TASTY TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2021 – NATIONAL POTATO DAY
National Potato Day is coming up on Thursday, August 19th! I don’t know of anything more comforting than mashed potatoes! From baby’s first food to great great grandpa’s dinner, mashed potatoes are delicious! And easy to make as well as easy to eat! They go with many different entrée dishes. Not to mention… potatoes are usually reasonable priced, are on sale often and there are so many varieties of potatoes they are never a boring dish to serve!
I prefer to use a russet potato for mashed potatoes, but when living in Washington, I often used a yellow potato for mashing – I thought the flavor and texture were awesome!!
MASHED POTATOES
Ingredients
4-5 potatoes of choice
¼ cube margarine (or butter)
¼ cup whole milk (or milk of choice)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel 4-5 potatoes or one medium sized potato for each person.
- Cut each potato in quarters, cover with water in a saucepan and cook until tender. (About 20-30 minutes)
- Remove from heat, drain water off.
- Mash potatoes using method of choice. (A potato masher is what I used to use to mash the potatoes, but the last few years I’ve started using a hand electric mixer – or stand mixer if many potatoes – and find they are great, softer and totally “mashed”. A ricer is another good option if you have one.)
- Add ¼ cube of margarine and ¼ cup whole milk.
- Beat the potatoes in the pan (or separate dish) until free of lumps.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve at once dotted with butter or margarine. Enjoy!
I couldn’t just stop with plain mashed potatoes! My family – well half of them – love what we call “Cheesy Mashed Potatoes”. They have added extra ingredients for flavor and texture, and I think they are to die for. Not everyone agrees and like I said – about half of my family loves them and half does not. For special occasions when I make these, I also make plain mashed potatoes, so we have 2 bowls of potatoes – something for everyone!
CHEESY MASHED POTATOES
Ingredients
4-5 potatoes of choice
Sour cream
Cream cheese
Butter
Dehydrated onion bits
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic powder or garlic salt (optional)
Instructions
- Peel and boil potatoes as for plain mashed potatoes (above).
- After draining tender potatoes, INSTEAD of adding milk, butter or margarine, salt and pepper – ADD some sour cream, cream cheese (softened), butter, dehydrated onion bits, salt and pepper (and perhaps some garlic powder or garlic salt). Whip together and taste.
- Adjust accordingly. Some potatoes have a tendency to retain more water than other varieties, so do not “dump” a lot of sour cream and cream cheese in all at once. Add some, taste and then add some more. You can add, but you can’t take it out. And do NOT add milk or cream.
- If they are too thin, add some instant mashed potatoes FLAKES to thicken.
- Serve. (I like to garnish with chopped parsley, or for these special potatoes, some chopped fresh dill is tasty.)
These, of course, cost a bit more to make. I have found that some younger eaters may not enjoy them as much as more seasoned appetites.
Whichever recipe, or both, I know you will love them! Make plenty and customize to your tastes. You can do many things with leftover mashed potatoes. (Recipes for another day.)
Bon Appetite’ With Love,
To download this recipe, click here.