Our church’s annual Women’s Christmas Dinner was a success- beautiful music, good message, great company. And apparently, “the best mashed potatoes ever” Cool, since my team and I did a lot of mashing to feed two-hundred-plus folks that evening!
This past year, I came up with a new recipe for mashed potatoes, and I’ll do it this way forever now. I cooked the potatoes whole, adding a few inches of boiling water to the pot, essentially steaming them.
Compared to using peeled, cubed potatoes, they took longer to cook this way, but oh. My. They were so good! No flavor lost to a bunch of liquid that usually gets thrown away. Just lots of potato flavor. With some added heavy cream, butter, and seasoning, how could they not be good?!
Serves 12 or so
INGREDIENTS
- 4 lb. Russet potatoes
- 1 TBS. fine-chopped rosemary
- 2 TBS. fresh chopped parsley
- 1 TBS. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp. salt
- Pepper to taste
- 2 sticks butter
- 2 c. cream
Hours ahead, or day before, let rosemary and parsley steep in the oil with the salt and pepper. This mellows the flavor of the rosemary a bit. Use: > 1 TBS. fine-chopped rosemary > 2 TBS. fresh chopped parsley > 1 TBS. extra virgin olive oil > 2 tsp. salt > Pepper to taste
Steam whole, unpeeled potatoes in a covered pot or pressure cooker, using 2-3 inches boiling water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender. Check that the water doesn’t evaporate, if using a pot instead of a pressure cooker. Use: > 4 lb. potatoes
Spread potatoes out on cookie sheet, peeling off skins when cool enough to touch.
Return the skinned potatoes to the pot and mash well. Add: > 2 sticks butter > 2 c. cream > the steeped rosemary/salt/pepper/oil mix
Add boiling water if necessary, to get potatoes to right consistency. Heat in oven if necessary, before serving.
Mashed Potatoes for 210
OK, so you probably won’t need these quantities! But this is what we used for all those ladies… About 200 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 72 lb. potatoes
- 8 lb. butter
- 16 lb. cream
- ½ c. + 2 TBS. Salt
- Pepper
- Rosemary
- 1 c. extra virgin olive oil
Steam whole, unpeeled potatoes in large pressure cooker, using 4 inches or so boiling water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender. Peels slip off easily.
