- Hey, it's Alice from Lifehacker.
So the Lifehacker team is putting together
a Thanksgiving dinner, and I've been tasked with the sides.
But I don't have any really interesting
original hacks for these dishes,
I'm not sure what to do.
- I have some ideas.
- What, where'd you come from?
- Just down there.
- Oh, oh, okay.
(gentle jazz music)
- So we're doing mashed potatoes and stuffing,
which are two very standard, basic Thanksgiving items
that everybody wants at the table.
You can get a little tired of the same flavor profile
over and over again,
so I like to inject a little bit of fun
with some miso paste.
- Tell me more.
- It gives you like a nice sense of umami,
a good saltiness, a little bit of sweetness.
And it just helps kind of like break up all of that sage,
onion, celery that you're kind of bombarded with all day.
Alright, in addition to our miso, we're gonna cook down
some mushrooms, get those nice and crispy on the edges,
and we're gonna caramelize some onions.
I think these are actually good.
Ready? - We're ready.
- You're ready.
- Okay. - I'm ready, okay.
- And go.
- Go, okay. Bread. This is bread.
I don't know if you're familiar.
It's cubed.
- Interesting, interesting. - It's dry.
So it's gonna absorb all sorts
of tasty liquids and flavorings.
Put it in a bowl.
- [Alice] Oh, it makes a satisfying noise.
- [Claire] It is satisfying, bread is pretty satisfying.
There's a cup of butter, you're gonna take it
and you're gonna drizzle it on this bread.
(upbeat guitar music)
And the next thing we're gonna do, crack those eggs,
and whisk those babies.
- [Alice] Okay.
Takes a while.
- [Claire] It'll get there.
It's a stubborn paste.
And then, just pour that on top of the bread.
And now you can dollop on our wonderful
mushroom, onion mixture.
And then we add some more bread.
And so this is kind of like almost a savory bread pudding.
- [Alice] Yeah.
- With like a little less eggs.
We're gonna get this in the oven at 375
for about half an hour to 45 minutes.
(upbeat music)
Boop, boop.
So before you serve this super savory masterpiece,
I like to let it cool just a little bit
so it gels and it doesn't feel like it's gonna fall apart.
And then to transport it, wrap it in aluminum foil,
wrap that in a towel, and that'll keep it
nice and toasty while you take it from place to place.
Hey Alice, why are we doing this?
- We're doing the Mashed Potato, Claire.
- Okay, okay.
So we're gonna make some mashed potatoes.
- [Alice] Okay.
- Maybe you misunderstood.
People have a lot of mashed potatoes opinions,
but one of the main ones is texture.
They want them to be creamy, they want them to be luscious,
they want them to be smooth.
So, I like to use a potato ricer,
but I only like to use it on Yukon Gold potatoes.
When I put a starchy Russet into a potato ricer,
it comes out kind of mealy and almost like
an instant box mashed potatoes, is what it reminds me of.
So I don't like that.
But I do like combining the two types of potatoes.
People like herbs,
herbs are very flavorful. - I like herbs.
- But you don't want like chunks and pieces
of rosemary in your mash,
'cause it's gonna throw off the texture,
it's gonna get in your teeth.
So what I do is I take these herbs,
I'm gonna simmer them in some milk
with the herbs infused into the dairy.
Then you mix that into the potatoes, flavored,
you don't have any leaves to contend with.
- Nice, aren't there enough hacks?
- No! - My mind is blown.
- There's one more, and it's my stepmom's
that she wouldn't tell me for years,
because people have a lot of mayonnaise opinions.
- Oh.
- You say mayonnaise and people start shouting at you,
I know, 'cause it happens on a daily basis.
But I love mayonnaise, it's a good emulsifier,
so it's gonna take aqueous, watery ingredients
and creamy ingredients
and make them work together magically.
You don't taste it, it doesn't take like mayo,
it doesn't taste like potato salad,
it just like smooths everything out.
So first we need to do, is peel these babies.
Russets, they get kind of slippery
once you remove their skin,
so let's remove the ends first.
And so one end and then flip.
Alright, and then once you have the ends,
then you can set it down on the table.
- [Alice] Okay.
- And then finish it and you just wanna cut 'em,
about that size, that's what we're going for here.
Alright, so now we're gonna cook our potatoes,
we're gonna cook them in salted, boiling water.
But as I mentioned earlier, we wanna keep them separate.
So, you can just take any random piece of metal
that you have in your kitchen that'll fit in a big pot.
- Okay.
- And just use it as like a divider.
There we go.
And now, we're gonna take this, and go like this.
- [Alice] What?
- And then let them cook
until they're completely fork tender,
so about 20, 25 minutes boiling.
So the next thing we're gonna do is flavor our dairy,
so just pour about a cup of milk in a small saucepan.
Then toss a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme in there.
And then we're just gonna turn this on low.
And we're just gonna let that gently heat
to get the flavor, stirring it every once in a while
to make sure it doesn't scald.
So now we have our two types of potatoes cooked,
our Yukon Golds and our nice starchy russets.
What we're gonna do, you're gonna rice
these back into the pot.
I'm gonna give these a little mashing with a wooden spoon,
and then we're gonna mix them all together.
We did it.
Okay, now let's get that back on the stove,
and just kind of give everything a stir
to incorporate it together,
and also to help drive off any excess moisture.
Alright, now we're gonna add a stick of very soft butter.
Yeah, and then pour the milk through a strainer
just to collect any errant leaves.
Alright, let's add our mayonnaise.
Oh, these look wonderful.
Yep.
- Wow, yeah, that's really good.
- Mm hmm.
We did it!
And now we're ready to take this to the party.
Same thing with the stuffing,
wrap it in foil, wrap a towel around that,
that'll keep it nice and warm while you transport it.
And then, you know, serve it with lots of delicious gravy.
- I'm ready.
- You did it. - Thanks, Claire.
- I'm so proud of you.
- So proud of myself.
- Yeah, you deserve it, you deserve that pride.
- Thank you.
(bell chiming)