garlic mashed potatoes

the geek and his mother both have a story about mashed potatoes. he laughs when he tells it; she rolls her eyes with mock indignance when she tells it. i like to think of myself as an unbiased party when it comes to telling this story...

once upon a time, there was a little geek. occasionally, his mother would serve mashed potatoes as part of their the family meals. now, the little geek did not care for mashed potatoes. to him, it tasted like mashed goo. he tolerated it, shoveled it in and washed it down with milk, but he really, really, most definitely did not like it.

this went on for years, until one day, teenager geek took a bite of mashed potatoes and had an epiphany! this bite of mashed potatoes was delicious! maybe he did like mashed potatoes after all!

"wow," he exclaimed to his mother, "did you do something different with the potatoes because they're really good!"

to this she replied, "this is the first time i made mashed potatoes FROM A BOX."

to this day, the geek prefers his mashed potatoes from a box. in fact, the first time i made this recipe, he was so apprehensive about 'real' mashed potatoes that we bought a box to have on hand just in case.

luckily he liked it enough that we did not have to break open the box. it's in our pantry waiting to save the day if the next starch experiment fails because he still insists that the box is the best.


adapted from sam choy's garlic mashed potatoes recipe.

equipment
peeler
large pot
colander
potato masher

ingredients
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (i used yukon gold)
4 cloves garlic, ends removed and peeled
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
additional salt and pepper to taste
parsley (optional)

directions

• place potatoes and garlic cloves in a large pot and add enough cold water to cover everything. bring to boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. potatoes are ready when they are fork tender. drain into colander and return to pot.
• over low heat, mash the potatoes and garlic with a potato masher until desired smoothness.
• remove from heat and add butter and heavy cream. add salt and pepper to taste. garnish with parsley, if that's how you roll.
• serve immediately (or transfer into a buttered oven-safe dish, cool slightly, cover and refrigerate for later.)

notes

to reheat, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees f. cover dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until warmed through.