The best way to make small portions of mashed potatoes is to use a ricer - a tool that does not activate starch and does not create a product that is gluey or sticky.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, French, Italian
Keyword Culinary 2, Tools and Equipment
Instructions
Peel several white potatoes (or your favorite potato for mashing) and cut them into equally sized pieces. The pieces should each be about 1-inch cubed. Cook them in simmering water for about 15 minutes or until they are soft enough to break up when pressed with a fork. Drain the potatoes. Return them to the empty cooking pot and return to low heat to evaporate away any surface moisture.
Fill the basket with a FEW pieces of potatoes.
Hold the ricer over the empty pot or a bowl and squeeze the handles of the ricer together smoothly and slowly until the potato begins extruding through the holes. Continue refilling and pressing the potatoes, working quickly before the potatoes get cold. DO NOT overfill the basket of the ricer or the potatoes will ooze out the sides.
When all the potatoes have been processed through the ricer, add the desired ingredients to your potatoes, such as butter, sour cream, warm milk, salt, pepper, or nutmeg. Fold to combine. If necessary, place the pot back on the stove and turn the heat on low to re-warm the potatoes before serving.
Clean, or at least rinse, the ricer immediately after using it so that the starchy potato residue won't dry on the tool, making it difficult to clean later.