Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I've been working on a recipe for Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  This is not my mother's mashed potatoes, which in Paula Deen style, were so very rich with butter and cream.  They aren't perfectly creaming and smooth, either, in Martha Stewart style.  I have no problems with a few lumps in mashed potatoes.  Actually prefer it.


This started yesterday.  I roasted the garlic.  It's worth it because of the extra flavor and doesn't take that much time, but I do all my cooking after dark, so planning is necessary.  The total truth is that I don't like raw garlic in some things and sauted garlic is easy to burn. 


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Somewhere around 2 to 2 1/4 pound of yukon gold potatoes.  I'm going to say this many.

Peel them.  I use a paring knife and cut against my thumb.  What most people call a potato peeler, I use to peel carrots.  One of these days, I'll get around to another blog post about peeling.  I did lots of it at an early age.  My mother and grandmother picked and canned or froze produce all summer long.  I spent many a summer afternoon belly-up to the sink, peeling and slicing things, so let's just say I have a couple opinions about that. 

Cut each peeled potato in half, unless they are big.  Then, cut them in quarters.  Put them in a large sauce pan or small stew pot and cover with water.  I add about a good teaspoon of salt and start heating them.  At a slow steady boil, cook them until they stick easily with a fork.  

Place a big colander into the sink.  Turn on the cold water.  Carefully pour the pot, water and potatoes, into the colander.  I'm not sure why I do the cold water thing.  I'm not usually prone to old wife's tales, but it makes good sense to me that it is not good for the plumbing to pour boiling water into it.  On the other hand, maybe it's just fine.  That's just how I do it. 

Return the cooked potatoes to the same pot.  Add 1 T. butter, 2 T. olive oil and 1/2 cup  Tillamook Sour Cream.  You can substitute other good commercial sour cream if you don't live in the Pacific Northwest.  1/2 t. of salt or more if you like it.  Actually, I like a little more.   1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper. 

Mash with a potato masher.  The one on the right is just like the one my Mom had, I think.  I bought it at a garage sale.  But the one on the left is my favorite to actually use. 

Another option includes a food mill, which actually works pretty well for this type of thing.  They are functional, cheap, easy to find.  They go easily in the dishwasher.  I believe I bought this thing at the Goodwill on 78th just east of 99 highway. 

I like my masher, but I've also used my nice little Black & Decker hand mixer to mash potatoes many times.  So there is another option. 

  

Put the roasted garlic from the night before on the cutting board and give it a good chop. 

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Add it to the potatoes and mix with a big spoon.   

Actually, I've been thinking that this would be good with more garlic.  Next time, I may roast more, so don't be scared of this amount of garlic.  It is a really happy thing. 

Remember to trust me.

Buttered Carrots with Marjoram

The price of those packaged and processed vegetable dishes you can buy in the freezer section is just outrageous.  I was buying the Husband's icecream last week and saw a woman and 2 teenage kiddos loading frozen entrees and side dishes into a cart.  Ever looked at the ingredient list on some of that stuff?  Not real food. 

If I have extra money, I'd rather save up for a vacation or other luxury.  Good food is not a luxury and putting thought and care into feeding the people you love adds quality to life.  I bought carrots at Diane's Produce Market a couple days ago.  More about that later.  I like marjoram with carrots, oregano with beans, and dill with corn.  It is fun to try these combinations until you find what you like.  Of course, you can double or triple this recipe depending upon the number of people.

Buttered Carrots with Marjoram

3 carrots, cooked and drained

1 T. butter

1/8 t. marjoram

1/8 t. salt

Peal each carrot and chop off both ends.  Wash them well  Cut them into thin rounds.  Cook in water until the stick easily with a fork.  Drain them in a collandar.  Return them to the pan and add the rest of the ingredients.  Stir to combine until the butter has melted.  Serve immediately.

Remember to eat vegetables.

Twice Baked Potatoes

I'm really in to local food these days.  Winter is the hardest time.  And yes, I need to go back to canning when farm direct food is available again.  But for now, I'm buying at locally owned produce markets.  There are two in my area.  I like two things about them.  First, they aren't a chain grocery store. In one case, the owner is there most of the time.  And two, they sell only produce.  Not sure why I like that but I do.  Free market system at it's best, I guess. 

