The Two Most Frequently Asked Questions About Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes have gotten a bad rap over the years. But the fault doesn’t lie with the potato, which is actually quite good for us. Rather, the fault lies in all the fatty and heavy ingredients we add to/put on top of potatoes. And don’t forget to check out my new ebook all about cooking potatoes that I did with Chef David Nelson called The Reluctant Gourmet’s Guide to Great Potato Recipes. It will give you everything you’ll ever need to know about cooking potatoes.

The holiday season is one time when we would prefer not to worry about all of that, though. I know that at the Thanksgiving table, there is nothing I look forward to more than rich and creamy mashed potatoes, and I refuse to apologize for it.

Mashed potatoes are a simple dish - comfort food at its best. But, for all their simplicity, people do tend to ask the same questions about making mashed potatoes year after year. So, bookmark this article or print it out because, here are Reluctant Gourmet’s definitive answers to this pair of persistent potato queries. And don’t forget to check out my recipe for great mashed potatoes.

Help! I have 16 coming for dinner. How many potatoes should I allow per person?

The most common answer to this question is to allow 1/3 to 1/2 pound of raw potatoes per person. This translates to between 5 and 8 oz. of potatoes per person. That’s the simple answer, but as with most seemingly straightforward questions, there are many variables that must be considered.

Remember, you’ll be mixing those potatoes with other ingredients, so for each 8 oz. of raw potato, you could potentially have up to 1 pound of mashed potatoes. And while I might load up with a majestic mound of mashers in the middle of my plate and then carefully place miniscule portions of cranberry, green beans, turkey and dressing around the edges, many people will want to give equal time to all of the other traditional Thanksgiving offerings.

1. How are you going to make your mashed potatoes? If you’re mashing them with chicken broth and some light margarine, you might consider allowing closer to 8 oz. of potato per person, but if your plans include creme fraiche, cream cheese, sour cream, heavy cream or other rich and calorie-dense ingredients, go with no more than 5 ounces of raw potatoes per person.

2. Who are you serving? If your holiday table is decidedly child-heavy, allow maybe 2 oz. of raw potato per child. If you will be entertaining the entire defensive line of the Philadelphia Eagles, you might go for closer 10-12 oz. of raw potatoes per person. And if any of your dinner guests are on Atkin’s or are Somersizing, throw out all your calculations.

3. What else will you be serving? I’m a fan of starches, so I’m all for the stuffing-mashed potato-big fat dinner roll trifecta, but if you’re trying to offer a balance of proteins, carbs and fats at your holiday table, consider the other starches on the menu. If you’re serving sweet potatoes, any other root vegetable such as carrots, parsnips or turnips, stuffing or dressing, rolls or biscuits or even another potato dish, you might choose to cut back on the potatoes to only 3-4 oz. or so per person.

4. How will you be preparing your potatoes? If you’re just straight-up mashing the potatoes by hand, you will end up with a denser end product than if you use your mixer. If you whip your potatoes, they will increase in volume because of whipping in some air, so you can probably get away with 3-4 oz. potatoes per person if you are whipping them. When hand mashing, stick with 5-8 oz.

Help! I only have so many burners on my stove top. Can I make the mashed potatoes ahead and reheat them in the oven the next day?

The short answer to that question is “No, please don’t do that.” But, since I want you to understand why I’m telling you what I’m telling you, I will elaborate.

Potatoes, especially the ones that we like to use for mashed potatoes (Russets and even Yukons), contain large starch granules. When we cook them the starch granules swell up, or gelatinize, giving us the light and fluffy texture that we expect in a potato. Agitating the potatoes while they are still warm breaks up these fluffy starch granules. That’s how we get a nice and creamy mashed potato. Here’s the problem, though. Once your wonderful warm and creamy mashed potatoes cool, the starches firm up and what you’re left with is cold and clumpy glue.

If you absolutely must reheat your mashed potatoes, cook and mash just the potatoes the day before. Then, reheat with your additional ingredients right before serving. Of course, you’ll still be left with the issue of burner space.

An alternative is to mash the potatoes the day before with all of your other ingredients, but with more liquid than what you would normally use. You’ll want the potatoes to be a bit looser in consistency than how you would normally serve them. When you reheat them, your potatoes should be at about the right consistency for serving.

Another trick I have seen for reheating mashed potatoes is to hold them in a crock pot set on low. This might be an option for you if you have the counter space. I would recommend stirring them periodically to keep them as evenly-heated as possible.

