Laura Weather's Recipe for Mashed Potatoes!

By ldelmas

Ingredients

• Laura Weather's Recipe for Mashed Potatoes

Preparation

Step 1

. Peel, roughly chop, about 1-2"pieces, and soak in water your potatoes for an hour or better yet, the day ahead - this is the most time consuming so why not get it off your to do list? Soaking the potatoes will leech out some of the starch. Just before loading your slow cooker, drain off and discard this water as too much starch can make for gluey mashed potatoes. Rinse potatoes well. Remember that the kind of potato will affect the outcome. I like a rich tasting Yukon Gold. Russets make for a fluffier end product.



2. The size and shape, as well as, the way your slow cooker heats (just from the bottom or all around) will or could affect your cooking time. In general, aim to fill your cooker about 1/2 to 3/4 full for most efficient cooking. If your cooker only heats from the bottom you may have to stir part way through the cooking.



3. I cook on high for approximately 4+ hours or low for about 8+. Hold on warm for a food safe 2hrs.during the meal. Be aware that every time you lift the lid adds about 30min. to the cook time. If this is your first time to try mashed potatoes in your slow cooker, give yourself some fudge factor on the time, one of the beauties of slow cooking.



4. Place your prepped potatoes in your cooker and add about 1-1 1/2 cups liquid for every 5lbs of potatoes. This can be water, chicken or vegetable broth. You can add salt and pepper now or wait and season to taste when mashing.



5. At the end of the cook time, test with a fork, top and bottom potatoes to make sure they are tender. Drain off any extra liquid, if you prefer. I don't. I just add my milk or cream accordingly when mashing. I save on my cleanup and use my KitchenAid hand mixer on speed 4 and 5 to mash and serve right in the pot of my slow cooker. Be careful not to over beat, as it can make the potatoes gluey as well.

6. If you want to make these completely the day ahead and just reheat, add sour cream or cream cheese (to help retain the texture) when mashing and make them a little looser than normal. Remember to allow for the "cold from the refrigerator" temperature when figuring reheat times. A good reheat guess-timate is about 4hrs.on low.



.