Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are a great side dish to almost any meal. They are super easy to make and they are filling and delicious.

I use 1-2 potatoes per person depending on the size of the taters. If you have leftovers you can use them in another meal, have them for lunch, or even pan sear them into little potato pancakes.

I fill a saucepan about 1/2 way with water and put in roughly 1 tsp of chopped garlic and 1 tsp of salt. I get the water ready ahead of time because potatoes turn brown very quickly once you cut them up.

Peel your potatoes...or leave the skins on if you like. Slice the potatoes into 1/2 inch slices, then cut the slices up into quarters (you might have to cut more if your taters are fat) so you have chunks that are approximately 1/2 inch squares. Don't go nuts here, you are mashing them at the end so they don't need to be perfect little squares.

Once you put your cut up potatoes into the pan, the water should just cover the potatoes, if you have too much water in the pan dump some off. It could boil over while you are cooking and the starches in the potatoes catch fire easily!

Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until you can poke the taters with a fork and they are soft: About 20-30 minutes. If you like chunks in your potatoes, cook them for 15-20 instead so they are harder.

Note: I cover the pan to get the potatoes to a boil but remove the lid immediately after. The starch creates a foam so if you leave the lid on it can boil over and start a fire and I'm sure you don't want that to happen!

Once the taters are soft, drain off the water. I personally put the lid on the pan and kitty corner it enough so water can get through but not the potato chunks, why waste another dish to drain them. Whatever way you want to do it is fine, just make sure all the water is out.

Return to the burner you were cooking (leave the heat off, you are just putting it there for the residual heat of the burner). Cut in some butter, for this amount of potatoes I use 1/4 of a stick. I like to put in a dallop of sour cream (1 tbls) and 2-3 tbls of milk. Put the cover on the pan and let sit for a few minutes so the butter will melt. ( If you think I use too much butter...I make them so we don't have to add more once they are served. You can add as much or as little butter as you want...just add a little more milk if you are using less)

Mash the potatoes with a masher or use a hand mixer. Whatever you prefer, the mixer will result in fluffier, creamier potatoes, but I don't have one so I use my hand masher. You might need to add some more milk but do so in small increments so you don't end up with runny taters. Noone likes runny mashed potaters :)

Season the potatoes with salt and pepper to taste. Some people add parsley or chives but I don't care for either but they do add nice color and make the taters more presentable.

Enjoy!!