Who’s Afraid of Mashed Potatoes?

Although it’s easy to make perfect mashed potatoes every time, many cooks face this particular culinary technique with trepidation. There is nothing like gluey, runny mashed potatoes to ruin your confidence as a cook. And if this happens to you during the preparation of an important meal, well the damage to your confidence may be even more long lasting.

I am not afraid of mashed potatoes. I owe this to my mother, who, in an age of stay-at-home moms, decided that she would instead become the CFO of a major wine distributor in Seattle. This meant that from the second grade on, Monday through Thursday, I made dinner for the family. Mashed potatoes and pan gravy were almost always on the menu. Although no one ever complained if my mashed potatoes were gluey or runny, I nonetheless learned through trial and error and many years of Zen-like concentration to make them perfect every time.

LunaCafe’s Never Fail Mashed Potatoes Tips & Tricks

If I had a secret to making great mashed potatoes when I was a kid, it was to time them so that they were the last thing I put on the table. If the potatoes were done too early, I drained them, put them back in the pan with the butter, covered them with a lid and a couple of kitchen towels, and left them on the warm stove top. Just before serving, I threw in salt and pepper, mashed them quickly with a potato masher, and then drizzled in just enough milk to get the right consistency. After I scooped them into the serving bowl, I added a tablespoon of soft butter on top, which melted immediately. I learned that visual trick from the “fancy” neighbor lady, who set an elegant Sunday dinner table.

Today I understand a bit more about potatoes and why they act the way they do when cooked and mashed. Here are a few things that are helpful to consider.

• Select large, high-quality, local potatoes. Potatoes should be firm and smooth with no discolored or greenish patches and no sprouts.
• Store potatoes in a cool (preferably 45º-50º), dark location. Below 40º, potatoes begin to develop a sweet taste, so do not store in the refrigerator. Potatoes stored at room temperature should be used within a week.
• Select potatoes with high starch and low moisture content, such as Russet Burbank or Yukon Gold potatoes.
• Peel, then cut potatoes into fairly uniform 1½-inch chunks, so that they will cook evenly.
• Always put peeled potatoes immediately in cold water to cover to prevent discoloration.
• Always begin cooking potatoes in cold water.
• Boil only until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Longer boiling will water-log the potatoes and make a liquid mash.
• When tender, drain potatoes immediately in a colander.
• There is usually no need to do this, but if your drained potatoes seem a little wet, either put them back in the empty pan and on the still warm stovetop for a few minutes, the pan covered with a couple layers of paper towels to absorb the steam, being careful not to scorch them; or put them on an edged baking sheet and bake at 350º for 15 minutes.
• Put your additional ingredients in a large mixing bowl and let warm to room temperature while the potatoes are boiling.
• Quickly put cooked potatoes through a potato ricer, mash with a new age potato masher (Available from Oxo and Rosle, these newer mashers have a flat face, a grid pattern and crisp edges where the potato meets the masher. They easily mimic the extrusion effect of a ricer and produce fluffy mashed potatoes with minimum physical exertion), or whip with a hand held mixer, adding only enough additional liquid (milk or cream) to create a light but not wet consistency. It should take no more than two minutes to mash your potatoes.
• Overly vigorous or lengthy mashing or whipping can cause your mashed potatoes to become gluey. NEVER use a processor or blender to whip potatoes.
• Serve potatoes immediately after whipping; or spoon into a serving bowl, cover, and keep warm in a 200º oven for up to 1 hour.
• Cooked potato dishes do not freeze well. The water in the potato separates from the starch, making the thawed and heated potato dish watery.

Traditional mashed potatoes with butter, milk, salt, and pepper are one of the world’s great dishes, and I could eat them every day. But it’s also fun to push the boundaries of the concept and see where it can take you.

I developed the following two recipes to serve with Southwest-style Smokey Chipotle Meatloaf. (That recipe will post on Friday.)