Mashed potatoes can be made for dinner with stew or as a side with steak. The most important thing in making mashed potatoes is using the right potatoes. You can either use fir in between because it is multipurpose or starchy because its starch produces a light, fluffy and smooth mash that absorbs milk and butter easily. Waxy potatoes are difficult to break up so it won’t get perfectly smooth and the mash turns out quite stodgy. Wash the potatoes to remove any dirt from skin use the potatoes peeler to remove the skin.
You can make mash with skin on if you want, cut the potatoes up into smaller pieces (can boil them whole but cutting them reduces the amount they take to cook). Make sure the cubes cut are of similar size so they cook evenly and don’t end up with some cooked and some raw in the middle. Give the potatoes a quick rinse and place them into a saucepan. Fill the saucepan with cold water to cover the potatoes and place them in medium heat.
Cook them with cold water to give the potatoes to come up t0 the same temperature as outside and also a long time for starch to solve in. cook the potatoes until extremely tender and nearly falling apart. The cooking time will depend on the size of your potatoes. Drain the water in a colander and shake to remove as much water as possible. Place the cooked potatoes back to the same saucepan and keep them in heat until there is no longer a large amount of steam.
Don’t worry if your potatoes are falling apart it means they are well cooked and will marsh smoothly. Use a potato masher (or potato riser) to mash the potatoes. Begin mashing the potatoes without adding butter or milk; break them up until they look crumbly. Season with salt then starts to add room temperature butter. Add small amounts of butter as you continue to mash. Use room temperature butter so as not to cool down the potatoes which will turn the mash extremely gloopy and unappetizing. Continue to add butter and mash. Warm-up your milk (cold milk changes the consistency of the potatoes).
Add small amounts of warm milk at a time and continue mashing until you are satisfied. Lastly, give it a taste; it should be silky smooth, creamy, and fluffy. Taste the seasoning if it needs more and salt or pepper. Spoon the mash into a bowl and smooth down with a spoon then add chives for decoration.
Instructions;
- 700-800g | 1.5 lb Starchy Potatoes
- 100g | 1/2 Cup Butter
- 60ml | 1/4 Cup Warm Milk
- Salt + Pepper
Instructions;
- Clean the potatoes and use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Cut the potatoes up into small cubes and place into a saucepan. Fill with cold water and place over medium-high heat to bring to the boil.
- Boil the potatoes for 20-30 minutes or until very tender and nearly falling apart. Drain the water using a colander and place the potatoes back into the saucepan.
- Keep on the heat until there are no longer large amounts of steam. Remove from the heat and start to mash the potatoes using a potato masher. Season with salt and pepper and gradually start adding the butter in small amounts.
- Make sure the butter is at room temperature so it doesn’t bring down the temperature of the potatoes.
- Once all of the butter has been incorporated start to add the warm milk in small amounts until you are happy with the consistency. You may not need to use all of the milk. Check for seasoning and serve.
