- [Camera Person 1] We are here, today.
- Is there anything in my teeth?
- [Camera Person 1] I really hope this makes it
into the video.
- I really don't; I really don't.
(electronic beep sounding)
Hey y'all, it's Brooke
and I'm in the Delish test kitchen.
I'm super, super pumped
'cause I get to show you guys how to make
my absolute all time favorite side dish, mashed potatoes.
This is not a drill, it is game time.
(upbeat music)
This is the absolute best Thanksgiving side
and I'm ready to debate anybody on that.
So, let's get it.
I've eaten a lot of mashed potatoes in my day
but the reason I love this recipe so much,
it's the perfect hybrid of pillowy and creamy
because we use not one but two kinds of potatoes.
So, you've got the russet potatoes right here
which are starchy
and these are gonna give your mashed potatoes
that nice pillowy fluffiness
that you love in mashed potatoes.
But we also have a nice Yukon gold.
Usually, these are done separately.
You have a mashed potato that's all russet
or all Yukon gold, but combining them gives us the fluffy
in the russet and the creamy in the Yukon gold.
- [Camera Person 1] Brooke? - Yeah.
- [Camera Person 1] I have a question.
- Shoot.
- [Camera Person 1] This is from Amy on our YouTube.
- Hey Amy.
- [Camera Person 1] She's asking
about the types of potatoes. - Okay.
- [Camera Person 1] I always find that my family makes
the driest mashed potatoes.
I think it's because they use all russet.
Should you use multiple types?
- Yes, Amy.
We absolutely do use multiple types of potatoes.
That's what I'm so excited about.
So, your family's potatoes are dry and I'm sorry about that.
But your family's potatoes are dry
because you're using all russets.
That's exactly right.
They're too fluffy; they're too starchy.
They're soaking up all that butter
all that moisture from the liquid.
And the solution is a creamy potato
like this Yukon gold here.
When you're boiling your potatoes,
you can either peel them and chop them up
and boil them in small pieces
or you can do what I like to do and boil them whole.
It's way easier,
and then you also trap all that potatoey goodness inside.
And you don't get as much water in the potatoes,
so it'll be a little bit fluffier and it won't be quite
as water logged when you're ready to mash 'em up.
Now, it's time for the easy part.
We're just boiling the potatoes.
All you need is a big old pot of water.
Give it a generous pinch of salt.
And while the water is still cold
go ahead and add your potatoes in, whole.
And then turn the heat to high.
- [Camera Person 1] I have a question for you.
(Brooke laughs)
- Great.
- [Camera Person 1] Okay, this is from Nick C. Shores.
Should I boil water on high
or do a low simmer for the potatoes?
- I'm doing a rolling boil because my potatoes are whole
and they still have the skins on them.
If your potatoes are chopped, turn the heat down
just a little bit so they don't fall apart.
So, to prep for your potatoes while they're boiling
all you do is heat up the milk and the butter together.
What that'll do is make 'em nice and warm
so they don't shock the warm potatoes when they go in.
When it comes to mashed potatoes
don't shy away from full fat things.
Go for that whole milk.
Go for that really fatty butter.
Don't use margarine unless you're,
you know, staying away from dairy.
That's fine.
But if you are not,
definitely get the fattiest best butter you can find.
- [Camera Person 1] Brooke, I have a question.
- Okay.
(Brooke and Camera Person 1 laugh)
(electronic beep sounding)
- [Camera Person 1] This is from Carolina.
If I don't have heavy cream
can I sub with milk or half and half?
- Girl, yes.
I don't have heavy cream either.
It's fine.
I'm using milk today.
Like I said, use whole milk.
Don't shy away from the fat, but if you don't have cream
there's literally a thousand other things you can use.
Milk, evaporated milk, half and half.
If you wanna use a nut milk, you can go that route.
Just please, for the love of God, don't use skim milk.
You might as well put water in your potatoes.
Don't do that.
It'll make me sad.
I'll know.
Potatoes have been going for a little bit,
and now it's time to test and see if they're nice and soft
and ready to be mashed.
All you need to do is take a knife
and if it slides out easily like that,
they're nice and soft in the middle
and ready to be peeled and mashed.
Easiest way to peel these potatoes is gonna be to shock them
in some ice water.
When we do that, the skin will start to shrink back
and then they slide off really easily.
This is the easy part of the peeling potatoes.
