Mashed: Fixing Runny Mashed Potatoes?

Subject: Fixing Runny Mashed Potatoes?
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: The Ranger (cuhulain_98 at yahoo.com)
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 06:46:45 -0700
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Misread the recipe last night and splashed WAY too much cream into the mashed potatoes. As a result, I had a ready-made recipe for potato pancakes but not edible mashed potatoes. I tried adding flour and whipping the cream in but not much helped. Any other ideas?

Thanks.
From: Dimitri G Criona (DIMITRI_C at prodigy.net)
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 07:10:15 -0700
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There are 2 I can think of;

1. Continue cooking and reducing - This well require constant attention to prevent burning, unfortunately this will overcook the potatoes.

2. If you have some instant potatoes a small amount can be added to absorb the excess liquid. This is probably your best bet.
From: The Ranger (cuhulain_98 at yahoo.com)
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 08:06:43 -0700
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Dimitri G Criona provided some key insights with:
[soggy mashed potatoes]
> There are 2 I can think of;
> 1. Continue cooking and reducing - This well require
> constant attention to prevent burning, unfortunately this
> will overcook the potatoes.

Did this. Even "monitoring" [I have twin toddlers and an infant that LOVE being involved in the kitchen] didn't save them. I did notice that they "almost" stiffened towards the end... They tasted like [fill in blank], though. <g>

> 2. If you have some instant potatoes a small amount can be
> added to absorb the excess liquid. This is probably your best bet.

I didn't have this product available this time. First time ever!

Tried a small amount of flour, a couple extra tsp. of butter, whisking, "mopping" with a paper towel, etc. <sigh> It was a disaster...
From: grau at uic.edu (Barry Grau)
Date: 23 Aug 1999 20:29:58 GMT
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Two more:

1. Cook and add more potatoes.
2. Spoons

Didnt you notice at some point that you were near to having a mashed potato beverage?
From: imajes (imajes at spiritmail.zzn.com)
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 10:11:23 -0400
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Put 'em back in a pot and cook 'em out; else add another tater or two.
From: Goomba (goomba at mindspring.com)
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 10:16:17 -0400
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I imagine that if you ever kept instant mashed taters in the house that adding some of those flakes would have firmed up the problem? I can't stand them myself, but hubby buys them for my teenage son to make as it's quick snack food. UGH. But hey.. when you have a 6 foot 2 inch 185 solid pounds of hungry 14 year old......they'll eat *anything*.
From: cryambers at aol.com (pat)
Date: 23 Aug 1999 15:18:34 GMT
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If they weren't an absolutely necessary part of that meal, I'd say put them in the refrigerator and heat them up and serve them the next day. They'll definitely thicken up in the refrigerator. I get sloppy about measuring sometimes and end up with potatoes that are too liquidy. Generally the consistency has much improved by the next day.

If I absolutely need them right away, we either eat them as is or, if I have enough time, I'll cook up another potato and mash it into the "defective" batch.
From: stan at tempest.temple.edu (Stan Horwitz)
Date: 23 Aug 1999 17:12:45 GMT
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Yup, add a few more boiled potatoes to the mix.
From: Robert B. Hess (RobertHess at msn.com)
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 15:44:42 -0700
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Having read through all the suggestions so far, my only additional recommendation would be to have served it up in soup bowls (perhaps after adding even -more- cream), sprinkled with some finely diced onions, parsley, and black pepper. :->

Or to make it look like you -really- meant to do this, cover the above with some slivers of parmasean (or other white/sharp) cheese, and place the bowls under the broiler for a few moments to melt and slightly brown the cheese.

Many of the worlds recipes were inspired out of despiration.
From: cap1bara at hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 13:59:14 GMT
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Add as much dried mashed potato mix as needed. Over here (Europe) it's sold as a powder, i believe you can get it in flakes?
Mix well after each addition so it does not become too thick.
BTW overmixing (especially using electric equipment) will produce excellent wallpaperglue instead of mash.

Groetjes
Koos