Autumn’s Mashed Potato
This past week, I decided it was time to make something that I truly love, however do not make that often, the beef tenderloin. As I could probably write about how delicious the tenderloin was, as it was marinated with course pepper, and a few course salts and herbs, I am not going that direction. Instead, I am going with a take on the side dish that went with the meat, the garlic mashed potato.
I cannot tell you how many batches of mashed potatoes I have made in my life, but I think I have it down. I used to use a mixer on the potatoes, then I found the potato masher, and love it. I like the masher utensil because you can create your own texture.
Let’s get busy. As always, the ingredients could not be easier than this:
- 3 large baking potatoes
- 1 medium sweet potato
- Heavy whipping cream
- 1 bulb roasted garlic
- Butter
- Salt and Pepper
I am huge fan of exploring your potatoes for mashing, and in this recipe I used the large baker potatoes and threw in a sweet potato. It rocked. Skins your potatoes, then quarter them. In a large pan of boiling, salted water, add the potatoes and cook them until fork tender, approximately 25 minutes. During this time, chop the tip off the bulb of garlic, add some olive oil to the top, and add salt and pepper. Foil this up and place in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Once the garlic is roasted, remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.
When the taters are fork tender, drain the water, then return the pan back to the stove, on medium heat to get rid of the remaining water. This is a great time to add your butter. How much you say? I truly do not skimp on the butter, and this will also depend on the batch that you are making. I used about six tablespoons. Start mashing them down, and during this time, add salt and pepper. This will appear pretty dry to you, so get ready to add your cream. I add about 1 cup of cream, and adjust to the creaminess you are going for in your mash. Did I mention the garlic? Simply squeeze the garlic out of the bulb into the potatoes and mash some more.
As my tenderloin was on the grill, I placed these in a corningware dish, added another tablespoon of butter on the top, and placed in the oven for about 25 minutes. Enjoy and make it your own.
