CT 21| How To Make Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are classic comfort food 101. To the untrained eye they can appear deceivingly simple, but the best mashed potatoes require proper technique, a decent fat to potato ratio, and being aware of common snares that trip up the uninitiated along the way. By the time you're done watching the above video and reading through this article, you'll be able to whip up a great batch of mashed potatoes every time, whether you're creating a simple Sunday Super, or bringing the thunder on Thanksgiving.

Step 1: Let's Talk Potatoes


Although various types are available at your local supermarket year 'round, potatoes are split into two distinct categories; "waxy" and "mealy."


Waxy potatoes have a cellular structure which causes them to adhere to one another during cooking, resulting in a solid, dense, yet moist, texture. Common waxy varieties include new potatoes, and thin skinned potatoes such as white and red. Because waxy potatoes are made up of starches that adhere to one another when cooked, they make a great choice for salads, gratins, or potato cakes, but are undesirable for mashed potatoes.


Instead, use a "mealy" potato variety, with a cellular structure that dries out, bursts, and separates itself from it's neighbor when fully cooked. The fine, dry, and fluffy texture, makes these potatoes excellent at absorbing fat, and reduce gumminess. The most common variety of mealy potato is the russet, which makes great mashed potatoes and is available year 'round.

Step 2: Peel and Rinse


Once the potatoes are peeled, cut into quarters lengthwise, and cross cut into even chunks. Place in a pot, and rinse under cold, running water, pouring off and rinsing again, until the water run clears. This will remove excess starch from the surface of the potatoes which could possibly cause your mashers to become gluey later on.


Step 3: The Cold Water Start & Simmer


Potatoes are a root vegetable, and like we discussed in SCS Episode 4| Blanching, when cooking root vegetables in water, you should always start cold, bringing the water and vegetables up to a simmer together. This is because root vegetables are fairly dense, and the cold water will allow them to cook through more evenly.


Once you've rinsed all the starch off the surface of the potatoes, cover with cold water, bring to a boil over high flame, and reduce to a simmer until fork tender. Do not undercook, lest your finished product be annoyingly grainy with chunks of potatoes dispersed throughout. However, the whole point of simmering is to separate the potato's cellular structure so you can coat it with fat. If you over cook the potatoes past fork tender, the cells will rupture instead of separate, releasing excess starch, making your mashed potatoes gummy.


The moral of the story? Keep an eye on your potatoes; cook until tender, but overcooking is just as bad as not cooking long enough.


Once the potatoes are simmered to fork tender, drain well in a colander, and you're ready to move on to mashing.


Stage 4: Mastering The Mash


There are three basic approaches to mashing potatoes; a food mill, potato ricer, and a hand masher. The first two will give you a smooth, creamy texture, while the third will leave your potatoes chunky.


"But Jacob, what about using a fork?"


Just say no. I don't care what Alton McGyver Brown says about "unitaskers," a crude forking is no way to make mashed potatoes. If you're looking for other options, the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or a quick blitz with butter and cream in a food processor will get the job done, if not risking a gummy texture from overworking. But for the best, creamy mashed potatoes, a food mill or potato ricer is required.


To make creamy mashed potatoes, simply pass your well drained, fork tender potatoes through a food mill (as demonstrated in the above video), or a lever action potato ricer before adding any fat or liquid.

Step 5: Don't Be A Fat-A-Phobe


Look, I need to level with you. The number one reason why mashed potatoes suck is because they don't contain enough fat. If you're on a diet, watching your fat intake, or counting calories, I can respect that. But subjecting your family and friends to dry, starchy, soulless mashed potatoes is just cruel. Some foods are better not eaten at all if it's necessary to completely crush it's soul in the name of "healthy eating;" mashed potatoes should be at the top of this list.


For every 1 pound of raw, peeled potatoes, you'll need a minimum of 3 ounces of butter and 1 ounce of cream.
 For easy scaling using the baker's percentage, set your raw, peeled potatoes at 100%, add 19% Butter and 6.5% heavy cream
. Remember, this is just a minimum. You can easily add more fat, which will yield looser potatoes with more richness, but leave the cream where it's at and just up the butter. The reason for this is simple: "Mo' Butter, Mo' Better,"


The easiest way to incorporate the butter and cream is to simply heat together in a small pot or pan, and gently fold into the riced or milled potatoes. If going the "smashing route," add the fat and cream while mashing, which will help to moisten the potatoes and keep them from becoming overworked.


Step 6: Season Well


Beside choosing the wrong variety of potato and not using enough fat, one of the most common mashed potato pitfalls is under seasoning. Remember, fat coats the palate, which will deaden flavors, meaning more salt is required for your mashed potatoes to be properly seasoned. If you want to get technical about it, you'll need at least 1-2% salt based on the potatoes weight.

As a side note, I used to not be a big fan of white pepper (I was tortured with it by a few French Chefs at culinary school), but I find its funky, almost barn yard aroma to add a nice flavor to mashed potatoes. Use it, add black pepper, or no pepper at all; it's completely up to you. Remember, salt is a seasoning, it will actually enhance the flavor of your food, while pepper is a flavor, meaning it's a personal preference and purely optional.



While we're on the subject of seasoning, acid is a great way to brighten heavy flavors and cut through fat. You may want to consider just a few drops of a light vinegar (such as champagne) mixed into you mashed potatoes, right before serving. 


Optional Ingredients


Creamy mashed potatoes are one of the best base vehicles for delivering other flavors. Almost anything can be folded into mashed potatoes to take them from good to great, but some options off the top of my head include fresh herbs, roasted garlic, caramelized onions, sour cream, roasted shallots, and of course, bacon! Just add them to taste, fold in, and serve.


Keeping Mashed Potatoes Warm Before Serving


One of the great things about mashed potatoes is they're easy to keep warm for at least 1-2 hours, meaning you can make them a little ahead of time and then focus on the other components in your meal. In the video, I simply nestle a smaller pot holding the finished mashed potatoes into a slightly larger pot with simmering liquid. Place a lid on stop, move to the back of the stove, and reserve over a low flame until you're ready to serve.


A crock pot set on low will also work great for this application.

Too Long Didn't Read: Mashed Potato Formula
 - Based On The Baker's Percentage

• 
100% Peeled Russet Potatoes

• 19% Butter, Melted (but who are we kidding, you may as well round it to 20%)

• 6.5% Heavy Cream, Heated With Butter
• 
1-2% Salt

• 
5% Raw Garlic Cloves, Roasted (Optional)
• Pepper & Additional Flavors To Taste