Smashed Potatoes

I love potatoes. I really like a good mashed potato with all the lumps and bumps. My dad prefers them scalloped. Regardless, when I made these for us both one evening, we both liked them. This is the third recipe taken from the Beekman Heirloom Cookbook for the winter section.


Ingredients:

1 lb white boiling potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup milk

First you have to put all the potatoes in a pan and cover with cool water.

Bring that water to a boil, and then add salt. You don't want the boil to be rolling, otherwise the skin will burst and then the potatoes will become water logged.  You're going to want those to boil for about half an hour, until they can be pierced with a tip of a knife.

Make sure you cook them all the way through. Otherwise smashing them is super difficult. I learned this the hard way unfortunately. 

In a skillet, melt the butter in the oil over medium heat. Add the potatoes, milk, and salt. Then, with a potato masher, mash the potatoes right in the pan. They're going to be super lumpy. When I was mashing them, I actually added more milk just to make them fluffier. I guess that's more of a personal preference than anything else. 

These potatoes came out incredibly fluffy, but with a good lumpy texture. 

Since mine weren't cooked all the way through in the first place, I had to cut them with a knife and let them cook in the pan. Then I could mash them.

I know these are pretty basic potatoes, but they were so good that I plan on making them again in the future. They were the perfect side for a day when you're snowed in like I was.