How do you make your mashed potatoes?

[tink_n_pooh]

I'm making mashed potatoes right now and I normally just cut up the potatoes (skin on, washed), boil them until soft, drain the water and mash them up with cream, sour cream or cream cheese, butter, and garlic.

Do you have any special tricks or recipes?

 

[AKL_Megs]

I'm a minimalist.

Potatoes, skins on, mashed with either milk or chicken broth.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Peel, boil, drain, back into pot on stove, add milk wait till hot, add butter, and salt. Then I whip with a electric mixer.

 

[Kathi OD]

Peel, sometimes all, sometimes not. Cube and boil. Drain most of the water.
Mash in the mixer with milk and the little bit of potato water. Add shredded cheddar cheese and mash some more.

I've got to say that since I've gotten my KitchenAid mixer, my potatoes are much, much creamier.

 

[si-am]

Peeled, cubed, boiled, then mashed with milk, butter and salt. I prefer them whipped (with a mixer) but if I'm lazy I just give DH the handheld potato masher and let him go to town!

 

[Tinijocaro]

I add a tub of York horseradish cheese and a bunch of forzen chopped spinach-it is really, really good.

 

[Kycha]

Cut, boil in chicken stock and salt, drain.
Then I put them in a ricer, skins and all. The skins come off in the ricer. Add butter, milk and Heluva Good French Onion Dip. Mix and eat. I hate lumps in my potatoes. The ricer makes them nice and creamy.

If I want a healthier version, I omit the butter, milk and onion dip and use chicken stock instead. I also try to use Yukon Gold potatoes. They already have a buttery flavor. So I don't need to add any butter.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

Boil whole potatoes, skins on. When they are fork tender, cut in half and put through the ricer. Stir in milk or any other goodies. Super fast, no mixer, no masher...perfect smooth and super yummy.

 

[msjprincess]

peel, quarter, boil until fork tender, drain, put back on stove on low flame to get out excess moisture, add butter when melted add milk and mash with potato masher or electric mixer

 

[VAfamily1998]

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Garlic-Mashed-Potatoes-Secret-Recipe/Detail.aspx

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com a couple years ago, and have only made them that way ever since! My family LOVES this recipe!

Note: Unless you really need enough potatoes to feed 100, notice that you can adjust the serving size from 100 to whatever you need. We find that "one of their servings" will actually make a good side for 2, in our house...so I usually make 10 servings for our family of 6, and we still have plenty of leftovers

*ETA, My favorite thing to do with the leftovers is make Shepards pie, like this recipe
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Steffs-Shepherd-Pie/Detail.aspx

 

[MistressMerryweather]

Red potatoes, quartered. Drop in 3-6 peeled whole garlic cloves. Boil until fork-tender. Drain, put back in hot pot to evaporate moisture. Mash potatoes and garlic together with cream or milk and salt.

 

[bookgirl]

5lbs potatoes cooked in salt water to fork tender

I put them through a ricer (a large garlic press looking device)

then I add a little softened butter, salt, pepper, small container of half and half (sometimes I will add a little extra milk if needed as well) and whip them in my kitchenaid until they are mixed and have airated (sp?)


This is a big recipie for holidays, if I'm just doing a small batch then I skip the ricer and half and half and just boil, mash whip with hand masher add salt pepper milk and butter then then whip with a hand mixer.


The holiday ones are super yummy but it's the ricer that makes the potatoes. The texture is just flat out silky and smooth and the half and half and butter make them rich and delicious.

I like them either way, and frankly we do the instant variety as often as anything.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Our special trick is that we whip the potatoes prior to adding anything to them. They get all nice and broken up and then everything blends all nice and smooth. Other than that--just typical stuff with the occasional variation of yes/no on the skins and cream cheese.

 

[NikitaZee]

Peel and boil 5 lbs potatoes. Mash with hand masher - I don't like mine super creamy, I like a little texture to them. Add 1 stick of butter, 1/3 cup milk, 1/4 cup light cream. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste, then add 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley. Yum!

 

[marcyinPA]

So funny, because I made some tonight too! I used to boil them and then use the hand mixer to whip them with milk and butter. But I finally bought a hand potato masher, and I love it! So stupid simple, but it takes me some time to get with the program I guess!

Tonight I just made plain white potatoes, so I peeled them, chunked them, boiled them with a little dried minced onion (like my great grammy used to do!), and salt. When they were cooked, I drained them and mashed them with some sour cream and milk, and garlic powder and salt. Mmmmm!!!

I've used red skins too, and not peeled them, and added sour cream, cream cheese and garlic and salt. Yummy!!

 

[SookieStackhouse]

Boil water, add butter, milk, salt and.... the flakes

 

[Marionnette]

Russett potatoes. Peeled and quartered. Boil in salted water until fork tender. Turn off burner. Drain potatoes into collander. Return potatoes to pot and place on burner to remove more moisture. Warm cream and butter in a saucepan until hot and butter melts but do not boil. Run potatoes thru a ricer into bowl. Slowly add hot cream mixture while fluffing with a fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
.
Sometimes it put a few cloves of garlic thru a garlic press and add it to the cream before warming it. Or I'll add shredded extra sharp cheddar to the potatoes when adding the cream.

The chicken broth sounds like a nice twist. I'll have to try it.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Mashed red potatoes, with skins on, and crushed rosemary... a little cream. Salt and pepper.

 

[PurpleNurple]

Boil water, add butter, milk, salt and.... the flakes

haha... totally on board. I've always liked boxed mashed potatoes better. I'm pretty sure my mom always made them that way, so it's how I've always preferred them. Besides, if I want some, I can just microwave some water and DONE!

 

[Gigi22]

Peel, cut into equal pieces, boil in salted water until tender. Drain well. Persuade DH to put them through the ricer. When he is done, add butter cut in chunks. Then add some warm milk and beat until creamy, adding salt and pepper to taste.
One variant that is really yummy is to make mashed potatoes with buttermilk.