Table of Contents Show
Such a dish as mashed potatoes is known to everyone. It is an integral part of all cuisines of the world. Mashed potatoes are a dish made from boiled potatoes, usually with milk, butter, salt, and pepper. Chefs serve it as a side dish to meat or vegetables.
History of appearance
The history of mashed potatoes lasts 10 thousand years and crosses the mountains of Peru and the Irish countryside. It was influenced by Thomas Jefferson and a food technology specialist who helped invent this ubiquitous dish.
Ancient people began to grow potatoes in the Andes of Peru and northwestern Bolivia. There, the inhabitants ate it back in 8000 BC.
The first potato was very different from the one we know today. It was of a wide variety of shapes and sizes and had a bitter taste that could not be removed.
The English writer Hannah Glass in her 18th-century recipe book “The Art of Cooking” taught readers to cook potatoes, peel them, put them in a saucepan and knead them well with milk, butter, and a little salt. In the United States, Mary Randolph published a recipe for mashed potatoes in her book “A Housewife from Virginia”, according to which a pound (about 500 g) of potatoes requires half an ounce (about 15 g) of butter and a tablespoon of milk.
My Own Best Way To Make Mashed Potatoes
- To make the dish homogeneous and airy, choose starchy potato varieties. This is a round potato with light brown skin and light flesh. Starchy potatoes tend to boil heavily during cooking, which provides a delicate consistency of mashed potatoes. But it is better not to use potatoes with red peel. It does not boil so much, and mashed potatoes can turn out with lumps.
- Classic mashed potatoes can not do without milk or cream. If you want the dish to have an exquisite flavor, add a few sprigs of thyme, rosemary, or other spicy herbs to the liquid and heat it over low heat. Another product that makes mashed potatoes delicious and airy is butter. Do not spare it and do not skimp when buying: the oil should be high in fat content. As an alternative, you can take refined sunflower or olive oil. However, the taste of mashed potatoes in this case will be slightly different. You can also add a raw egg, fried onions, or mushrooms.
- Fresh herbs will give a special flavor to the finished mashed potatoes. You can move it along with the rest of the ingredients or sprinkle it on the dish.
How to make mashed potatoes
It seems that cooking mashed potatoes is very simple. However, you need to be very attentive to the recipe, otherwise, the dish will turn out with lumps.
- Peel the potato tubers and cut them into the same large cubes. Thus, the potatoes will boil more evenly and faster.
- Put the cubes in a saucepan and pour cold water so that it covers them for about 1 cm. Add salt and put it on the fire.
- Add salt to the water after boiling.
- When the potatoes are ready, drain the liquid from the pan, flip the cubes into a colander and lightly dry them. To do this, put them back in a hot saucepan and leave for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally.
The colder the potatoes, the more difficult it is to mash them. Mashed potatoes do not need to be mixed in a blender: because of this, they can become vicious, sticky, and tasteless.
It is better to prepare mashed potatoes by hand, using a pusher with holes. This will not take much effort from you, because starchy potatoes become very soft after cooking. To prepare mashed potatoes from harder varieties, you can use a potato press. It will help to get rid of lumps.
Things to add to mashed potatoes
The main advantage of potatoes is their neutral taste. Therefore, you can add a variety of spices to it, which will help create a delicious and satisfying dish. Spices are not only able to give a taste to the finished dish, but also confuse the person who tastes it.
So, there are several spices that you can perfectly combine with mashed potatoes:
- Onion
- Garlic
- Bay leaf
- Pepper of various types
- Parsley
- Dill
- Cumin
- Thyme
- Ginger Root
- Turmeric
In addition, in the process of cooking mashed potatoes, you can add one or two cloves of garlic. To make a puree of a beautiful yellow shade, it is enough to add a little turmeric (literally on the tip of a knife).
In addition, potatoes are perfectly combined with greens. You are unlikely to add fresh herbs to mashed potatoes. To take advantage of the herbal aroma, it is enough to prepare a special butter, in which you first knead finely chopped fresh herbs.
After adding this oil to mashed potatoes, the dish will acquire a beautiful green (light green) shade.
Should you salt the water when boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes?
The opinions of chefs and amateurs differ in solving this problem. There is one culinary advice with the appropriate motivation: do not add salt to the young peeled potatoes at the end, just before they are ready. It is significant which salt to use.
Many chefs now use sea salt. It is necessary to know that this salt breaks down into the minerals that make it up. Cooked potatoes may have an incomprehensible taste. For cooking potatoes, it is better to use the usual kitchen salt.
There is another method. We bring the tubers to readiness (they are pierced with a fork quite freely). Drain the water and only then salt the potatoes. Close the lid of the pan, adding more cow’s oil, and mix.
This method is often used in the preparation of whole potatoes as side dishes. Young potatoes you can salt at any time. In salted water, potatoes cook longer and sometimes get a taste.
Should you let potatoes cool before mashing?
Mashed potatoes are the most favorite and most popular side dish in the vast majority of countries of the world. For all the apparent ease of preparation, its taste can vary significantly.
The pan in which you will cook potatoes for mashed potatoes should be wide. This way the vegetable will cook faster. The amount of water is easy to determine. It should cover the tubers by 4-5 cm.
