Potatoes Smashed!

    Whenever I need a good pick-me-up I cook mashed potatoes. There's something about them that's so comforting. Could it be the dish's simplicity?
Potatoes, cream, and a good mashing is all you need for a hearty, uncomplicated side. Or maybe it's because the dish is flexible. Steak, chicken (roasted or fried), asparagus, and brussel sprouts all go well just to name a few. You can even add bacon, thyme, scallions, or sun-dried tomatoes for a change of pace. Perhaps it's the simple fact that they're usually served family style and with good company.

    That's not to say that they're the easiest to make. It took me plenty of tries to find the right balance. Forget to add salt at the right time and they become under seasoned. Without enough cream, they become mealy. Boil or mash them for too long and you get soup. Today I set out to make a mash of balanced texture and flavor.

This . . .

turns in to this.

    To achieve this balance, Alton recommends the use of two kinds of potatoes, Russet and Red. You see potatoes can be divided into three categories of starchiness:
Red Boiling = low starch
Yukon Gold = medium starch
Russet = high starch

The high starch content of Russets will yield a smooth creamy texture while the red boiling variety will add a contrasting chunky texture. After a good peeling, I placed the potatoes in a stockpot with just enough water to cover them. As the water was heating to a boil I moved on to cooking the cream. 

Garlic and cream.

    For the cream, I mixed three parts buttermilk to one part heavy whipping cream. I tasted buttermilk by itself for the first time and was met with a mellow tangy taste, kind of like yogurt. I'm thinking it's in the recipe to keep the mash from getting too rich.

    I usually added the garlic in the recipe to the cream at this point with a garlic press, but made the realization that the recipe calls for smashed garlic. I think I'm supposed to smash them instead of pulverizing so that the cream is infused with garlic flavors rather than mixed with chunks of garlic.

    Just as the cream was coming to a light simmer, I suddenly remembered something that Alton covered in his show.

#004: Boiling starches in salted water will incorporate flavor into the starch evenly.

Boiling potatoes!

    I'm not exactly sure why, but adding the salt while the potato is cooked in water always makes for a tastier mash. I learned that glucose granules in the potato start filling with water when heat is applied resulting in fluffy potatoes. I'm thinking the salt might be absorbed too, but I could be wrong.

    Alton recommends adding enough salt to the water for it to taste like sea water, which is about a teaspoon of salt for every quart of water.

My trusty masher.

    About 15 minutes later, the potatoes became tender enough to break apart easily with tongs. If you wait too long, too much water gets absorbed and the granules burst, resulting in zero fluffiness. I drained the potatoes and cooked them for just a little longer to make sure they weren't too wet for mashing. As I mashed, I incorporated the cream into the potatoes until the they reached my target consistency. Topped it with a couple shavings of Parmesan Reggiano and the dish was done.

    Now that I feel more comfortable cooking mash, I think I'll be experimenting with other like bacon or crispy onions. I might also try playing around with the texture. Do you guys like your mashed potatoes creamy or chunky? What would you add to enhance the dish?