Recipe: Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Creamy or lumpy?.... everyone has their own special way they like their mashed potatoes. Well… truth be told… I like them all… I love mashed potatoes… and I must admit… I will try just about any recipe for them… always in search of the “best”.

Some foods just seem to go better with a “rustic” mashed potato… slightly lumpy with bits of skin throughout… and some foods are the best with smooth creamy buttery potatoes.

Well… my quest to try yet a different mashed potato recipe took me to the Barefoot Contessa’s Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes. While they were good… they were a bit more work than I think necessary and they weren’t special… they were your average good mashed potato… nothing wrong with that… just not special. As one reviewer put it…. PEOPLE…it’s not rocket science just mashed potatoes!

She uses a food mill… which is totally unnecessary… if you want them smooth… use an electric mixer to whip them up briefly… or if you like them with a little texture… mash them by hand using a potato masher… she also goes through all these gyrations keeping them warm… placing a pan over another pan of water… just keep the lid on them… it should be fine. Her recipe also uses buttermilk… which I tried… honestly I couldn’t taste the tang of the buttermilk… sooo another recipe goes to the recipe junk yard.

This recipe for Creamy Mashed Potatoes is like the one my Mother and Grandmother’s made…. Except when I make my mashed potatoes creamy I like to use Yukon Gold potatoes… and I added 3 tablespoons of heavy cream…. I like the creaminess it gives the potatoes.








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Recipe: Creamy Mashed Potatoes

All you need:

4 large Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup milk
4-6 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Salt to taste

All you need to do:

Peel and dice the potatoes… making sure the pieces are the same size so they cook in the same amount of time.

Place in a large pot with 1 tablespoon salt and cover with water and bring to a boil.

Turn down the heat and simmer the potatoes about 20 minutes or until fork tender.

Drain and return to the pot or place into the bowl of an electric mixer.

Heat the milk and 4 tablespoons butter until butter is just melted.

Mash the potatoes until desired consistency.

Add the milk and butter mixture and stir.

Add the heavy cream and stir.

Add the ground black pepper and stir.

Salt to taste.

Pour the mashed potatoes into a large serving bowl.

Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into small “pats” and add them on top of the potatoes.