The case of chunky mashed potaters

[warpus]

Whoa, chopping the bastards up before I throw them into boiling water, why haven't I thought of that?? Thanks Lucy and PiMan

I am seriously learning a lot here about proper potato usage

Und ja, ich brauche ein Bundeskartoffelstampfer!

 

[GinandTonic]

Pah! A man may fight for many things: his country, his principles, his friends, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child... But personally, I'd mud wrestle my own mother for the principal that potatoes should be mashed with butter not milk!

EDIT -

Cream if you really must be healthy, but milk-mash is like curry made without ghee. More healthy but pointless. Just have the good stuff less often. There are perfectly nice healthy meals, just eat one of them and then a plate of proper mash the next night.

 

[warpus]

Mashed potatoes:
Chop potatoes into quarters or eighths (or more, but largely unnecessary)
boil potatoes until soft
drain most of the water, but keep the saucepan at a simmer temperature
add some milk and start mashing with masher shown in post 19.
add more milk if consistency seems to hard or dry.
add shredded cheese and mash until cheese is mixed through (optional, but I prefer it)

Sausages:
Fry or barbecue with little to no added oil.


Serve on the same plate, and you have bangers and mash.

What about gravy? Isn't that an integral part of the meal? You can't have mashed potatoes without gravy! Surely that's some sort of a sin!

 

[PiMan]

Also: peel for a smoother mash; don't peel for a tastier mash.

 

[PiMan]

What about gravy? Isn't that an integral part of the meal? You can't have mashed potatoes without gravy! Surely that's some sort of a sin!

I don't like gravy, but I'll consider adding tomato sauce.

 

[warpus]

Pah! A man may fight for many things: his country, his principles, his friends, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child... But personally, I'd mud wrestle my own mother for the principal that potatoes should be mashed with butter not milk!

Why not both?

Anyone got any other mashed potato recipes? As a kid I grew up eating a ton of the stuff - it was usually accompanied by a beaten, breaded, and fried cutlet. I'm not sure if that's a Polish thing, or just a thing my mom used to do, but I need to get on that. Anything else I should be eating mashed potates with?

I will try the mustard too, sounds intriguing.

 

[Cutlass]

What about gravy? Isn't that an integral part of the meal? You can't have mashed potatoes without gravy! Surely that's some sort of a sin!

Some people use butter instead of gravy. Or some combination of many other things. Garlic, chives, sour cream, these are popular.

 

[PiMan]

Why not both?

Anyone got any other mashed potato recipes? As a kid I grew up eating a ton of the stuff - it was usually accompanied by a beaten, breaded, and fried cutlet. I'm not sure if that's a Polish thing, or just a thing my mom used to do, but I need to get on that. Anything else I should be eating mashed potates with?

I will try the mustard too, sounds intriguing.

Lamb cutlets are fairly popular in Australia, and go well with mashed potatoes.

 

[holy king]

grating potatoes is superior to mashing them.

 

[warpus]

Also: peel for a smoother mash; don't peel for a tastier mash.

What do you mean by that?

I seem to suck at peeling with a knife - should I get one of em potato peelers?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

What about gravy? Isn't that an integral part of the meal? You can't have mashed potatoes without gravy! Surely that's some sort of a sin!

It's not a sin if you're allergic to gravy.

I use creamed corn instead of gravy.

 

[GinandTonic]

It's not a sin if you're allergic to gravy.

I use creamed corn instead of gravy.

What in gravy are you allergic to? The variety of gravy is such that two gravies could have no ingredient in common.

 

[Lillefix]

I haven't read beyond the OP, but there is nothing wrong with chunks in the potato mash.

 

[LucyDuke]

Whoa, chopping the bastards up before I throw them into boiling water, why haven't I thought of that?? Thanks Lucy and PiMan

Woah, apparently less duh than I thought. Yeah, it's win-win. Faster cooking, faster mashing.

Re: peeling, I don't remove the peels when I make mashed potatoes, 90% of the time. It's way yummier and I'm pretty sure it's healthier.

