#43_Mashed Potatoes

I overheard somebody talking about perfect mashed potatoes at a restaurant awhile ago. In my opinion, I don't think there is such a thing as perfect mashed potatoes. The way one makes it or likes his mashed potatoes is purely a personal preference. For some people, they like their mashed potatoes light and fluffy, some like it dense and lumpy, or creamy, or runny, or country (with skins on).
Although I'm not a meat-and-potato person but rather a rice-and-gulay person, when I cook or eat mashed potatoes, I like mine light and fluffy. For those who don't like it that way, then it won't be a perfect mashed potato for them.

I wasn't able to take a picture of the finished product because I was running behind schedule at the time but the picture above shows how I prepared the potatoes to be mashed. Peeling the potatoes is the hard part, other than that it is really easy to make it.

Recipe for basic mashed potatoes:

5 lbs. russet potatoes

1 stick butter

1 can evaporated milk, heated

salt to taste

Peel and wash the potatoes then slice them crosswise. I discovered that it is faster to slice them this way than slicing them in cubes. Put the sliced potatoes in a big pot and put enough water to cover them. On medium high heat, boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain the water but leave a little bit in the bottom of the pot. To the hot potatoes, add some salt and the butter and hot milk. With a potato masher, mash them tatoes, it is a good work out for the arm. After mashing it with potato masher, use an electric hand mixer and beat the mixture until smooth and fluffy. If dense, add some more hot milk.

Serve it hot with gravy. Click here for gravy recipe #260

Note: I have a big aluminum pot that I use for boiling the potatoes. I mash and beat them with the mixer in the same pot I boiled them in. You can transfer the boiled potatoes to a big bowl and mashed them but you have to work quickly to make sure the potatoes stay really hot when mashing.