etc.

 

there it is

 

as long as its 5 star  MP's   ....

 

​My mother used a very old MixMaster.  I still have it   

 

its been mentioned on 'threads'

 

I used  both a KA glass bowl mixer   ( a very old one,  gifted to me    still have it  )

 

the thick glass bowl was warmed w hot water  ....

 

​then when I got the newer KA mixers  I used that.

 

the most delicious MP's  I feel are Russets, not so big for Baking, cleaned, etc   and PressureSteamed

 

​( we are not making soup )

 

then butter, very hot milk and there you go

 

please do not forget a tiny bit of fresh grated nutmeg, 'from the Whole Nut ' when you do this

 

just finely grate the Nut to get down to the aromatic part  :   two to three grates to get to the stuff you want

 

how can your tell  ?  take a sniff.

I add butter and sour cream (both homemade) to pototoes while mashing and then salt to taste and some really aromatic fresh ground black pepper - have been using comet-tail pepper for the past month or so.

[pufin3]

Here's my interpretation of mashed potatoes. No added herbs/garlic. Just the flavor of potatoes.

Serves four-six

Wash and pat dry 6 large Russet potatoes.  

Poke the skins in a few places.

Into a 375 F oven. Bake them until soft. Turn off the oven.

Remove from the oven and using a oven mit to hold them slice them down the middle.

Using spoon scrap out all the flesh into a large bowl. I use a heavy glass bowl. Cover the bowl and put the cooked potatoes back in the turned off oven to keep warm.

Thin slice or chop two potato skins. Put them in a heavy pot and add 3 C of whole milk and 2 T of butter. Bring the milk/skins/butter just to a boil.

Take the HOT! bowl from the oven and using a sieve to catch the potato skins pour 2 C of the hot milk onto the potatoes. Keep 1 C to adjust for a creamy texture. If you find you have some milk left over it makes a delicious sauce base for 'creamed' vegetables. Use a masher to quickly mash the potatoes into a creamy texture. Season with S&P.

That's it.

The potatoes skins are where a lot of the potato flavor is stored, just like with any root vegetable. By simmering them in the milk the potato flavor is released.

Edited February 9, 2016 by pufin3 (log)

[liuzhou]

Use a masher? Nope.. I'm sticking with my potato ricer. And I forget the milk. If you just want the flavour of potatoes, why add cow juice?

 

And what particular strain of potato do you use?

 

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[rotuts]

dont peel them.  or try them each way.

[KennethT]

I think the term 'best' is relative.  Do you like your mashed potatoes creamy?  If so, don't use russet or any other starchy potato... better to use yukon golds, or fingerling potatoes (or other waxy potatoes).  I do agree with cooking the potatoes with the skin for enhanced flavor, but I'd get rid of the milk as well.

 

I like to simmer the potatoes with skin on in just water.  Once cooked, the skins will just slip off by rubbing with a towel.  Or if you want to peel first, simmer with the peels.  Put the skinned potatoes through a ricer and then put the riced potatoes into a dry skillet and cook over low heat, constantly stirring to remove a lot of the excess water.  Once dry enough, you can whip in cold butter to form an emulsion.  If you want to go very far, you can then run the potato paste through a tamis once or a few times to get it super smooth, then return it to a pot and heat and whisk in some of the potato cooking water until you reach the consistency you like.  Season with salt.

[rotuts]

the IPot makes terrific potatoes.  but you gatt a have one.

 

Im convinced the are better than boiled as they are pressure steamed, not in water making Potato Soup Lite.

 

I think the higher temp might change some of the starches and make them more flavorful   

 

I have not seen that analyses, but its what I think.

 

quick too :  all the potatoes cut up ( w skin or w/o ) above the water lever cook in 7 min or so w a 10 minute release.

[btbyrd]

 

These are pretty insane, but they use an absurd amount of butter. Small portions are a must.

 

They're a variation on Heston's mashed potatoes, which are in the following episode starting around six minutes in (5:55). Heston goes weird and adds tiny cubes of lime agar gel to cut the richness. Like the OP, Heston uses the skins to add flavor. Here, he boils the skins in milk for several minutes to infuse the milk with potato flavor. He then thins out the mash with that milk.