It was on one of these trips that a 10 lb sack of russet potatoes jumped in my cart.  I can't actualy tell you what I was thinking.  Russets are not a long lasting potatoes.  They start to sprout fairly quickly. I want Yukon gold or purple skinned potatoes for roasting.  Russets are best for baking, which is the beginning of the Twice Baked Potato story.   

And what food story do I tell that doesn't start with my Mother?  So anyway, my mother made a wonderful and delicious twice baked potatoe.  Three kinds of cheese (Jack, Cheddar, and Cottage Cheese) plus sour cream and butter.  How could it have been bad?  When I was a young adult, I made a version which had bacon.  I can't find either of these recipes and I suppose it is for the best. 

I'm looking for vegetable dishes that Husband the Carnivore/Wolf will enjoy, so the Russets are going toward operation Twice Baked Potato.  My mission, to invent a veggie filled twice baked potato without the use of too much butter fat that Husband eats and enjoys.  When I am inventing recipes I keep a sort of diary where I record what I do.  It changes over time as I figure it out.  I have the record and can write a clear recipe that others coulf follow. 

Twice Baked Potatoes

4 small russets

2 T. olive oil

1 large head brocolli, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

9 crimini or white mushrooms, chopped

1/4 c. white wine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

1/2 t. dry oregano

1 Roma tomato, chopped (optional)

1/4 c. sour cream (low fat is okay)

1/4 c. parmesan cheese, shredded

Start by baking the potatoes in a microwave or oven until they stick easily with a knife.  Set them aside to cool a bit.  To a skillet, add the oil then the brocolli and pepper.  Cook on medium heat, stirring for a few minutes.  Add the mushrooms, wine, garlic and seasonings.  Continue cooking as the vegetables soften and the liquid reduces.

Add the tomato now, also if desired.  By the way, garlic burns easily in a skillet and I don't like burned garlic, so I tend to add it late in the game.

Now cut the potatoes as you would a baked potato and with a spoon scoop the potato out of the center leaving enough so that the skin stays intact and you create a little boat.  I break the potato up with my spoon but don't mash it.  I like the chunks.  Add the sour cream and parmesan cheese and fill the boats with the mixture.  Put them on a baking sheet and put them in a 350 degree oven until they are very hot throughout - about 20 mintues.    

Leftovers make a good lunch. Remember to eat your vegetables. 

Roasted potatoes

In my house, most of the things we like best are fairly simple.  But, we live in a culture where bigger is better and more is the new good.  That has gotten us into trouble as a country and a culture and a people.  A couple years ago, I committed to cooking more local food and being a good kitchen roll model to those around me.   I hope to teach the young ones around me what I believe about food and experience and life.  I've done this completely imperfectly, but I keep trying.  Eat local, eat in season.

I've been making roasted potatoes and Husband likes them.  They make a good side dish when you have the time.  They take an hour.  .

 Roasted potatoes

This is 10 2 - 3" yellow skinned potatoes, peeled and cubed, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1 t. salt, 1/8 t. pepper, and 2 to 3 garlic cloves minced. Toss it in a bowl well enough to coat the potatoes in the olive oil and distribute the rest of the ingredients throughout. Turn it onto a foil covered cookie sheet or roasting pan. It goes into a very hot, 425 degree oven.

It needs to get checked every 10 minutes or so. Turn the potatoes by geting under them with a spatula or other flat tool. Here, I'm using my bamboo stir fry tool. Just make sure that the potatoes aren't sticking, which they are likely to do because of the hight heat.

 Each time, you turn them they get a little browner.  The goal is crispy brown on the outside and cooked, yummy-soft on the inside.  Of course, I get to nibble each time I check on them.  Cooks privilege.  As I've mentioned, it's been taking about an hour.

Move them to a platter to serve as a side dish.  (If you haven't poked holes in the foil, the pan is still clean.  :) 

I made them the night Mom was here and we had Beef Bourguignon.  See December 27.  We ate the stew over the potatoes.  Check back for the Elk Hash blog.  The potato part of that dish is these potatoes. 

Remember to have fun and relax.