Mashed Potatoes

Get out of the way!  Spud coming through!

What I mean by that is that I think most people make mashed potatoes like they hate potatoes and have to cover up the flavor.  I'd like to taste and feel a bit of potato, thank you.

To that end I rarely add milk to my potatoes, just salted butter, pepper and sometimes a little salt.  I also don't boil them to mush or over mash them.  I think whipped potatoes are just a starch bomb that my gut doesn't need right after a big steak. Robert Irvine agrees.

You'll need;

• 5 Russet potatoes (though Yukon Gold are good too)
• 1.5 stick of salted butter
• Pepper (white?) and salt to taste
• a big pot
• a sturdy potato masher
• a wooden spoon 

So this is 6 potatoes. I added more butter to compensate.

Peel the potatoes and dig out any of the eyes.  Don't worry, it's not Oedipal.

Slice the potatoes into quarters or eighths.  I don't like to go smaller, but Alton Brown does.

Generously salt your water and get it boiling.

Add the potatoes and boil for 20-30 minutes.  The boil should be a gentle one, we want to avoid the potatoes banging into each other and breaking up.

They are done when a paring knife goes in halfway with no effort.  Start testing before 20 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and let them drip in the colander while you put the pot back on the heat to dry it out.

When the pot is dry turn off the heat and get the potatoes back in.  Why dirty another dish when you can mash in this pot.  Plus it is hot and will dry the potatoes some more.

Mash them briefly until there are no more big chunks of potato.  This is the first mash so leave it chunky.

From this . . .

. . . to this.

Add the butter (preferably cut into pats) and mash again until the butter is incorporated.  It should still be a bit coarse for your liking.

Now add some seasoning.  Switch to a spoon and stir/fold the potatoes.  Taste and adjust.  Stay light on the salt since people will probably put butter/gravy on the taters.

I use white pepper to preserve the look of the potatoes.  Just use less.

Stir a little more but leave the potatoes a bit coarser than your grandmother did.  The coarse grain of the potatoes traps air and makes the potato flavor jump.  It also reduces the gut-bomb that I alluded to earlier.

If you need to tame the potatoes add more butter, not milk.  Adding cheese is cheating (and the courts have roundly sided with me on this).  Garnish with finely chopped chives.  No one eats parsley.

I keep them warm in a warm oven.