 

 

 

I typically use one of these methods with Yukon Gold. I always rice, but don't always sieve. And I vary the butter level considerably. I tend to go around 25-30% weight of the potato.

 

You can get disturbingly close results by mounting Idaho Spuds instant potato flakes with loads and loads of butter.

[FauxPas]

12 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

These are pretty insane, but they use an absurd amount of butter. Small portions are a must.

 

I made a variation on the Pomme Purée from Chef Steps and it was indeed really good. I have to admit I reduced the amount of butter, though!  

[FeChef]

Personally, I prefer a potato coated in oil and kosher salt and baked till the skin is slightly crispy and very soft in the middle, then mashed rustic style with a few tbsp of butter and black pepper. I usually dice it with a knife before adding the butter and mash it real good with a fork or a masher.

[haresfur]

I'm a latecomer to being able to stand mashed potatoes. Baking instead of boiling is a new one on me. I thought one of the reasons to start boiling with cold water was to promote enzyme reactions and I wonder if this occurs in the baking.

 

I usually boil a waxy variety with the skin on, drain and let dry as they cool some, then rice leaving the skin behind, and gently fold in sour cream. Butter - yuck.

[IndyRob]

I've made mashed potatoes many ways, but to me, there's nothing you can do to them in the first thirty minutes that beats what you can do in those last two minutes.

 

Well, if you haven't undercooked them, at least.

 

For me, mashed potatoes are the ultimate in 'season to taste' - with 'seasoning' being meant in a very broad sense.  Forget all of the potato varieties.  None of it means anything if you can't make a small young russet taste as good as big old russet.  I don't choose to limit myself to certain tools, or deprive myself of any.  Butter, cream, salt, water, garlic, cheese, etc... it's all on the table.

 

I also think the perfect mash for chicken breasts is different than that meant for a beef pot roast.

[FeChef]

1 hour ago, haresfur said:

I'm a latecomer to being able to stand mashed potatoes. Baking instead of boiling is a new one on me. I thought one of the reasons to start boiling with cold water was to promote enzyme reactions and I wonder if this occurs in the baking.

 

I usually boil a waxy variety with the skin on, drain and let dry as they cool some, then rice leaving the skin behind, and gently fold in sour cream. Butter - yuck.

Baking instead of boiling produces a sweetness sort of like carmelized onions. Im not a expert but my guess is because the starches do not leach out, they convert to sugar.

[Okanagancook]

We like mashed potatoes made in different ways and I think it depends on what's being served with it.....as usual.

A big ol'baked russet mashed pioneer style as FeChef described to go with a thick cut BBQ rib eye steak, but then at other times a decadent silky rich mashed/puree is needed with a crispy schnitzel or BBQ salmon fillet.  Depends on your tastes.

 

 If you go the rustic/minimalist approach then it's all about tasting the potato, so a GOOD fresh potato is required.  There is really nothing like digging a potato out of the earth/washing it/cooking and eating it on it's own.  So amazing.  Anyone near a farmer's market needs that experience.  So amazing.  I can't wait until late July when we get ours.  Potatoes everyday until they are gone.

[Porthos]

I steam red potatoes, then add salt and butter, hand-mash them a bit, then add a geneorous doolop of sour cream, finish mashing, adjust the seasoning and serve.

 

I actually prefer whipped potatoes but my DW likes some chunks and I'd rather her have them her style.

[liuzhou]

18 hours ago, lindag said:

We have an Irish restaurant here that serves champs!  Oh so wonderful.  Their pasties are to die for also.

 

I often make champ here in China. But first ate it in Dublin. My friend's mother was a very traditional hostess. We only popped in for five minutes, but were let out hours later stuffed with bacon and champ and cakes.

 

I take whatever spuds I can find here - they tend to be waxy - boil them, then let them dry. Chop up spring onions/scallions. Rice the spuds then gently fold in the onions. Salt and pepper. No need for cow juice. Potato heaven.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I like fluffy mashed potatoes, light on the butter, but with plenty of hot milk added. I always use Russets for the fluffy texture. I use an old-fashioned potato masher and elbow grease to get them really smooth. I tried whipping them once, and they turned into what to me is glue, but to some others creamy.

