If you order mashed potatoes at a fine-dining restaurant, how are they different than the ones you make at home? They taste like THIS.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword MustangChef Summer Camp
Ingredients
3poundsRusset or Yukon potatoespeeled and quartered into evenly sized pieces
¾poundVermont aged white Cheddargrated
½teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonkosher salt
Black pepperto taste
Small pinch cayenne
6tablespoonsunsalted buttermelted
¾cupheavy creamheated
2eggslightly beaten
Instructions
Add potatoes to a large pot of well-salted water, bring to a boil and then immediately reduce heat to a simmer and cook until very tender, about 10-12 minutes.
Drain well in a colander, return to pot and gently shake the burner to help cook off any remaining water. Rice.
Place riced potatoes into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment along with the cheese, baking powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Mix for 1 minute on medium speed.
Reduce speed and add butter and cream, then increase speed to medium and drizzle in beaten eggs. Stop and scrape down bowl with rubber spatula to make sure ingredients are incorporated evenly. Beat at medium-high speed ONLY until mixture is smooth. DO NOT OVERMIX.
Serve immediately in a heated bowl. Alternatively, transfer potatoes to an oven-safe dish, cover with foil and let stand at room temperature. Reheat for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees, until piping hot. (If you want the top browned, remove foil halfway through baking. Otherwise give the potatoes a stir before serving.)
Mashed potatoes reheat very well the following day and most people find that the cheese flavor is more pronounced after sitting overnight in the refrigerator. Heat on 350*F, stirring frequently, making sure the edges of the mashed potatoes don't burn.
Notes
During the Seven Years War of the mid-1700s, a French army pharmacist named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier was captured by Prussian soldiers. As a prisoner of war, he was forced to live on rations of potatoes. In mid-18th century France, this would practically qualify as cruel and unusual punishment: potatoes were thought of as feed for livestock, and they were believed to cause leprosy in humans. The fear was so widespread that the French passed a law against them in 1748.But as Parmentier discovered in prison, potatoes weren’t deadly. In fact, they were pretty tasty. Following his release at the end of the war, the pharmacist began to proselytize to his countrymen about the wonders of the tuber. One way he did this was by demonstrating all the delicious ways it could be served, including mashed. By 1772, France had lifted its potato ban. Centuries later, you can order mashed potatoes in dozens of countries, in restaurants ranging from fast food to fine dining.