Mashed potatoes are the most popular side dish that every housewife should be able to prepare. Despite the fact that at first glance it seems that it is easy to cook, there are still some secrets that you need to know.
Recipe content:
- Secrets of making mashed potatoes
- Ingredients
- Step by step cooking
- Video recipe
Mashed potatoes are the dish that is prepared most often in every family. It even confidently overtakes pasta, not to mention vegetables and cereals. Mashed potatoes are truly versatile: aromatic, tasty, plastic and allows you to experiment with decoration and design. It goes wonderfully with different side dishes: any meat, fish and vegetables. The dish leaves a feeling of satiety for a long time.
In order for mashed potatoes to actually deliver true pleasure, it must be properly prepared. Naturally, no special talent is needed. According to the classical canons, this dish is prepared from boiled potatoes with the addition of salt, butter, eggs and any dairy products: sour cream, milk, cream. There are no special secret components and ingenious electrical appliances. Armed with an ordinary crush or mixer, you can make the perfect mashed potatoes.
Secrets of making mashed potatoes
- For mashed potatoes, it is advisable to use tubers of the old crop; young potatoes are not suitable for this. The potatoes should be firm, with a firm and even skin.
- You need to cook the vegetable on low heat, under the lid. The water should only cover it a little.
- The dish is cooked no longer than 15-20 minutes.
- Tubers should not be cut very finely. They will cook faster, of course, but they will also lose a lot of starch.
- Do not spare butter for mashed potatoes, so the food will only taste better.
- So that the mashed potatoes do not turn out to be too stringy and gray in color, it must be made only from hot potatoes not lower than 80 ° C.
- You can decorate the dish with curly parsley, chopped dill or very nicely carrot puree.
- The mashed potatoes are not heated. Its shelf life is two hours. After cooling, it can be used for potato pie, casseroles, zraz, fillings.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 106 kcal.
- Servings - 4
- Cooking time - 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Potatoes - 4 pcs.
- Butter - 50 g
- Eggs - 2 pcs.
- Bay leaf - 2 pcs.
- Allspice peas - 4 pcs.
- Salt - 1.5 tsp or to taste
Making mashed potatoes
1. Peel the potatoes and wash well under running water. Cut it into medium pieces, about 2 cm in size (do not cut them too finely, otherwise starch will come out). Dip the tubers into a saucepan and cover with water so that it only covers the potatoes. Add bay leaves and peppercorns to a saucepan. Turn on a high heat and boil. Then, reduce the temperature to minimum, close the container with a lid and cook until the vegetable is soft, about 20 minutes.
2. Taste the cooked potatoes with a knife. If it is soft, drain the water from the pot. Then return the potatoes to the stove and dry a little over medium heat, about 2-3 minutes, so that the moisture evaporates from it.
3. Add butter to the potatoes and beat in the eggs. You can adjust the added products if you wish. For example, add sour cream or cream instead of one egg. You can also pour milk.
4. Knead the potatoes with a crush until smooth. Adjust the consistency of the puree yourself. Love thinner, add longer butter, cream, milk. On the contrary, if you prefer thick potatoes, limit yourself to a minimal set of products.
5. Put the finished mashed potatoes in a deep container and serve. Garnish with herbs on top if desired. But you can sprinkle potatoes with fried mushrooms or sautéed onions.
See also a video recipe on how to make mashed potatoes (recipe from chef Ilya Lazerson).
