Tuesday 29 January 2013

The Perfect Mash



I believe that for most things to turn out perfectly, the task needs to be approached with care and patience. Gardening, good relationships, and a host of other pursuits are examples of this. When we are careless or in too much of a hurry, we can expect that the results of our input might be disappointing. The same goes for mashed potatoes. The perfect mash, though it might contain the exact same ingredients as a less than ordinary mash, stands out because of the two vital ingredients: time and patience... Oops, I mean three vital ingredients, time, patience and LOTS of butter! 

What you'll need
800 grams (28oz) of Coliban potatoes
150 grams (5oz) of salted butter cubed
1/2 cup of milk

Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks then place in a large saucepan of boiling water for around 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Drain the potatoes and add the cubed butter and milk. Mash until your heart is content! and then mash some more, and more. Make sure you mash and stir at the same time. The mashing process usually take around 10 minutes, believe me your arms will get tired so I suggest getting a friend to help take turns. 




Voila. Buttery and creamy mash prepared with love :-)

1 comment:

  1. There are a couple of things I do to get my mash right. One is the potato - russets with their high starch content are always a good choice.

    The next is the cooking. I've heard of chefs who make a broth from the potato peels and then use this to cook the potatoes in. Never tried it myself but might to see what it does to the flavour. No I just use plane old water, no salt, just water. The key though is to not over cook the potato- you want not to have the potato break down such that you end up with baby food.

    Let them drain. Get as much moister out as you can. Then put them back on the heat to remove more liquid.

    Now is the time to add salt gradually along with your butter while you mash.

    To get an absolutely smooth mash then use a Tamis. But usually by this time I just want to eat them!

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