Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
5 lbs Yukon (any waxy) potato, washed/scrubbed, roughly peeled, and quartered
2 sticks butter, melted
1/2 c sour cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream or half and half
1 Tbs coarse black pepper
1 tsp fine or sea salt
Place potatoes in a large stockpot filled with water to cover by about 2 inches. Add 1 Tbs salt to the pot. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cover for 30 minutes. Drain into a colander, return potatoes to the stockpot and mash while piping hot by hand with a potato masher.
TIP: Don’t use a beater or wait for potatoes to cool to mash as this releases more starch and creates “gluey” potatoes; it’s also okay (preferred) for there to be some small lumps left, so don’t mash till completely smooth.
Once potatoes are mashed, fold in all the other ingredients until just combined. Adjust salt and pepper to taste if needed. Serve with more butter or with buttermilk gravy.
Easy Cheater Mashed Potatoes (no one will know)
Ingredients:
3 32-oz trays of pre-cooked mashed potatoes (Bob Evans brand or similar, often found in the produce section of the store)
2 sticks butter, melted
1 c. Sour cream
1/2 c. Heavy whipping cream
1 Tbs coarse black pepper
1 tsp fine or sea salt
Heat potatoes in the microwave according to package directions; decant into a large mixing bowl and stir in butter, sour cream, heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Adjust seasoning if needed. Serve with melted butter or buttermilk gravy
Buttermilk Gravy
* To use the same recipe for regular white gravy, replace buttermilk with heavy cream.
* For sausage gravy, brown and crumble 1 lb of breakfast sausage first; use the sausage grease + 3 Tbs butter as the base for the gravy instead of 1/2 cup butter
Ingredients:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
6 cups whole milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp fine or sea salt
Melt butter in a large skillet (iron skillet works well, but any large skillet will do) over medium heat. Whisk in 3 Tbs flour and heat for 2-3 minutes or until bubbling. Add milk 1 cup at a time, whisking thoroughly into butter/flour and allowing to thicken and come back to a simmer between each addition. Stir often After all the milk is used and gravy begins to simmer, stir in buttermilk, salt and pepper. Taste and add more salt as needed. Remove from heat when gravy is the consistency you like, stirring often to prevent sticking to the pan or lumps.
