Subject: Mashed potatoes
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Gabby (msmealey at nospam.hvgb.net)
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 20:57:00 -0400
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Another post on this topic led me to ask myself "Is it only in my family that mashed potato meant only that the masher had been applied to boiled potatoes. No butter, cream, egg, milk or anything else added. The measure of a good potato was how dry it was.
I was in university when I finally understood why mashed potatoes were a no-no on a diet. Before that I'd been at a loss to understand how applying a masher to a potato imparted calories.
I still have to force myself to eat mashed potatoes (adulterated, as it were) and they have to be pretty stiff at that, if they plop on the plate they are too liquidy. We were at friends' for New Year's dinner and just the sight of the potatoes made me queasy. The prime rib though was great.
I do occasionally cook them with garlic cloves or onion and mash that in but that's all.
And I still prefer a dry potato...Yukon Gold being my favourite.
From: Orrie (ofrutkin at ix.netcom.com)
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 20:55:42 -0500
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I grew up with the usual mashed potatoes made with milk and butter. Now, my wife and I make them "dirty," that is, boil and mash them with the skins, then add a tablespoon or two of no-fat, plain yogurt and a spinkle of dill, thyme or rosemary. Sauteed onion and/or garlic is great, too. A dash of horseradish is good, too. With some entrees, just a gridn of black pepper is plenty. The object is to keep the potatoes in a supporting role in the meal.
My wife is German and grew up on potatoes prepared in every way imaginable. As a child during the hard times, her mother fried up potato skin as a confection. She (my wife) introduced me to eating potatoes with the skins on. In a restaurant, when I see people scooping out the inside of a baked potato and leaving the skin, I feel like reaching over to their table and grabbing it.
Orrie
From: Gabby (msmealey at nospam.hvgb.net)
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 22:07:23 -0400
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> I grew up with the usual mashed potatoes made with milk and butter. Now, my
> wife and I make them "dirty," that is, boil and mash them with the skins,
I mash with the peel on too. I read in this ng before that people hate that but I think it just adds more taste. Of course my dad was a farmer (out of farming before I came along but you can't take the farm out of the boy) and boiled potatoes in their jackets were a staple at our table, no one peeled the cooked potatoes, we just ate everything -- at least we did when we grew up, as kids we thought that was yucky.
I feel exactly like you do about baked potato skins -- at least I do if the potato wasn't cooked in foil which to me gives you a steamed rather than a baked potato.
From: Michael (Dog3 at mindspring.com)
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 21:06:28 -0600
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Gabby wrote:
> Another post on this topic led me to ask myself "Is it only in my family
> that mashed potato meant only that the masher had been applied to boiled
> potatoes. No butter, cream, egg, milk or anything else added. The measure
> of a good potato was how dry it was.
I do mine with chicken stock. I've never tried the store bought broth in mashed potatoes, but I've found the stock makes an excellent cooking liquid. I usually don't add the butter or milk. I do both peeled and unpeeled, depending on my mood. Sometimes I squeeze in some roasted garlic, sometime's I don't. Personally, I like the unpeeled potatoes sliced into 1/8ths and roasted with lots of oil, garlic, Rosemary and any other veggie I have on hand. I like to make baked potatoe soup with the unpeeled... baked potatoes although I've had success with the boiled potatoes.
From: Stan Horwitz (stan at typhoon.ocis.temple.edu)
Date: 5 Jan 2001 14:46:33 GMT
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Gabby wrote:
> Another post on this topic led me to ask myself "Is it only in my family
> that mashed potato meant only that the masher had been applied to boiled
> potatoes. No butter, cream, egg, milk or anything else added. The measure
> of a good potato was how dry it was.
Unadorned mashed potatoes? That sounds very bland and unappealing to me.
From: Gabby (msmealey at nospam.hvgb.net)
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2001 18:04:57 -0400
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Stan Horwitz wrote:
> Unadorned mashed potatoes? That sounds very bland and unappealing to me.
Usually served with gravy, but plain potato with just salt & pepper allows you to taste the potato and it has more taste than most people give it credit for, some kinds more than others.
Just for the record, I love spicy food, curry being my favorite, but plain boiled potatoes are a staple in my neck of the woods.