Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese

By Jan_C

Extra richness with cream cheese and half-and-half. (Prep time includes time needed to roast garlic.)

Ingredients

• 3 heads to 5 heads garlic
• 5 pounds Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and rinsed
• 1-1/2 stick regular salted butter (3/4 Cup)
• 8 ounces, weight softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup or so Half-and-Half (or heavy cream, if you're feeling naughty)
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste

Details

Preparation time 60mins
Cooking time 75mins
Adapted from thepioneerwoman.com

Preparation

Step 1

ROASTED GARLIC
Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
Place the garlic heads in a baking pan (muffin pans work well for this purpose). Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Salt lightly. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

POTATOES
Cut the peeled potatoes into pieces and cook in boiling salted water until fork-tender. Drain water and return to pot, and mash potatoes over low heat until lots of the steam has escaped.

Next, mash in softened butter, cream cheese, half-and-half, and salt to taste. Dump in three to five heads of roasted garlic cloves; stir together, then check seasoning. Be sure to salt adequately.

Add some fresh ground black pepper, and serve with one or two roasted garlic cloves on top. Serve with steak and expect to be worshipped and kissed for at least 38 hours.