Suggestion for yumming the hell out of the potatoes? Cheese. Start throwing shredded cheese in, once you're getting past the worst lumps. Stop either when you realize it's enough cheese or when you start getting the cheesy stringiness interfering with the mashing. It's probably as healthy as a brick of lard but freaking delicious. I like cheddar and mozzarella. I also like throwing a bunch of inappropriate vegetables in, too, which is way healthier than the cheese, and also freaking delicious, but that's just me.

BEST VEGETABLE PEELER <3

 

[Tabster]

If you're going to have gravy with your sausage and mash, you might as well fry some onions with your sausages and have 'onion gravy' - just mix your onions into the gravy then serve

Mash your potatoes in the pan (not a bowl) as the flat bottom fit perfectly with a standard masher.

If you are familiar with British comics you may have seen 'bangers and mash' being serve as just a pile of mash with the sausages sticking out at random intervals. This is highly impractical, it's best served as a pile of mash with the sausages lying next to it, all smothered with gravy.

 

[snakeseare]

Definitely get a potato peeler. For best results, peel the ends first, then go around the long axis peeling from one end to the other. Then chop them: the smaller the bits, the faster they cook. I cut them in half lengthwise, then again at right angles to get four long quarters, then lay the two bits that make a half flat and cut it at 2cm/1 inch intervals. These will be ready to mash after 20 minutes of boiling.

I find it best to mash the potatoes before adding anything, less chance of lumps.

You can add what you like after they are mashed, but I get raves with butter, a large dollop of mayonnaise (I hear the purists screaming, I don't care) garlic powder to taste, and salt and pepper to taste. Chives are nice for a fancy touch, and yummy.

Gravy you make with the drippings from the sausages, but that's pretty advanced stuff. Google "roux." (Disclosure: I do not usually make a roux to make gravy, though I have done.)

 

[Furiey]

I'm with GinandTonic in the using butter in the mash. A good chunk of butter and maybe a little milk if more liquid is needed (with a dash of salt and pepper to taste) will make really nice creamy mash. A potato masher is definitely the way to go, a fork will take ages, a mixer or sieve will puree it. Some people do prefer more lumpy mash though, others prefer a smoother texture.

If you want something else to do with mash, I like a cheese and potato pie. Add cheese (cheddar is best) to your mash so that the cheese melts in. place in an oven dish, top with grated cheese, sprinkle with pepper and grill until cheese is brown. If you like (ie: optional not essential) add a layer of bacon before the cheese topping (you'll have to cook the bacon first) and maybe some sliced tomatoes on top of the cheese topping.

 

[snakeseare]

If you're going to have gravy with your sausage and mash, you might as well fry some onions with your sausages and have 'onion gravy' - just mix your onions into the gravy then serve

You lost me there at the end. Definitely fry the onions with the sausages. Just mixing raw onion into the finished gravy would be completely different (and I wouldn't recommend it.) Lots of people don't know that when you slow-cook onions, they turn sweet, as the sugars in them caramelise. Good stuff.

Lots of times I just start with a load of onions and garlic in the skillet and then just start throwing in whatever comes to hand. Onions, garlic, and celery (or bell peppers) are known as the "Holy Trinity" of Cajun cooking. Start with those and you can hardly go wrong. Use ginger instead of celery and you have the start of a nice curry. Different spices....

 

[GinandTonic]

To make onion gravy I would fry some onions off, to half way between "translucent" sauce-base and caramelised onion marmalade base. Couple of porcine, deglaze the sos pan with red wine. Thyme if poss.

 

[Tabster]

You lost me there at the end. Definitely fry the onions with the sausages. Just mixing raw onion into the finished gravy would be completely different (and I wouldn't recommend it.) Lots of people don't know that when you slow-cook onions, they turn sweet, as the sugars in them caramelise. Good stuff.

Yeah, I meant fry the onions and add those to the gravy, not fry some onion and throw them away and then add raw onions to the gravy. That would be madness !

I also do most of the mashing first, then add the other ingredient, butter, milk ect (not the sausages or the onions or the gravy, that would be madness, too) and just do a bit more mashing to mix it all up.

Good luck.