Step by step to the perfect mashed potatoes
If you think you don’t like mashed potatoes, you’ve never had good ones. The perfect mashed potatoes are creamy and indulgent, and you can make them just like this.
The essence of creamy mash? Lots and lots of butter. The famous mash made by French chef Joël Robuchon contains no less than 300 grams of butter per kilo of potatoes. We use slightly less butter, but still get an incredibly creamy and smooth result. Stirring vigorously whips air into your mash, making it velvety smooth. Easy does it.
What kind of potatoes?
Always use floury potatoes for mash. They fall apart easily after cooking and can be mashed into a beautiful purée. Bildstar and doré, for example, are perfect mashing potatoes.
No food processor
Don’t feel like mashing everything by hand? Too bad. A food processor or hand blender gives you a nasty, gluey texture, which is exactly what you don’t want in mashed potatoes. We’re also fans of the potato ricer: it produces perfectly light and airy mash and works even better than a masher.
Variations
We’re giving you the recipe for the most basic version of mashed potatoes, but feel free to add extra flavorings. For example, add mustard, chives, chervil or puréed garlic. Less potato? Combine it with, for example, celeriac (cut into pieces and cook until tender in 15 minutes). Purée it together with the potatoes.
Method
1. Use a floury, starchy potato. This gives a better (read: creamier) result than a waxy potato. Put the potatoes, unpeeled, in a large pan with 2 liters of cold water and a tablespoon of salt, and bring to a boil. Before cooking, cut large potatoes into pieces so you have more or less equal-sized pieces. You want them to cook evenly. Cook the potatoes for 25 to 30 minutes in a covered pan. Check whether they are done; you should be able to pierce them easily with a knife.
2. Drain the potatoes. Remove the hot potatoes from the pan and peel them. Return the potatoes to the pan over very low heat and let them dry out for 2 minutes while continuing to stir with a wooden spoon. The more moisture evaporates, the softer the mash will be.
3. Purée the hot potatoes with a potato ricer (for a smooth result) or a masher (for a coarser result) over the pan on very low heat (the mash should stay warm). You can also press the potatoes through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon for an extra-smooth result.
4. Gradually stir the pieces of butter into the mash and keep stirring until you have a smooth and airy mixture.
5. Meanwhile, put the milk in a small saucepan and bring it just to the boil.
6. Over low heat, add hot milk to the mash in small amounts to make it creamier (the more milk, the thinner the mash). Stir vigorously and wait until the liquid has been completely absorbed before adding more. Season with salt and pepper.
Read also:
Title: The 100 Best Dishes You Must Have Eaten
Author: Marcus Polman, Renée Conradi, Emma de Thouars
Publisher: Carrera
Price: €27.50 (introductory price)
