Hints & Tips for Making Perfect Mashed Potatoes
There’s lots of different ways of making mashed potatoes and everyone has their own method, but here’s a few tricks and tips I’ve learned along the way for making perfect creamy mash.
You’ll need floury potatoes with a higher starch content e.g. King Edwards, Maris Piper, Desiree, King Edward or Russets. Waxy potatoes will give you a gluey mash.
1kg of potatoes will make enough mash to serve 4 people.
Peel thinly and do not cut them too small - in half or in quarters if they’re very big.
Or you could leave the skin on and make what I like to call "skinny mash" which saves a bit of time and effort and preserves the vitamins in the potato skin.
Add the potatoes to a pan of cold water and bring to the boil, then simmer gently until cooked through evenly.
When the potatoes are ready you will be able to pierce them easily with a knife, but be careful not to over cook. Take one out and mash with a fork if you’re unsure.
Drain the potatoes, pop the colander on top of the pan and allow them to steam dry for a couple of minutes. This will avoid a watery mash.
Mash the potatoes in the pan butter and milk or olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. You can use a regular potato masher - hard work but worth it - a masher attachment or put them through a potato ricer.
Whip them up with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer to finish them off.
On Slimming World they whip a raw egg into mash - sounds weird but it really works - it gives a creamy taste without butter or milk. The hot mash cooks the raw egg so it’s safe.
Do not use a hand blender which will cause the cells to break and release starch resulting in wall paper paste.
Leftover mashed potatoes can be frozen for later use. Leftover mash has many clever uses - add it to sauces to thicken them up, or mix with tinned salmon to make fish cakes.
Flavour Ideas:
Give you mash a flavour twist by adding a dollop of mustard, horseradish or pesto. Grated cheddar and fresh basil leaves makes the most incredible cheesey basil mash. Incorporate some mashed up cloves of roasted garlic for amazing garlicky mash - great with steak. For vegan mash swap butter for olive oil.
