Skip to: Site menu | Main content

Accent on Food & Drink!
Food, drink, cooking, recipes
- you name it . .

 

 
Healthy Cooking Recipe of the Week Tandoori Cooking Home made Mashed Potato
Meatloaf the Newbie way Mushroom & Pasta Pillars of Nutrition Biscotti, - a sweet treat
Italian Vino Novello (New Wine) Tips for Eating Out How to cook steak Mmmm - Muffins History of Coffee

How to Make Great Homemade Mashed Potatoes.

by: G. Stephen Jones

Homemade mashed potatoes are the ultimate comfort food. What is better than a steaming serving of really good homemade mashed potatoes? You know what I mean - mashed potatoes that are thick and smooth and rich and buttery. You take a bite and the creamy texture and rich taste take you right back home to Mom's cooking. Mmm-mmm.

For some of us, however, making potatoes like that is a challenge. Instead of mashed potatoes like Mom's, they turn out tasteless, lumpy and dry. And then we resort to instant mashed potatoes, which are bland and turn out like library paste without the flavor. Or your mashed potatoes are so watery they sort of spread all over your plate - more like wallpaper paste. Ugh!

Even if you're not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to cooking, you can make really good homemade mashed potatoes. Choose the right potato and the right tools, and your potatoes can look and taste as wonderful as Mom's.

Types of Potatoes
There are several different varieties of potato, and they have different characteristics. Some have more starch than others, and some have different textures. For examples, Yukon Gold potatoes are a high starch potato with a smooth texture. Russets, on the other hand, are high starch, but they have a grainy texture. The "best" mashing potato is a matter of personal preference. Experiment a little until you find the best mashing potato for you and your family. Just be aware that if you had a great success with red potatoes, you may not be able to repeat it if you use another kind of potato.

Equipment
What you use to mash your potatoes with makes a difference. You may be accustomed to the slightly lumpy, classic mashed potatoes produced with a wire or stainless steel potato masher. If there are a few small lumps, at least everyone knows the potatoes are homemade. To use a potato masher, you mush up the cooked potatoes with the other ingredients using up and down and back and forth movements. It takes a little work to make really good mashed potatoes with a potato masher.

Some people prefer to use a potato ricer. It makes smoother mashed potatoes. With a ricer, you mush up the potatoes using mostly an up and down motion, forcing the spuds through the holes in the ricer until all the lumps are broken up. Many people swear that a ricer is the only way to make mashed potatoes.

Some people - including those of us who are too lazy to work a potato masher or ricer - like to use an electric mixer. A mixer produces good whipped potatoes. They may be a little dry because a lot of air gets incorporated into the potatoes. That's why purists scorn the mixer in favor of mashing potatoes by hand.

Other Considerations
In order to make good mashed potatoes, you have to cook them first. And even before you put the potatoes in a pot, you have to decide whether to peel them or not.

Peeled potatoes produce smoother, creamier mashed potatoes without bits of skin in them. They have a uniformly white color.

On the other hand, when you peel potatoes, you throw away a lot of the vitamins with the peel. Unpeeled mashed potatoes are more visually "interesting" with those bits of peel throughout, and they have a bit more texture, as well as lots more vitamins.

After you decide whether or not to peel your potatoes, you are ready to cook them. Put the potatoes in a pan of cold water, and bring it to a boil. If you boil the water first, the potatoes kind of seal themselves when you put them in, and they don't cook right for mashing.

Use the best ingredients you can when mashing the potatoes. Yes, you can make light, airy, very good and low fat potatoes by mashing with chicken broth. But they won't begin to compare to the creamy texture and buttery flavor you'll get by using real butter and milk or cream.

Additions to Your Mashed Potatoes Once you've mastered making really good homemade mashed potatoes, you can add things to your potatoes for flavor, texture and interest. Some of the things you can add while you are mashing the potatoes are:

· Nutmeg · Grated cheese · Parmesan cheese · Worcestershire sauce · Cooked parsnips or rutabagas · Cooked carrots and onions · Cream cheese · Roasted garlic

Enjoy experimenting with adding different things. You’ll find combinations that you and your family love. And in a few years, your kids will be trying to make mashed potatoes “just like Mom’s.”

Copyright (c) 2007 G. Stephen Jones,
The Reluctant Gourmet

 

[ Back to top ]

About The Author

G. Stephen Jones, created the Reluctant Gourmet web site back in 1997 as a hobby to assist other novice cooks who may find the art of cooking a little daunting. As an ex-Wall Street broker and Stay-at-Home Dad, he explores cooking from a different perspective.
Visit www.reluctantgourmet.com/ for more tips, techniques and recipes.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

[ Back to top ]

'Food-Drink.WebWorlds-One.com' is the name, - what's the game?

- welcome to Food-Drink.WebWorlds-One.com, - an exciting new initiative in info-mercial marketing on the internet.

This is where we bring you(r) postings about Food & Drink news and trends in all their various guises . . .

