Garlic Mashed Potatoes

By RoketJSquerl

Ingredients

• 5 Pounds Russet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" thick chunks
• 1 Head Garlic, cloves peeled, but left whole
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream (1/4 to 1/3)
• Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to Taste
• Aleppo Pepper and Freshly Snipped Chives for Garnish

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from tigersandstrawberries.com

Preparation

Step 1

Put the potatoes and garlic in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to a merry simmer, and cook until the potatoes are fork tender. (Which means a fork goes into them and then comes easily back out again–no sticking.) Or taste a potato chunk to see if it is properly done. They should be something that you could melt some butter over and eat without mashing–underdone potatoes make awful mashed potatoes. Simply awful. Don’t go there. Drain your potatoes–allow them to sit in the colander for at least two minutes, shaking them now and again. While the potatoes are draining melt the butter and cream in the microwave until they are melty and warm. Then, pop the potatoes back in the pot, and stir them over medium heat until a film of potato starch forms on the bottom of the pot. Remove from the heat, and mash by hand. (Come on, you can do it. Get yourself a potato masher and have at it. I do it all the time. I even mashed 20 pounds of potatoes by hand using Gram’s masher in a huge pot for the Toyota Farm to Table event. If I did that, you can do five pounds for real. Besides, it builds up great forearm muscles.) When potatoes are pretty well halfway to mashed, pour in the melted butter and cream, and mash until most of the lumps are gone. Then, using the masher, beat the potatoes a bit, going in big circles around the pot. Sprinkle in the salt and pepper and beat them a little bit more. At this point, they should be fluffy and delicious. Garnish with Aleppo pepper flakes and snipped bits of fresh chive, and if you must, a bit more melted butter. You know, just to make it pretty.