Ultra-Creamy Mashed Potatoes

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Hi guys.

Today, I'm making mashed potatoes

which is actually my favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

I'm gonna show you

my super-straightforward creamy mashed potatoes.

We're gonna be using Yukon potatoes.

You can use russets, but I like Yukons.

They're low-starch but I like the flavor better.

We're gonna cover them up with cold water.

So the reason why we're starting them off with cold water

and bringing it up to a boil

is because you want the potatoes to cook evenly

rather than adding them to boiling water.

We're gonna throw in a good amount of salt.

You want the water kind of to taste like the ocean.

I'm just gonna use all of this over here.

It'll absorb.

No need to stir.

We have one-and-a-half cups whole milk

and we have half a cup heavy cream.

You can use just two cups whole milk

but I like the extra bit of fat

that you get from the heavy cream.

You're also gonna use two sticks of unsalted butter.

I'm using three sprigs of rosemary.

You can use kind of any hearty herb

like sage or bay leaf, or even thyme.

And then I'm using a head of garlic.

We're just gonna slice that in half crosswise.

We just wanna expose the cloves.

And we're gonna combine all of these in a saucepan.

We're gonna bring this to a simmer.

You don't want this to boil.

You just want it to be warmed through to gently extract.

I'm gonna do medium, medium-high heat.

It should probably take about five minutes

to bring to a simmer.

You're gonna see some bubbles

but you don't want a rapid boil.

So we're gonna check our potatoes.

I'm gonna poke in the center

and there should really be no resistance.

I give it a little bit of a quick rinse,

not to kind of cool them down

but more to just to get rid of any extra starch

and add these back into the pan.

The residual heat from the pot

will kind of dry the potatoes up,

which is actually a good thing

because you don't want super-wet potatoes

or any excess liquid to be in your mashed potatoes.

We're gonna turn off the heat.

Some of the rosemary leaves might've separated

so it's just easier to kind of strain them.

It also removes any kind of skin that may have formed

from the surface.

So first off, I leave them whole, skin on.

The real essential tool you need is a ricer

just because I want super-creamy smooth mashed potatoes

and this does a pretty damn good job

of preventing any of the skin from falling.

Okay.

We have four pounds of potatoes

and then I'm going to add two sticks unsalted butter

at room temperature.

You want it at room temperature

just so it really easily melts.

I'm gonna add a [bleep] ton of salt.

Usually, I'll add about four teaspoons.

So you're just gonna mix

and see how this butter's already immediately melting?

Now we're gonna add our warm liquid

so I'm doing about a half a cup

and you don't wanna overwork it.

You just kinda wanna be super-gentle.

This has two cups liquids and it might seem like a lot

but it'll absorb all that liquid.

For God's sake, they have two sticks of butter.

If I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna eat it,

I want it to be all the way.

I want butter, I want whole milk, a touch of cream,

some aromatics like I mentioned,

a good amount of salt.

And now we have about half a cup left.

We'll add that.

These are pretty damn creamy.

You're at a good stopping point

when you can make really nice ribbons

with your potato.

You could make this a day ahead.

I think the easiest way is to reheat them over medium heat.

You could loosen them up with a little bit of warm milk.

I'm gonna take the back of the spoon

and just kind of make a little swoosh.

These are my favorite side dish of Thanksgiving,

They are ultra-creamy mashed potatoes

and I will be making them this year

and I hope you guys do too.

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