So you don't have to bust out your peeler for this one.
All you do is pick it up
give it a twist, and the skin comes right off.
- [Camera Person 1] Wow, that was really satisfying.
(Brooke chuckles)
- [Camera Person 1] Oh my gosh.
- And once you've got that all peeled,
they can go right back into the pot
where they'll be ready for that warm milk and butter.
I don't love skins in my mashed potatoes
but this is a choose your own adventure mashed potato.
So, you can do whatever your heart desires.
If you like a little extra chunk, a little bit
of rustic in your potatoes, definitely leave them on.
It's super common with red skin potatoes
but you can do it for russet and Yukon gold potatoes.
It's your house.
You do what you want.
If you do wanna peel the skins off like I'm doing
all you gotta do afterwards is discard them.
You don't need to keep them or hang onto them for anything.
Once your potatoes are all boiled and tender and soft,
it's time to mash them.
And you can do that in a couple of different ways.
There's the super rustic,
I'm just gonna go in there with a fork and mash them.
You can use a potato masher,
good old fashioned potato masher.
But if you like really, really creamy, smooth silky potatoes
I'd recommend going with the ricer.
I like to use the ricer cause I like to get
the smoothest creamiest fluffiest potato possible.
Some people, like a crazy friend of mine,
like big chunks of potato in their mashed potato.
And that's okay.
You're allowed to love that.
If you've ever used a garlic press, potato ricers work
in the exact same way.
So you've got your little chamber there
drop your potato in and then you just press.
So, I'm gonna keep ricing these potatoes.
While you're working on 'em, just build one side
of the pot with unriced potatoes
and then rice potatoes into the other side of the pot.
'Cause I don't wanna do extra dishes.
As you can see, ricing the potatoes made them super fluffy
and I can't wait to get this warm butter and milk
in there so they get nice and creamy and flavorful.
That's all we have to do.
Just add the warm butter and milk.
Then we'll add in some sour cream,
which is kind of like the secret ingredient here.
Gives it a nice little tang
and really makes the mashed potatoes pop.
Don't forget to season your potatoes, guys.
Bland potatoes are wasted potatoes.
And potatoes take a lot of salt
so don't be shy about it.
Go in there with a pinch; taste it.
Go back with another pinch; taste it
until you have perfect potatoes.
So these are done.
All we have to do is put 'em
into a serving platter and then some bowls.
We can top this with more butter,
some chives, salt and pepper.
Whatever your heart desires.
The mashed potatoes are all done.
It's pretty much like Christmas morning to me.
You can't tell me it's not.
I'm gonna go ahead and eat these
'cause I can't wait any longer.
As a resident potato queen, these are perfect.
They're absolutely perfect.
They're irresistible, they're perfectly seasoned.
They're fluffy.
They're still creamy.
They've got the butter in there.
The milk.
You can taste the fat, which is what you want for potatoes.
But wait, there's more.
Leftover land!
(people laughing)
(electronic beep sounding)
The only thing I love better
than fresh mashed potatoes are leftover mashed potatoes
because I can eat them for breakfast, but also
because I can turn them into a loaded fried mashed potatoes.
Super simple to do.
Take your leftover mashed potatoes, combine them in a bowl
with some hot sauce, cheddar cheese, chives and egg.
Form 'em into patties, and then you'll fry 'em up
in a little bit of oil
until they're nice and golden brown on both sides.
After they're nice and golden and brown,
hit 'em with a little bit of salt.
You can dip 'em in some ketchup.
You can eat 'em straight.
They're kind of like latkes, but not really.
And some of you might call them potato pancakes.
You might already be doing this with your leftovers.
If so, good job.
Okay, let's get a popping with these little leftover
mashed potato pancakes that I made.
Remember these have the chives in there,
a little hot sauce for a little kick.
And then it just needs a dunk in some sour cream.
Mmm!
Is that better?
That might be better than the mashed potatoes.
You tell anyone I said that, I'll deny it.
But this is delicious.
These loaded fried mashed potatoes, y'all
these are the truth.
They've got that melty cheese in there,
the sharp cheddar with a little tang,
some chives and that kick from the hot sauce.
And then, of course, the fluffy potato
which just makes the whole thing perfect.
I'm so excited.
I'm gonna go eat the rest of these.
But if you need more side recipes for Thanksgiving
like these wonderful mashed potatoes
stick around at delish.com all season long.