Confession: While potatoes are easily one of my favorite foods. I secretly love powdered instant mashed potatoes.
I know, I know. Gross.
I'm simply going to blame this on growing up in Pennsyltucky in the 80's. Come holiday time, my poor grandma had to covertly peel and boil the real potatoes while hiding behind a box of Hungry Jack. And despite her best efforts, she never fooled me. My heart was with the fake stuff.
Thankfully, my tastes have evolved as a grown up to include a deep appreciation for real food – especially when I discovered that, when done right, mashed potatoes are nearly as much butter and cream as they are tubers. The other secret to perfect mashed potatoes is generously salting the water for boiling. Salty, creamy, buttery carbs – what's not to love?
Whether you're whipping these up for your next holiday meal or just because you want some down-home comfort on a Tuesday, these perfect mashed potatoes are enough to make even a die-hard like me give up my red box of flakes for good.
Perfect mashed potatoes ingredients
- 10 large baking potatoes
- 3 T. sea salt, plus more to taste – I buy this salt in bulk online
- 1 head garlic
- 3 cups raw cream – from grassfed cows
- 1 pound butter – from grassfed cows
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Perfect mashed potatoes method
- Peel potatoes and chop into 2 inch chunks. Place potatoes in a large stockpot and cover by two inches with filtered water. Add 2 T. sea salt.
- Cover and bring to a boil, cooking for 20-25 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, roast the garlic.
- When potatoes are easily mashed with a fork, drain them in a large colander. Immediately mash using a potato masher.
- Fold in butter, cream, and remaining tablespoon of sea salt. Then whip smooth using a hand mixer. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and additional sea salt to taste.
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