(Upbeat music)
Today I'm going to show you how to take these
simple spuds and turn them into fluffy mashed potatoes!
My family loves this recipe.
And to ensure that the texture doesn't get gluey and thick,
I have a foolproof method that you're definitely going to want to try.
For my recipe, I like to use Russet potatoes. When it's cooked it has a
mealy texture that gets light and flaky.
It's also high in starches,
so it's going to readily absorb the milk
and create this nice smooth whipped puree.
Before I cut and peel the potatoes, I like to get the water boiling so it's ready to go.
In a large pot, heat 8 cups of water over high heat until warm.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt, stir to dissolve, and bring the water to a boil.
The key to fluffy mashed potatoes is controlling the level of starch in the final dish.
The reason why we want to do this is because the starches start to swell,
get thick, and sticky in the presence of hot liquids.
So it's really important to regulate the amount.
The first thing I'm going to do is peel the potatoes.
I like to peel the potatoes because it cooks a lot quicker and it's a lot easier to mash later.
Now I'm going to cut the 2-pounds of potatoes into 1-inch diced pieces.
This size is going to have a lot of surface area
so that the potatoes cook quickly but it doesn't fall apart in the boiling water.
I like to work pretty quickly when I cut the potatoes
because the minute that the cell walls are exposed and cut it's going to start to brown and oxidize.
After I cut the potatoes into cubes I'm going to rinse it with cold water.
There's going to be a lot of excess starches that rise to the surface
so we want to get rid of those.
Add the potatoes to a colander and rinse with cold water to remove any excess starches
until the water runs clear, about 1-minute.
Drain and add the potatoes to the boiling water,
cook the potatoes until fork-tender, about 15 minutes.
To check the potatoes for doneness,
I'm just going to grab a fork and give it a quick poke, whoop, and it's fork-tender.
It's ready to go, let's turn off the heat.
I'm going to drain the potatoes and then rinse it one more time with hot water for about 30-seconds.
This is going to remove any excess surface starches to give that maximum fluffiness factor.
Drain the potatoes in a colander and rinse with hot water
to remove any excess starches, about 30-seconds.
Now I'm going to mash the potatoes.
I'm going to use the pot that I use for boiling because it's still nice and warm
to keep the potatoes hot during this process.
And I have a fine-mesh sieve that I placed on top, or you could use a food mill.
I like to work in batches and just put a couple scoops of potato
and then just gently press the pieces through the sieve
This is a much more gentle process compared to just using a potato masher.
Pressing the potatoes through the sieve is also going to separate those potato particles
so that it's a lot more light and flaky instead of dense and heavy
Check out those beautiful flakes of spuds
and make sure you scrape it off the bottom.
No potato left behind.
Now that we have this nice light potato puree we're gonna add the butter.
Now this step is really critical because we're going to add 2 tablespoons of softened butter
to the 2-pounds of mashed potatoes
We want to add the butter first because the fat is going to coat the starches in the potato
and prevent it from getting really gluey and thick.
So just gently fold in the butter and since it's softened it's really easy to do that.
When we add the butter first and allow the fat to coat the starches,
it's going to inhibit the moisture
from the milk from interacting with those starches.
This looks good, now we're going to add the milk.
Before I add the milk, I'm going to warm it up first because we
don't want to add cold liquid to the nice and hot potatoes.
Microwave a half a cup of milk for about 30 to 45 seconds, until warmed
Okay, now that I've heated up the milk
to about 120 degrees, we're going to add a half teaspoon of salt and just whisk it in.
This lets the salt dissolve into the milk
I'm going to gradually add the warm milk into the potatoes in three additions.
Gradually adding the milk is going to allow the starches to slowly absorb the moisture
this keeps the potatoes light and fluffy instead of dense and gluey.
Okay, now it's time to serve.
I'm going to garnish with some extra butter on top and let it melt a little bit
and then some freshly cracked black pepper and chives.
You can also make this recipe dairy-free by substituting some olive oil for the butter
and your favorite nut milk. So I like to use either cashew, almond, or oat milk for the recipe.
For a complete meal,
I'd serve these mashed potatoes with my whole-roasted chicken recipe right here.
I hope you enjoyed learning the science behind mashed potatoes and if you did
please give it a big thumbs up, it means a lot when you do.
See you in the next video.
Let's sneak a little taste.
This is so good you're going to love it.