I’m guessing that today is the perfect day to share a recipe with only four ingredients. Correct? Eating brisket, meatballs or any dish with rich gravy, over a fluffy bed of creamy, garlic mashed potatoes is a soul-satisfying experience. The secret to these luxurious potatoes is using the water in which they are cooked to create that velvety, smooth texture that we all crave. And if you are garlic-shy, you have nothing to worry about. Cooking whole garlic cloves together with the potatoes, reduces its flavor to a mellow bass note in this dish. This recipe is by Bonnie Stern, published in Simply HeartSmart Cooking.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
And now it’s time for yet another installment of that most beloved feature of this blog, the Weird Ingredient Chat. Today we’re giving honor to an ingredient that plays an important supporting role in recipes for bread, mashed potatoes and soup: potato water. Say what? Potato water is the water that potatoes have been boiled in. Potatoes release valuable starch into the water as they are cooked. Potato water is most commonly used as an ingredient in potato bread. It adds to the texture, keeps the moisture in the bread, and provides some flavor as opposed to just using plain water. You can also use it as a thickener in gravy, soup or stew, avoiding using flour if you are eliminating gluten. And finally you can add it to mashed potatoes to make them light and fluffy as recommended by a cook no more eminent than Ma Ingalls, of Little House on the Prairie fame, “There was no milk, but Ma said, ‘Leave a very little of the boiling water in, and after you mash them beat them extra hard with the big spoon.’ The potatoes turned out white and fluffy.”
Assemble your ingredients. Peel the potatoes and cut them into sixths or eighths depending on their size. Yukon Gold potatoes are my preferred choice in almost every potato dish. They have a light yellow flesh and a creamy flavor. Press on the cloves of garlic with the broad side of the blade of your knife. This loosens the skins for easier removal.
Place the potatoes and garlic in a large pot and cover with water. I use a pasta pot so that I can easily lift out the potatoes and garlic when they finish cooking, while preserving the potato water. Add salt to the water and boil for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are fork-tender. Lift the potatoes and garlic out of the pot or drain the pot, SAVING the cooking water. (Put a bowl underneath the strainer or colander when you drain the pot.) Mash the potatoes and garlic with a potato masher. As you are mashing the potatoes, add back the cooking water two tablespoons at a time until a creamy consistency is reached. Add one tablespoon of olive oil and mix in. Add salt to taste. The potatoes are best served hot and fresh.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Fluffy mashed potatoes made creamy with the addition of potato water
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (6-8 potatoes), peeled and cut in 2-inch chunks
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt for cooking water and for seasoning potatoes when mashed
Instructions
Peel and cube the potatoes. Smash the garlic with the broad side of your knife to remove the peel.
Place the potatoes and garlic in a large pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes on medium-high heat until fork-tender, about 20-25 minutes.
Drain the potatoes preserving the cooking water. I suggest that you place a bowl underneath the colander when you drain the potatoes to catch the cooking water.
Add the drained potatoes and garlic back to the pot when it is empty. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes, adding back the cooking water two tablespoons at a time until you reach the desired consistency. (You will need 1/2 half cup to 3/4 cup of potato water). Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the potatoes and mix in to the mixture. Season with salt to taste. Serve hot and fresh.
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