Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Easter dinner. Not pictured, the gravy.

Like a fast side dish? Me, too. This is one of my favorites. Like, I can eat about half of it out of the pan. It'll take you less than thirty minutes, front to back. The making of the mashed potatoes, not the eating out of the pan.

Wash and peel yourself about two pounds of russet potatoes and dispose of the skins in the garbage. Don't put them down the disposal in the sink. They won't grind up and you'll have to get under there and take the drain apart to clear the clog.

Ask me how I know.

mm-hmm

Cut your peeled potatoes into one inch cubes. Try to cut them the same size, as that will help ensure that they all cook at the same time. Put them into a one gallon stock pot, cover completely with water, and keep filling until there's about an extra inch of water on top. Season with about two teaspoons of your preferred salt. I like kosher, but good ol' table salt will work just fine.

Get out two or three cloves of garlic, nip off the dry stem end with your knife, then turn your knife sideways and crush the garlic with the flat side. Take off the rest of the peel and throw your garlic into the potato pot.

Darn tootin' I weigh them.

Turn the heat up to medium high and simmer until a paring knife slides into the potatoes with no resistance.

OR!

Wash and don't peel about two pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes.

Or get what's on sale. That's good, too.

Using a mandoline, slice your potatoes directly into your pot. Cover with water, dump the water out, and cover with water again. Fill to an inch over your sliced potatoes and season with two teaspoons of salt.

This is a mandolin. This particular specimen is made by Ibanez and has a fairly high Google user rating.
It can be purchased through AmericanMusical.com for $169.99.

This is a mandoline. This one is made by Kyocera - yes, THAT Kyocera - and is the very one I use.
It's available at Walmart for $18.75.
Mine is red, too.

See? Told you.

Add your garlic, same way as last time.

Remember when I said three? I meant as much as you want.

Put them on medium-high heat until the paring knife does that thing I talked about with the cubes.

Drain them, put them back in the pan, and put them back on the heat for about 30 seconds. This will take some of the water out of the equation.

Take a wire whisk or potato masher and give your potatoes a rough mash. Just enough to kinda break up your cubes or slices.

Set the pan back on your hot burner and allow to sit for thirty seconds to a minute. This is to dry some of the excess water out of your spuds.

Add one stick (1/2 cup of unsalted butter, 1/4 cup of sour crea, and 1/4 cup of milk. Furiously beat with your whisk. It's going to look loose. That's fine. The potatoes will absorb the moisture as it sits. When you have your desired constancy, salt and pepper and, if you like, nutmeg to taste.

Lumps are fine, and in some cases, desirable.

So good. So easy.

So, what's the big, fat, hairy deal about cubing with a knife vs. slicing with a mandoline?

If you use a mandoline it'll cook faster. The slices have more surface area for the amount of potato. The cubes will cook slower. The trade-off between the two is that the slices from the mandoline will overcook way faster than the cubes, and sometimes poking them with the paring knife will cause them to disintegrate. The cubes will hold their shape better, but will take longer to cook.

Speaking only for myself, I prefer to slice on the mandoline. It helps to assure uniform cutting throughout the entire pan, which means uniform cooking times as well.

What about whole garlic cloves? Can you use minced garlic from the jar?

Of course you can. Put in a scant tablespoon of the minced stuff after you've drained the cooked potatoes but before you start mashing. Mix it in well, and put the taters on to dry. Minced garlic does not take long to cook. One minute in the hot, hot potatoes should do the trick. Boiling it in the water will knock out the flavor in no time. Minced after cooking, cloves during.

As always, you do you.

Be peaceful, cook good food.