The Perfect Mashed Potato?

Claudie

Mashed potato under and over the meat of your cottage pie.....

Sunny_Angel

The trick to getting waterlogged spuds into a nice mash is to put them back on the heat after draining (no lid) and drying them out this way. Give the saucepan a shake a few times when they're sizzling and then add butter and milk or whatever takes your fancy. (Personally i love a chopped up spring onion in mine every now and then.)

HTH

gingin_2

I dry mine too on the stove an then use an electric whisk with butter, milk, salt and pepper.

The ultimate mash I know of is to gently fry a couple of cloves of garlic in butter until soft but not brown and then add 100g lancashire cheese in enough mash for 2, whisk with an electric beater until it is smooth and it makes the most amazing comfort food and lovely with red meat.

ashby

Do them in the micro and you won't need to dry them, also nearly as fast as instant. I make mine, in the serving dish, as follows. Peel and chop as per pan cooking - use a straight sided dish as it's easier to mash them - a small amount of water in bottom of dish - they take about 5/6 minutes - drain the water - add milk and butter to dish - reheat about one minute as the milk and butter needs to be hot before you mash, if you don't want glue - season, mash and serve. A doddle.

Curv

I've been mashing potatoes without incident for the last 25 years or so. They always turn out fairly fluffy, pretty tasty and, well, I guess you'd describe them as mashed! If anyone finds the odd lump here or there I just tell them I've done them in a 'rustic style'

Anyway, last night, for the first time ever, my mashed potatoes were awful. I ended up with a panful of lumpy wallpaper paste and even my mash-loving 13 month old threw them on the floor - the girl DEFINITELY has taste.

And whilst I scraped the rest of the potatoes into the bin I thought I'd ask you lot to share your secrets and tips for gorgeous mash; techniques for cooking, flavouring and mashing.

C'mon... share the love

jj171

Curv wrote: »

I've been mashing potatoes without incident for the last 25 years or so. They always turn out fairly fluffy, pretty tasty and, well, I guess you'd describe them as mashed! If anyone finds the odd lump here or there I just tell them I've done them in a 'rustic style'

Anyway, last night, for the first time ever, my mashed potatoes were awful. I ended up with a panful of lumpy wallpaper paste and even my mash-loving 13 month old threw them on the floor - the girl DEFINITELY has taste.

And whilst I scraped the rest of the potatoes into the bin I thought I'd ask you lot to share your secrets and tips for gorgeous mash; techniques for cooking, flavouring and mashing.

C'mon... share the love

Hi there
I have only just discovered the art of mash! I used to buy it in little tubs from Sainsbury:rolleyes: Last week I bought potatoes!! For 31p I got a lovely large dish of yummy mash - instead of spending £1.99 on something rather sloppy and salty.

I steamed roughly chopped potatoes, mashed with a very small amount of butter and seasoning. Didn't seem to need anything else. I'm disappointed to know there can be pitfalls....

Can anyone help me with carrot and swede mash please? What proportions work well?
Thanks
JJ

Seakay

The type of potato makes a big difference to the quality of the mash - King Edwards are great and I think that Maris Piper work well.

With carrot and swede mash I do aprox half and half, but I know that some people like to add at least one potato for the texture

squeaky

Hiya,

I've just added these posts onto an earlier thread that has some helpful ideas.

Good luck

sammiboo

Hi there

Basic mash. I peel and chop the potatoes and boil them for about 20 mins until i can get a knife through them. Drain and add a generous scoop of butter/marg. I also add a good glug of milk too.

I think you might need to leave them on the boil a bit longer to stop the lumps?

Good Luck

destiny_star2006

It doesnt matter what potatoes i use they always come out creamy soft and fluffy and taste just like smash so my oh says as i wont touch the smash stuff yucky
I peel me chaties into standard size as if makn roast potatoes put in pan for up to 30 mins and wait for them to go really soft and just about to break up then mash them first without adding anything and then add a large amount of real butter and half a cup of cold milk and then mix all together and stir it etc and guarantee it will taste brill!