 

 

Additional information:

Food
NPR Topics: Food
Stories on food, nutrition, recipes, cooking, cookbook reviews, and health. Download Food and Hidden Kitchen podcasts and subscribe to RSS feeds.

'Save Our Starbucks!': Caffeine-Addicted Fight Back
Posted on 23 Jul 2008 at 7:18pm Loyal Starbucks customers may be forced to walk an extra block or two to satisfy their frapuccino cravings; the chain has announced that it will be closing 600 stores around the country. Coffee drinkers aren't taking the news lying down — at SaveOurStarbucks.com, dedicated customers are fighting to keep their neighborhood stores open.
Summer Squash Gets Some Respect
Posted on 23 Jul 2008 at 5:44am Zucchini and its kin are the sleeper hits among garden blockbusters such as tomatoes and berries. They may not be greeted with raves when you grill the first harvest of yellow crooknecks, but summer squash have the versatility and easy-going nature to sustain a long, successful run in your kitchen.
Jalapenos The Latest Culprit In Salmonella Search
Posted on 22 Jul 2008 at 7:47pm On Monday, government inspectors had a big break in their search for the elusive cause of a nationwide salmonella outbreak. They discovered a strain of bacteria on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper in a distribution facility in south Texas.
An Expert Tastes New Changes In Wine
Posted on 20 Jul 2008 at 2:36pm Natalie MacLean, author of Red, White and Drunk All Over, joins Host Liane Hansen to discuss how global warming, competition in the wine industry, and organic standards are changing the wine we drink. MacLean also reveals her favorite wine, after more than a decade as a sommelier.
Tiny Texas Cafe Fills Up After Barbecue Award
Posted on 18 Jul 2008 at 6:42pm Every five years, Texas Monthly chooses the best barbecue in a state that reveres smoked meat. Snow's BBQ in Lexington was unprepared for the onslaught of customers following its first-place win.
Is Fast Food Tasty When You Know the Caloric Toll?
Posted on 18 Jul 2008 at 6:00pm Fast food restaurants in New York will start getting fined Friday if they don't post nutrition information. We talk to Times Square restaurant-goers about whether they still have an appetite for that five-piece fried chicken meal once they can see the calorie count.
Eat Healthy Without Going Broke
Posted on 17 Jul 2008 at 5:00pm As part of the program's Cheapskate Week, author Dr. Rovenia Brock, a nutritionist, is joined by Jonell Nash, of Essence magazine, who wrote the article "Healthy Food Shopping for Less!" in this month's issue. The two discuss how to eat healthy on a limited budget, and which foods you might be worth a little extra cash.
Forget The Granola: Camp Cooking Goes Gourmet
Posted on 16 Jul 2008 at 5:42am Camp cooking doesn't have to mean dehydrated, over-salted soups and powdered potatoes. With a little experimentation and forethought, most cooks can turn out fantastic meals from scratch — even outside of a kitchen.
Traditional Wine Pairings Thrown Overboard
Posted on 13 Jul 2008 at 1:00pm Natalie McLean, author of Red, White and Drunk All Over, joins Host Liane Hansen to discuss how to select the best wine for dinner. Modern fusion cuisine and new wines throw traditional rules to the wayside.
The Disappearing Watermelon Seed
Posted on 12 Jul 2008 at 11:19pm Watermelon seeds are an icon of summer, but maybe not for much longer. Plant scientist Tracy Kahn of the University of California-Riverside talks about the emergence of seedless fruit.
Spicy Lamb Curry Gets Hearts Pounding In London
Posted on 11 Jul 2008 at 11:00am A London restaurant served what it claims is the world's hottest dish Thursday. "The Bollywood Burner" is a lamb-based curry made with the Naga chili pepper — more than 100 times hotter than the jalapeno. It's up for a Guinness World Record.
What's Causing The Salmonella Outbreak?
Posted on 10 Jul 2008 at 6:00pm The ongoing salmonella outbreak has sickened over 1000 people and forced many farmers to leave their tomatoes rotting on the vine. But the source of the outbreak remains unknown. Experts are now questioning whether it came from tomatoes at all.
How To Bake A Better Chocolate Chip Cookie
Posted on 10 Jul 2008 at 7:36pm Shirley Corriher, a food scientist and author of Cookwise and the soon-to-be-released Bakewise, explains how to build a better chocolate chip cookie.
Salmonella Scare Hurts Calif. Tomato Growers
Posted on 9 Jul 2008 at 5:02pm Even though the Food and Drug Administration never suspected California tomatoes in a recent salmonella outbreak, the scare has affected California growers, who are just starting to harvest their tomatoes.
Watermelon Confidential: Dessert And So Much More
Posted on 9 Jul 2008 at 5:31am Most people eat watermelon plain, and often for dessert, but it has great potential to enliven savory dishes. The key is to pick a perfect melon, then balance its sweetness with salty, bitter, acidic or spicy flavors. The harvest peaks in July and August.

Thank you for visiting WebWorlds-One.com, - have a Nice Day!

[ Back to top ]