Editor's note: Every month we ask local professionals to help us solve some of most pressing problems in the kitchen by pointing out the things we do to sabotage our own meals.
Equally important as the Thanksgiving Day turkey are the mashed potatoes at its side, but by the time the bird is coaxed to golden brown, the table packed with autumnal bric-a-brac and another family squabble squelched, mashed potatoes are an afterthought.
Oh well. Who cares? After all, the potatoes are so easy to prepare.
If that's true, why do our mashed potatoes often end up better suited to pasting together estranged relatives?
Blame it on the things we do to sabotage this most simple side dish. Thinking all potatoes are the same, we choose the wrong ones, boil them to near disintegration and then beat them into a submission the comatose tubers couldn't resist in the first place.
Jason Ivady would never do such awful things to potatoes. Head chef at Henry's restaurant in Wilmington, Ivady and crew turn out mounds of yummy garlic mashed potatoes. Back home, Ivady has a special place in his heart for mashers: He relied on the preparation to woo his vegetarian wife.
"Over the space of my chefdom, I've done many sorts of mashed potatoes," Ivady says.
No matter if he's folding in wasabi, truffle oil or lobster chunks, Ivady follows the same basic steps for perfect mashed potatoes. Good ingredients and a gentle hand are keys to success, he says. The process isn't fussy.
Despite our failed efforts, Ivady confirms the thought that leads to them.
"Mashed potatoes" he confirms, "are pretty easy."
Here are some of the most common mashed potato saboteurs:
If you can boil water, you can make mashed potatoes, sure, but home cooks often don't use enough water when cooking potatoes. They should be covered with water twice the tubers' depth in the pot, Ivady says. "The less water you use to cover the potatoes, the more starch in the water." That starch gives finished mashed potatoes a sticky, grainy texture. Water sabotages potatoes in another way, Ivady warns. When boiled potatoes are not fully drained, resulting mashed potatoes are loose and bland. "Drain them in a colander for a while," Ivady says. "Let all the water get out of them."
No one likes to peel potatoes, especially the little ones, but those small fries have the sweetest flavor and result in the best mashed potatoes, Ivady promises. "The bigger the potato, the less sweet. The smaller the potato, the sweeter and creamier your mashed potatoes are going to be." Avoid large baking potatoes. Red potatoes are fine, as are fingerlings, although remember that the latter will produce mashed potatoes with a prominent yellow color. Ivady prefers standard white potatoes.
Margarine and whipped faux butter spreads for your mashed potatoes? Really? You might save a few calories, but your mashed potatoes will suffer, Ivady says. "The butter substitute is going to be an oil blend, so you're going to have looser, not-as-rich mashed potatoes," Ivady warns. Thanksgiving is a feast day; go with real butter. Use real cream, too, whether it is half-and-half or heavy cream, Ivady advises. You don't need much and cream lends an unparalleled creaminess to mashed potatoes.
In the rush to get mashed potatoes on the table before the green bean casserole gets cold, home cooks add butter and milk right from the fridge to hot potatoes before mashing them. Heating those ingredients makes a big difference. "If you don't, it cools down the potatoes and they do not mix right. They get gummy and lumpy," Ivady explains. Warm the cream and soften the butter at room temperature or follow Ivady's lead: The chef warms cream, butter and seasonings together in a pan then adds them to the hot potatoes. How much to add? "Taste as you go," Ivady says
Using a stand mixer is a tempting time saver on Thanksgiving Day. Just dump in the potatoes, cream, butter and seasonings, turn the machine on and then turn attention to carving the turkey. While Ivady says using a mixer to whip potatoes is OK, the tubers don't need much time with the machine. "Go just until the milk and butter are incorporated. When they're in, you're done," the chef says. "The more you whip, the more air you are going to incorporate into the mashed potatoes, and they are going to fall." Test mashed potatoes by plopping a spoonful on a plate. They should stand like whipped cream peaks - fluffy, light and proud queen to King Turkey.
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