Bend the knee

Behold, the mash: the king of sides that remains humble, inexpensive, but a life long favorite of young and old alike. Best of all, mashed potatoes are not that difficult to make, but there are a few things to know that will help your mash reach excellence every time.

Fork tender

Boiling potatoes until they are fork tender consistently results in an excellent mashed texture; it also happens to be dead easy. Cut your potatoes into smaller pieces, and place them in a pot of cold water. Starting them in cold water ensures that the potatoes cook at the same rate, and are all done at the same time. Cook them until you can pierce them with a fork using little to no pressure. Any further than this, and you risk the potatoes becoming gummy.

Everything at the right temperature

If you plan to add dairy to your mash, it's important that your dairy be hot, not cold. Adding cold dairy to hot starch triggers the same thickening process you see when adding cold butter to a hot sauce (like our pan sauce for chicken piccata). The cold fat binds to the hot starches, which unfortunately creates a glue-like consistency in mashed potatoes (not an ideal result!). As the mash cools, the hot dairy cools down at the same rate as the potatoes, and prevents your spuds from becoming something better for building homes than supporting a meal.

Don't overwork them

Mashing potatoes can take a tiny bit of work, but you want to be careful not to overwork them. Starches can develop into stronger structures when overworked, resulting in an unpleasant gummy texture. Your best bet is to mash just until everything is fluffy and fully incorporated, and then serve them to all to us at Winsome Ginsome -- er, to all your family and friends.

Ricing vs. Hand Mashing

We just picked up a potato ricer, and let us tell you: it is a game changer for mashed potatoes. It looks and works like a bit garlic press: load your potatoes in the holder, and close the press, squishing the potato through into roughly rice shaped bits. The texture is incredible, and it's tough to go back. That being said, we were each raised on hand mashing, where you take a masher or even a fork and break up the potatoes with sheer elbow grease. Both work wonderfully, and make a ricer a nice to have versus a necessity - break out the forks and get crushing, slugger!

Flavoring cream

Infusing flavors into cream is as easy as making a cup of tea, with maybe a bit more attention required. Think about what flavours would taste great in your mash, take the whole versions of those herbs and spices, and simmer them in a saucepan of cream or milk until the dairy tastes as you imagined. Common herbs and spices that can go into the mash are:

• Paprika
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Whole Peppercorns
• Nutmeg
• Sage
• Cayenne
• And so much more.

Mashed potatoes are a blank slate for flavour, so play around with it and see what strikes your fancy!

How to make it

Boil and simmer

Wash and peel the potatoes, then cut them up into large-ish chunks: A sharp knife can make this a breeze.

Add the potatoes to a pot, then fill the pot with cold water until the water covers the potatoes. Season the water well with salt: this stage will season your potatoes and make for a more consistently flavourful final product. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat, and let the potatoes cook until fork tender. Medium heat will keep the pot from boiling over.

While that's happening, grab a smaller saucepan and put in cream, butter, whole garlic, and any seasoning you want in there. We added salt pepper and dill for this iteration. Set that pot to medium low and let the cream simmer for about ten minutes - it should taste like all the flavours you put into it.

Do the mash

Drain the potatoes and let them cool a bit. When they're cool enough to handle *but* still warm, run them through a ricer into a bowl or mash them with a fork.

Through a fine mesh strainer, pour the hot cream a bit at a time into the bowl with the potatoes, and gradually mix everything together until all the cream is in.

Taste for seasoning, adjust as necessary, and try not to eat the entire bowl.

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