Continuing with the Thanksgiving theme, you just cannot go wrong with mashed potatoes. And really there is only one secret for this dish: just add A LOT of butter and creme fraiche. The choice of potatoes is also quite important. I strongly suggest Yukon Gold potatoes, which are firm enough and not as powdery as other potatoes typically used for oven baking. Also, never use a blender for mashing your potatoes, they would get all sticky and elastic. Obviously the addition of confit garlic, like in the recipe below, does not hurt.
Ingredients:
3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut in halves (so that all pieces have approximately the same size, to ensure uniform cooking time)
1 whole garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, grossly chopped
1 stick butter (110 g), at room temperature and cut in cubes
1/2 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream
1/2 cup milk (adjust milk quantity depending on how thick you want your mashed potatoes to be)
Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the garlic on an aluminum sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and add the rosemary. Seal the aluminum foil and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, until very soft. Remove from the oven, let it cool, then squeeze the garlic from the skins into a small bowl. Mash with a fork.
Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover by 1 inch. Add salt, bring to a boil and cook, uncovered until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, add the butter and creme fraiche. With a hand potato masher, start mashing the potatoes until the butter is fully melted. Then start adding the milk little by little, continuing to mash the potatoes. Stop adding the milk once you have reached the right consistency. Incorporate the mashed garlic. Taste and adjust seasoning (be generous with the ground pepper).