I don’t think that you should try and reheat the potatoes without agitating them, unless you are going for a more sliceable end-product. If you want a fresh-mashed consistency, you’re going to have to use a masher again or at least stir them vigorously with a spoon.

And there you have it. I do hope that I have helped you to consider the many variables inherent in planning potato quantities as well as given you my best advice about reheating mashed potatoes. I hope you have a healthy and happy holiday season, and think of me kindly when you hear someone say, “Pass the potatoes please!”

We belong to a Lancaster PA Farm Fresh CoOp and receive all sorts of fresh, seasonal produce throughout the summer and into the fall. Sometimes it is overwhelming the amount of stuff we get and have to find ways to use it.

Lately, we’ve been inundated with shallots and were looking for recipes that called for them. We also are now starting to receive a lot of various varieties of squash including the creamed skin with dark-green stripped delicata squash.

Fortunately, my November edition of Fine Cooking had an interesting recipe for Delicata Squash with Caramelized Shallots. Perfect! Just what we needed to use up some of those shallots. Last night I fired up the outdoor wood-burning oven to make some pizzas for the kids and roasted a chicken for the adults. The squash dish was made the night before but was absolutely delicious with the roasted chicken.

So if you are looking for a way to use up some squash and shallots, I highly recommend you give this one a try.  This recipe serves four so you might want to double it up if you are having guests or want to serve it again later in the week.

Delicata Squash with Caramelized Shallots & Sherry
adapted from Fine Cooking - November 2008

Ingredients:

• 1 large delicata squash
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup thinly sliced shallots (3 large)
• 4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage

How to Make at Home:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F

2) Start by peeling the squash but don’t worry about the skin in the crevices. Trim the ends and then cut the squash in half lengthwise. You’ll need a big knife to cut through the squash so be careful.

3) Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and then cut the squash crosswise into 1/2 thick pieces.

4) In a large fry pan, skillet or saute pan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. So not to overcrowd the pan, cook half of the squash pieces in a single layer making sure not to move them until the slices begin to brown. This should take about two minutes.

5) Flip the squash over and cook on the other side until they begin to turn brown. Again they should take about two minutes.

6) Transfer the squash to a baking dish that has a cover or use foil if you don’t have one. Finish cooking the rest of the squash and transfer to the baking dish trying to keep everything in a single buyer. Sprinkle about two tablespoons of the sherry along with half a teaspoon of salt and a little bit of the ground pepper on top of the squash.

7) In the same pan, heat the other tablespoon of olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and a little bit of salt and cook until the shallots turn a golden brown. This takes 3-5 minutes but be sure to stir often.

When the shallots are done remove the pan from the heat and add the sage along with the remaining two tablespoons of sherry.  Use the sherry to deglaze the bottom of the pan while scraping any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Place the shallots over the squash in the baking dish.

9) Cover the pan and bake until squash is fork tender which should take about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

I think you’re going to like this one.

What To Do With All Those Peaches

When we came back from the Jersey shore last week we stopped at a farmer’s market and picked up a basket of ripe yellow Jersey  peaches. With perfect texture and that distinctive aroma, Jersey peaches in season are one of my all time favorite fruits.

We had a bunch and I knew they wouldn’t last so we had to figure out what to do with them fast. My wife thought some fresh halibut topped with a peach salsa would be nice and it was terrific. My youngest daughter doesn’t care for halibut so I grilled up a chicken breast for her and the salsa was perfect on that too.

In fact, the next night I grilled up the rest of the chicken breasts for the whole family and we served it with the salsa. Delicious!!

Quick & Easy Peach Salsa

There are hundreds of ways to make peach salsa and I recommend you experiment with various ingredients to come up with one that you can call your own.

Ingredients:

• 4 or 5 ripe peaches, cut up into 1-inch cubes
• 2 or 3 ripe tomatoes, cut up into 1-inch cubes
• 1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 of a red onion, to taste
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 - 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil for a slightly different taste
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

How to Make Peach Salsa at Home

Once you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go, all you have to do is combine the peaches, tomatoes, cilantro, onion and lime juice. Add the oil and give a stir. Season with salt & pepper, taste and let the salsa sit for 10 minutes before adjusting seasonings.

If you are in a hurry like we usually are, you can serve the salsa but it will taste much better if you let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours.