Mom’s Fabulous Mashed Potatoes

…with a twist

Is there anyone who doesn’t love mashed potatoes?

On many American tables, mashed potatoes are only served at holiday time. I always thought that was odd growing up, because we never had them for holidays in my family. Although we loved them, there was nothing particularly special about them in our minds. They were easy to make and, at our house, they showed up on the dinner table at least once a week.

My mother adored them, so she made them often, and hers were the best.

Now, I make the best mashed potatoes because I make them exactly the way she did.

My mother’s secret—I guess now that I’m telling you, it’s no longer a secret—was the addition of an onion. She added a whole onion, cut up, in with the potatoes while they were boiling. The onion got so soft that, when the potatoes were mashed, the onion melted into the potatoes and were indiscernible. You wouldn’t know what it was that made them so good if you weren’t privy to the secret; you just knew they were fabulous.

I should say that I make them almost exactly the way my mother did. I’ve added a twist of my own. When you boil potatoes, much of the nutrients inherent in those tubers leaches out into the water and goes down the drain. My mother rectified this by saving the drained water, adding a bit of the cooked potato to it, and handing it to us steaming hot in mugs, calling it potato soup. It was great, believe it or not.

I have a different method of keeping those nutrients—and their associated flavor—in the potatoes. When the potatoes and onion are in the pot, I add fresh cold water, just to the level where the potatoes are covered. The pot is then put on the stove over medium heat. Once the water boils, I lower the heat a bit to keep it at a steady simmer. The timing works out pretty much perfectly: when the water cooks all the way out and has been completely absorbed, the potatoes are tender and done. But…it’s critical to watch the pot carefully as it gets down toward the end. Once the water is gone, the potatoes will go from perfect to scorched very fast. If the bottom of the pot turns even a little bit browned, the mash will taste burned. When the pot is almost dry, whisk it off the stove and let it sit for a minute or so. The rest of the moisture will be absorbed/evaporate. Then it’s time to add your milk and butter.

People get fancy and add things like sour cream or cream cheese to mashed potatoes. These may be lovely additions and I won’t try to dissuade you from them, but we never had them that way. Mom kept it simple. But the one thing Mom NEVER did was make instant mashed potatoes from a box. It was unthinkable! I’m a purist, and while I like sour cream on baked potatoes, I prefer the simple flavor of the potatoes to shine through. There are a few things I might add if I want to get fancy, as you’ll see below.  

It's hard to write a recipe for these mashed potatoes. It’s one of those things that was done by feel—how much butter, how much milk… so be aware that the amounts I’m giving you are a guideline. Butter makes them rich. Can there be too much butter? That’s for you to decide. Milk makes them creamy. Different potatoes will absorb different amounts of butter and milk. You want to use enough to get that silky texture without making them too loose or soupy, so start with a generous knob of butter and a dash of milk, then mash and taste and mash and taste until they’re perfect. I’ll leave this in your very competent hands.

Here's a tip—The way you cut the potatoes is important. I have no idea of why this makes a difference, but it really does affect the flavor and texture. Once the potatoes are peeled, cut them in half lengthwise. Do you see a seam running down the center of the cut side? Cut them again, along the seam. At that point, if they’re too big to fit into your pot you can cut them horizontally in half, one time. Only do that if you have to. And, salt the water before cooking, rather than just salting the potatoes at the end. That’s also important because you want salt in the potatoes rather than on the potatoes. Add a gentle amount—you can always add more after they’re mashed, but definitely salt the water.

How to mash: Most of the time, I use an old fashioned metal potato masher. I like the texture that creates. But if you want them super smooth, and fancy-schmancy, put them through a ricer.

DO NOT use a food processor to mash the potatoes. You might think that will be a quick way to get them very smooth, but what it will do is develop the gluten in the potatoes and turn them into a sticky mess. There’s no coming back from that.

Get fancy…

Garlic: Garlic mashed potatoes are great. But I’ve never gotten the right flavor from adding in whole cloves at the beginning, like I do with the onion. For garlic mash, I make roasted garlic in the oven (either regular garlic or elephant, for a milder flavor), then squeeze out the creamy roasted cloves into the potatoes while mashing. See below for instructions for roasting garlic.

Other possibilities:

A little freshly grated nutmeg can be a nice addition.

A drizzle of truffle oil is pure heaven.

How to transform a plate of fabulous mashed potatoes into a restaurant-worthy dish—Many people can’t imagine mashed potatoes without gravy. If we were having mash with something that had gravy, such as potted meat, our mash would have gravy. Most of the time we had them plain.

But…mmm…add a mountain of mushroom mélange to your mash and you’ll have a most marvelous meal. (That was fun to say!) Check out my recipe for Mushroom and Mash Supreme.

But now let’s get back to basics

You will need:

• A pot

• A potato masher. This one is genius! It folds flat to fit tidily in a drawer. And it works superbly well. A ricer is also a possibility, although it’s not necessary.

• Potatoes—Russets or Yukon Golds are your best choices. One medium potato per person, plus one for the pot.

• One medium onion, cut into small chunks

• Butter

• milk

• kosher salt

• pepper—freshly ground black, or a dash of white

Here’s a guideline:

Ingredients:

• For 3 lbs potatoes, use approximately

• 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup, 4 ounces)

• 1 cup of whole milk.

Adjust the amounts as needed.

Method:

• Using a potato peeler, peel the potatoes thinly, trying to only remove the skin and none of the flesh. Use the tip of a knife to remove any eyes or black spots.

• Cut the potatoes as follows: Cut them in half lengthwise. Then, following the seam on the cut side, cut them in half again lengthwise along the seam.

• Put the potatoes into a pot. If they don’t fit into the pot, cut the wedges in half

• Add the cut-up onion

• Add fresh cold water, to about 1inch above the potatoes.

• Add a sprinkling of salt and stir.

• Over medium heat, bring the pot to a boil and cook the potatoes until the point of a knife pierces them easily. They should be very soft, but not disintegrating. This should happen about the same time that the water cooks out. Watch them carefully. Once the water is gone, they will go from perfect to burned very fast. Let the pot rest for a few minutes, for the remaining moisture to be absorbed/evaporate.

• Return the pot to the stove, over very low heat.

• Add the butter in chunks and mash the potatoes with a hand-held, old-fashioned potato masher, until the butter is melted through and the potatoes are fairly smooth.

• Pour in the milk, a little at a time, and continue mashing until they’re silky smooth.

• Taste for salt and add a few grinds of pepper.

• If the cold milk has chilled the potatoes, warm them over a low light, stirring constantly so that the bottom of the pot doesn’t scorch. You can also transfer them to a bowl and give them a quick zap in the microwave to bring them back up to temperature.

Variations: (or, Painting the Lily)

• Drizzle a little truffle oil over the potatoes before serving, for a special treat.

• Add some chopped chives, scallions, or fresh herbs (basil is nice) over the top.

• Roast a whole head of garlic and squeeze the roasted cloves into the pot while you’re mashing the potatoes, for a wonderful roasted garlic flavor. To roast garlic, slice the top off a head of garlic, drizzle it with olive oil, wrap it tightly in foil, and roast at 350° for an hour, or until soft.

• Mashed potatoes are also excellent with caramelized onions over the top.

Did you make it? Was it fabulous?