What is your sure fired go to recipe? The one that family and friends insist that you make for every gathering? Or maybe its that one you make when company is coming and you want a good tried and true recipe.
Mine would be my garlic cheesy mashed potatoes.
taters
grated sharp cheddar cheese
chives
garlic
milk
butter
salt and pepper
preheat oven to 375 (some people cook it at 350)
I peel away all the layers of a whole garlic head until just a thin layer that holds the cloves together remains. Cut off the top so that you expose the cloves about 1/4 of the head. Place in a oven proof dish, or on a cookie sheet. drizzle a bit of olive oil over it. let it set for around 10 mins then drizzle over a bit more. use your hand to kind of massage the oil down into the cloves. Cover with Foil and roast for about 40 mins. check and see if it is brown and the cloves are soft if not keep cooking. Depending on the size of the heads you are cooking this could take up to an hour.
When the garlic is done squeeze the cooked garlic out of the heads into a small bowl. if you made extra you can store in the fridge but to me saved over is not as good as fresh made.
peel and dice potatoes into uniform pieces. if using russet potatoes steam them dont boil them, if you are using reds yellows etc then it is ok to boil them.
cook until just barely fork tender (they will continue cooking for a bit)drain and then put them back into the Hot pan off the burner of course. Shake them around and bit and let the steam dry them a bit.
If you are not sure how many potatoes to make my mom always said to figure a tater and half per adult this seems to work well for me.
ok in IMO this next part is where people mess up and make gummy taters so take it slow for the next step.
in a small sause pan heat 1 cup of milk and a generous pat of butter. I add the roasted garlic at this point, then add ground pepper and salt. Stir around and kind of mash the garlic so that its flavor permeats the milk. when it has heated enough to melt the butter. put the potaoes in your mixing bowl I DO NOT use a masher. pour a bit of the hot milk mixture into the potatoes and turn your mixer on low. keep adding milk until the potatoes are nice and creamy. Do not over beat and remember to add the milk slowly you might need a bit more or you might not use it all. make sure you stir the milk mixture as you are pouring it in so all the garlic does not settle to the bottom.
add a cup of grated cheese I use Sharp Cheddar. gently hand stir into the potatoes.
Preheat oven to 375
spray a cassarole dish with Pam
at this point you can either go fancy using a piping bag with a huge tip to put the potatoes into the dish or just use a big spoon. Just dont smooth it out you want it to be textured. bake for 30 mins then sprinkle with more cheese to your liking you can either cover it completely or just a bit. return to oven until cheese melts. If you want you can turn the broil on for a bit to brown the top. (I do this step both ways)
Right when you take it out of the oven I garnish with diced chives.
side note about the peelings... some times I leave about half the peels on and I dont mix them as much to make a chunkier end product some people like them better this way. I like them equally the same either way I make them.
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WoW Ayla Hunter, Lightbringer, Z Guild
May the forces of evil become confused
while your arrow is on its way to the target. ~George Carlin~
A'yla level 126 UA AC FF
www.zguild.org
May the forces of evil become confused
while your arrow is on its way to the target. ~George Carlin~
A'yla level 126 UA AC FF
www.zguild.org
