How to Make Mashed Potatoes 10x Better, According to My Chef-Husband
Hot take: I think mashed potatoes are extremely overrated. When it comes to all of the glorious ways to cook potatoes, I would put mashed somewhere on the bottom of the totem pole, after domino potatoes, Hasselback potatoes, a crispy rosti potato pancake and obviously, french fries.
I'm aware of the eye rolls I'm collecting with this statement BTW, but they just don't do it for me. Maybe it's the fact that they are so soft? I have to admit, I prefer a toothsome texture to my potatoes. And a golden, crunchy exterior. Mashed potatoes—much like baked potatoes—are just SO beige.
My husband Luke on the other hand, who happens to be a chef and hails from the Great Plains state of South Dakota, completely disagrees with me. Mashed potatoes, especially potato puree, are his love language.
What's the difference you ask? "Potato puree is classic Jo?l Robuchon; made in the classic French technique," he replied when I wondered the very same thing. "They should have a lava consistency but not be soupy."
Images of the bland, chunky, mashed taters I grew up with immediately flashed across my mind. "I promise you, you'll love these potatoes," he told me trying to ease my fears.
I was skeptical but decided to trust the process. Here's what happened when I followed Luke into the kitchen to make the best potato puree with brown butter.
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How to Make Mashed Potatoes 10x Better
First things first, potatoes. "I like Yukon gold potatoes for mashed," Luke tells me, saying they are a little creamier. "Or look for Russet, although fingerlings are really the best if you have the patience to peel them."
After giving the bag of Yukon golds a good rinse he set to work peeling the potatoes. When it comes to cooking potatoes to turn into puree, Luke's rule of thumb is usually: keep the potatoes whole if they're small, or quarter them if they're on the larger side.
For these Yukons, he kept them whole, then he grabbed a large pot and filled it with cold water. "Always start with cold water, he tells me, adding that there's some physics behind this technique so the potatoes absorb less water when they're cooking.
Luke tosses some salt into the cold water and sets the pot over medium-low heat to simmer, mentioning a simmer and not a rolling boil is the best way to cook the potatoes until they're fork tender, which should take 30-40 minutes.
Once he does the fork test and determines they're good to go, he immediately drains the spuds and places them in a colander to steam off. "The key is to remove as much moisture as possible," he says. The drier the potato, the less chance you'll have of making a soupy puree.
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Meanwhile, he set a small saucepan filled with heavy cream to simmer on the stove and diced up a big log of butter that had been hanging out at room temperature on our counter. "I know it sounds crazy, but for every potato, I use half a stick of butter," he tells me. "That's what makes the best, creamiest, delicious potatoes.
Once the potatoes had dried out for a bit, the heavy cream was simmering and the butter was all cubed up, he pulled out the #1 gadget needed to handle the rest: a food mill. "You want to rice potatoes with room temperature butter through a food mill because this way the butter emulsifies into the potatoes, he said as he started ricing away. "You're trying to incorporate as much fat as possible."
He continued ricing the potatoes through the mill until they were all passed through with the butter, then he slowly added the cream, giving everything a good mix until the puree was a consistency he was happy with. At this point, the mashed potatoes were a buttery yellow shade. A far cry from basic beige. they were smooth, silky and glistening. Gorgeous, even, but Luke wasn't done.
Next up was his pièce de résistance: nutty brown butter to drizzle on the mashed potatoes. Luke placed a pan over medium heat and tossed in a few more pats of butter until they melted down to brown, then he removed the pan from the heat.
Be careful with this step, he cautioned, "brown butter can burn quickly if you're not watching it." Adding the butter to the same pot, he gave it a good stir and voilà: brown butter mashed potatoes.
Need an easy tutorial? Watch Chef Wolfgang Puck demonstrate how to make mashed potatoes with browned butter in his TikTok:
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My Honest Thoughts About These Potatoes
Okay, I get it now. The mashed potatoes proved I don't hate mashed potatoes! Damn, these were good. Not chunky in the slightest. Not beige. Not bland. They were milky, creamy and rich without being too heavy. They were the perfect buttery yellow-white shade and so good spooned around big chunks of beef Bourguignon, which is what Luke served them with.
I actually made sure every bite of boeuf had some potato puree nestled alongside—that's how much I loved them.
I'm telling you, give these potatoes a try this Thanksgiving. They'll be a hit at the dinner table and they're Thanksgiving leftovers you'll actually look forward to.
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Kelli Acciardo Venner
My Chef-Husband's Tips for the Best Potato Puree with Brown Butter
Never boil your spuds: When I ask Luke the number one thing people get wrong when making mashed potatoes he tells me they boil them too long, too hard and they absorb too much water. Always simmer never boil. "You're trying to cook them without letting them absorb too much moisture so they can incorporate more fat," he said.
Choose a better butter: Lukes loves European-style unsalted butter such as Danish Creamers for the pomme puree and the brown butter glaze.
Add some cheese and chives: If you want to get fancy, he suggests adding some comté cheese to the mashed potatoes at the end, for "pommes aligot" or cheesy mashed potatoes. You could also garnish them with a sprinkle of fresh chives for herbaceous flavor.
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