Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite guilty pleasures. I absolutely love that creamy, airy goodness. Jim likes making mashed potatoes and does it fairly often, but he took it to another level by using a ricer for the potatoes instead of mashing them with a masher. It gives a smooth and delicious finished product… with no lumps!
As you know, we live in the south (the Deep south). People around here love their mayo. Me… not so much. Lots of people put things like mayo, or sour cream, in the mashed potatoes. I don’t understand it at all, those things have no place in potatoes. Thankfully Jim agrees with me on this point and we get to keep it simple with just potatoes, butter, and cream.
Let’s talk gravy for a sec. We usually just have potatoes without gravy… just add some pepper and butter, or a little bit of parmesan, and off you go. On those occasions when we’re cooking something that you can make a gravy from then we definitely like to go in that direction. For our little mini-Thanksgiving last weekend we were able to make some really tasty turkey gravy that went well with the potatoes.
- 2.5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut in quarters
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1/4 C cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Boil potatoes in a large pot of salted water for around 18 minutes, or until fork tender.
- Put the potatoes through a ricer and into a large bowl.
- Add the butter to potatoes and mix. Then add the cream and mix again.
- Check the potatoes for seasoning and consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste and milk or cream to get the consistency like you want.
- Extra pepper and melty butter
- Bacon, cheddar and chives
- Parmesan
- Grrraaavvvyyyy!
