Recipe: Perfectly Amazing Mashed Potatoes with 8 Variations

PERFECTLY AMAZING MASHED POTATOES

"My wife is from the South, where mashed potatoes tend to be smooth, light, and fluffy, whipped with an electric mixer using lots of milk, butter, salt, and enough black pepper to burn a novice's tongue. (This is the kind of mashed potatoes in which one makes a "well" to hold lots of cream-enriched chicken gravy.)

My Irish background, however, has left me favoring densely mashed potatoes that have been briefly smashed with a hand masher, with a dollop of cream and butter heated separately in a saucepan. So I guess I fall on the "lumpy" side of this endless debate. Over time, however, my wife and I have hit a happy medium in terms of mashed potatoes. With some of her variations and some of mine (the most important being to heat the milk first), we've created what I think are perfectly amazing mashed potatoes."

8 medium yellow or white potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup half-and-half (or milk)
2 tablespoons butter (or more to taste)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Put the potatoes in a large heavy pan and add cold water to cover (don't ever put hot water on your raw potatoes; it makes them gluey). Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes can be pierced easily with a knife. Drain the potatoes and mash them with a hand masher or ricer. Put a lid on the pot to keep them warm.

In a small saucepan, bring the half-and-half to a boil over medium-high heat, stir in the 2 tablespoons butter, and turn off the heat. Add the hot half-and-half to the potatoes, a little at a time, whipping vigorously with a fork until the potatoes are fluffy. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the pepper. If desired, plop another few tablespoons of butter on top of the potatoes, either in the pan or the serving bowl, to melt down the sides.

VARIATIONS - PUMPED UP AND MASHED:
I don't have a problem with flavored potatoes, and I think diehard purists lose out when they insist on untainted spuds. (You know, I like pie, but then I also like pie with ice cream and sometimes with cheese.) Just a few simple things can completely change the character of mashed potatoes and make them into a really powerful dish. Try these variations when using the Perfectly Amazing recipe.

Champ:
An Irish culinary gem. Trust me. Add 1 cup chopped scallions to the cold half-and-half before bringing to a boil.

Colcannon:
Another Irish classic. Clean and remove the tough ribs from 1 pound kale (or savoy cabbage in a pinch). Slice the kale in ribbons and drop into boiling salted water. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Prepare the potatoes as for Champ (above) with scallions, then stir into the cooked kale. Mound each serving high on a plate and make a well in the center. Fill the well with melted butter and dip each forkful in butter as you eat.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes:
Cut the bottom off an entire head of garlic and place on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and twist the foil shut over the garlic. Bake in a 325 degree F oven until the garlic is very soft, about 1 hour. Squeeze the garlic out of each clove into the hot half-and-half before whipping it into the potatoes.

Ancho Mashed Potatoes:
Soak dried ancho chiles in hot water for 30 minutes. Remove the stems and seeds and chop coarsely. Add to the cold half-and-half before boiling. Don't add black pepper. Caramba, lads!

Souped-Up Celeriac Spuds:
Celeric is a big ugly root vegetable, something like a mutant hairy white beet with tentacles hanging off. It's also called celery root or knob celery, and it's a pain to peel but worth every creamy bite. The rich, elusive flavor adds a touch of class to the humble spud. Peel as much of the hairy skin and tentacles as you can off 2 medium-size roots, chop into 2-inch chunks, and boil in salted water to cover, separately from the potatoes, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add to the cooked potatoes before mashing. Increase half-and-half by 1/2 cup.

Turbo Turnips and Mashed Potatoes:
You might think you hate turnips, but wait till you taste the buttery flavor and milk peppery bite they add to spuds. Peel 1 large or 2 to 3 small turnips, cut into 2-inch chunks, and cook in salted water to cover, separately from the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Add to the cooked potatoes before mashing.

Basil Blast Mashed Potatoes:
Stay with me here. Wash and dry 2 cups fresh basil leaves, and place in a food processor or blender with 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts, 1 garlic clove, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Blend well and whip into mashed potatoes with a fork just after incorporating the half-and-half. Leave out the butter. These potatoes are disconcertingly bright green, and they taste incredible with grilled meat in the summer.

Wasabi Mashed Potatoes:
My friend Mike Metens makes these mildly green mashed potatoes with wasabi, the potent Japanese paste used with sushi. Wasabi is available either in paste form or in powder that can be made into a paste. Blend a couple tablespoons of the bright green wasabi paste into the hot milk before whipping into potatoes.

Makes 3 to 4 servings

Source: Bake It Like a Man by David and Sharon Bowers