You need to cut the potatoes into pieces and cook over low heat for 25 minutes. Only after that, you can prepare mashed potatoes.
Why use warm milk in mashed potatoes?
Mashed potatoes are mashed boiled potatoes with butter and milk. The most important secret is not to add cold milk to hot mashed potatoes. The puree will turn gray or blue, and we need to achieve a warm yellow color. The milk just needs to be warmed up, but not boiled. The taste will be richly milky, which is not necessary for mashed potatoes at all.
Homemade garlic mashed potatoes
Garlic perfectly complements the taste of mashed potatoes. There is a simple recipe for preparing such a dish. Necessary ingredients:
- Potatoes — 1 kg
- Milk — 200 ml
- Cream — 50 ml
- Butter — 140 g
- Garlic (2-3 heads) — 2 pcs
- Flour — 20 g
- Salt — to taste
- Greens (for serving) – to taste
Cooking instructions:
- Dip the sliced potatoes into boiling water, boil until tender, add salt at the end (5 minutes).
- While our potatoes are cooking, prepare the garlic. In a ladle, boil about 200 ml of water, place the garlic heads there. Do not remove the husk before doing this.
- The bursting shell is easy to separate. Now the garlic heads are ready for further processing. Cut off the back of them.
- In a frying pan, melt about half of the specified amount of butter, put the garlic there.
- Golden, oiled garlic becomes soft and spreads even from light pressing. Crush with a pusher to a puree-like state (you can use an immersion blender). You can not fry garlic if you just put it out until it is slightly golden.
- Add a little flour and stir. In parallel, heat the milk and pour it into the garlic mass. Shake lightly until smooth — you can season with spices. The sauce for the potatoes is ready.
- Remove the potatoes from the stove and drain the water. Add the second half of the remaining butter and pour in 50 ml. cream.
- Mash everything well and add salt. Then start injecting the garlic-cream milk. Stir everything well and add spices. Make the consistency of the puree at your discretion.
Mashed potatoes with heavy cream
This dish is great for any kind of meat, fish, liver, as well as vegetables. It is very budget-friendly, tender, and satisfying. What can we need to prepare it? Let’s list:
- Of course, this is one of the most significant ingredients for cooking this dish. For a family of four people, five large potatoes will be enough.
- Salt – to taste. If you choose from large and small, it is better to prefer the second option.
- Butter – two or three tablespoons.
- Chicken egg – one piece.
- And another main ingredient is cream. We will need to take half of an ordinary glass of it.
- Bay leaf – one or two pieces. You can add your favorite spices, but it already depends on your preferences.
As you can see, the list is quite simple. These products everyone can find at home. Before you start cooking, you need to read some tips:
- Mashed potatoes with cream are best done with a conventional pusher. And what if you take a mixer? Whipping with a mixer will speed up the cooking process.
- Fresh herbs will be a great addition to mashed potatoes. You can replace the cream with ordinary milk.
- Add the egg, more butter. This puree will also be quite tasty.
- Do not beat the potato mass for a long time with a blender or mixer.
Cooking instructions:
- Rinse the potatoes well in warm water. If necessary, use a special brush for washing vegetables.
- Take a knife and peel the potatoes.
- Select a suitable saucepan and pour water into it.
- Cut the potatoes into several pieces.
- Rinse with cold water to remove excess starch.
- Put the potatoes in a saucepan and put them on the fire.
- When the water boils, turn down the power of the burner.
- Add a little salt to the water.
- Add a bay leaf for aroma and spicy taste.
- Cook until the potatoes are soft.
- Carefully, so as not to burn yourself, drain the water from the pan.
- Take a potato masher and mash the potatoes.
- Break the egg and mix everything well.
- Add salt if necessary.
- Add the butter to the puree.
- Now add the main ingredient – cream. It is best to warm them up a little.
- Whisk everything well with a spoon.
Are instant mashed potatoes healthy?
The attitude to dry fast food is ambiguous. Some believe that this is a solid chemical substitute, while others believe that instant mashed potatoes are a great snack at lunch at work. Homemade mashed potatoes are much more beneficial, but how harmful is a semi-finished product?
- It can lead to obesity. In terms of calories, the two dishes are approximately equal, but their glycemic index is different. The body absorbs this substance faster due to the high content of glutamates.
- The naturalness of the composition. Manufacturers add milk powder, food additives, fats, flavorings, and stabilizers to such a product. Some manufacturers may also add persulfates.
- It can lead to puffiness. Sodium glutamate + sodium pyrosulfate + salt = this amount of sodium inevitably leads to fluid retention in the body.
Thus, we can conclude that instant mashed potatoes will not harm you with moderate use.
Final thoughts
Mashed potatoes are a common dish all over the world. It is easy to prepare it in any condition. Potatoes are a cheap product that everyone has at home. There are several options for making mashed potatoes: with milk, with cream, and with water. You can also add spices and herbs there.
You can show your imagination and experiment. Add mushrooms or garlic to the mashed potatoes to make the dish better. The taste of potatoes is typical, it goes well with all the spices. You can prepare mashed potatoes with a blender or mixer – this will only speed up the process.