 

Usually I have to exert a real effort to restrain myself from butter, but this is one dish where all I want is just a little.

 

I realize many people prefer more butter, and lots of better restaurants offer them that way and with roasted or otherwise garlic. It's just not my preference. To me, light and fluffy mashed potatoes can't really be improved. Well maybe with a lobster on the side. 

 

That said, I do like to add a few chives or green onions to the mashed stuffing of twice baked potatoes along with slices of good (preferably hoop) cheese, but still strive for that light, fluffy texture in the filling.

[liuzhou]

I have a friend in London who is not at all Irish, but she makes her champ with butter and nutmeg. That works well.

[rustwood]

18 hours ago, FauxPas said:

 

I made a variation on the Pomme Purée from Chef Steps and it was indeed really good. I have to admit I reduced the amount of butter, though!  

 

After I made them I found this quote in another thread and laughed out loud:  "..the amount of butter Robuchon uses is up to half the weight of the potatoes. No, I'm not kidding. Obviously you'll use less (everyone does)."   I don't think anyone can fully appreciate that unless they have made the recipe and struggled with the prospect of using so much butter.

Edited February 10, 2016 by rustwood (log)

[rotuts]

I always add a little freshly grated nutmeg to mashed potatoes.

 

not enough to say  "  Nutmeg" but enough to know something is in there.

 

try it.   it takes very little for this effect/

[jmacnaughtan]

57 minutes ago, rustwood said:

 

After I made them I found this quote in another thread and laughed out loud:  "..the amount of butter Robuchon uses is up to half the weight of the potatoes. No, I'm not kidding. Obviously you'll use less (everyone does)."   I don't think anyone can fully appreciate that unless they have made the recipe and struggled with the prospect of using so much butter.

 

It's not half the weight of the potatoes.  It's the same weight as potatoes.

[SylviaLovegren]

4 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I like fluffy mashed potatoes, light on the butter, but with plenty of hot milk added. I always use Russets for the fluffy texture. I use an old-fashioned potato masher and elbow grease to get them really smooth. I tried whipping them once, and they turned into what to me is glue, but to some others creamy.

 

Usually I have to exert a real effort to restrain myself from butter, but this is one dish where all I want is just a little.

 

I realize many people prefer more butter, and lots of better restaurants offer them that way and with roasted or otherwise garlic. It's just not my preference. To me, light and fluffy mashed potatoes can't really be improved. Well maybe with a lobster on the side. 

 

That said, I do like to add a few chives or green onions to the mashed stuffing of twice baked potatoes along with slices of good (preferably hoop) cheese, but still strive for that light, fluffy texture in the filling.

 

That's exactly how my Dad always made them.  He did almost no cooking but mashed potatoes, as you describe, were one of his few specialties and no one else was allowed to do them.   I make them that way, too, now, although I will change them up sometimes depending on what potatoes are around and what else is on the menu and whether I'm in the mood for sour cream, onions, butter, or sometimes plain mashed with potato water.  

[btbyrd]

This is what the ChefSteps recipe looks like with the Robuchon 2:1 potato:butter ratio. It pours. It's impossibly delicious, but it's not standard mash by any means. 

 

 

Yukon gold potatoes, Kerrygold butter. Sous vide, riced, and sieved.

Edited February 10, 2016 by btbyrd (log)

[cakewalk]

I never heard of champ. Great name. Anyway, looked it up on one of my favorite blogs: http://www.thedailyspud.com/2010/03/03/dont-cry-for-me/  I definitely see it in my future. Mashed potatoes, or any sort of potatoes, for me cries out for one thing: good black pepper, and lots of it. I'll eat my potatoes with butter or without, baked or boiled, I care not a whit. But lots and lots of freshly ground black pepper, that is non-negotiable.

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, btbyrd said:

This is what the ChefSteps recipe looks like with the Robuchon 2:1 potato:butter ratio. It pours. It's impossibly delicious, but it's not standard mash by any means. 

 

 

Yukon gold potatoes, Kerrygold butter. Sous vide, riced, and sieved.

What a great way to eat butter....