Recipe thuRsday: Mashed Potatoes Times Two

Howdy y'all!  If you tuned into last week's post for turkey meatballs, I promised to do a side this week to go with 'em.  Our recipe mag offers up a delightful version of mashed potatoes that uses sweet potatoes and russets, but my bestie Kellie HATES sweet potatoes, so in honor of her I offer my Mashed Taters of Death.  Why the 'of Death'?  'Cause, kiddies, this is a heart attack waiting to happen, that's why!  You can choose to leave skins on or not; in fact, the bulk of a potato's nutrition is just underneath the skin, so we usually leave them on.  Plus they add a nice earthy flavor to the final result.  I DO recommend peeling your sweet potatoes however; those skins are very tough to break down in cooking and they create an unpleasant mouth feel if you ask me.

Now, break out your tater mashers and let's get mashed!

Two Potato Mash
1 lb of russet potatoes
1 lb of sweet potatoes
1/4 cup half and half (or milk or orange juice)
chunks of butter
pinch of kosher salt

1.  Peel and cut your potatoes into one inch chunks and place the russets in a pot of salted boiling water for ten minutes.
2.  Add the sweet potato chunks and cook for another 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are tender and can be cut easily with a spoon/knife/fork.
3.  Drain the potatoes and set them back on the burner to 'dry' for a minute.  Add in the butter and mash the potatoes lightly with your masher.
4.  Add the liquid of your choice and continue to mash until everything is well mashed and you can still see some variation of color.  Voila!

TIPS:  I usually cut my taters into 1/2" chunks instead as it causes them to cook a bit faster.  And don't be afraid to guesstimate with the amounts of potatoes and liquid.  I usually do one large sweet potato and 3 or 4 small russets for this recipe and just eyeball the liquid.  Mashed potatoes ain't rocket science!

Mashed Taters of Death
3 pounds of russet potatoes, half peeled, half skins on
1/2 cup milk
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 brick of cream cheese

1.  Peel half of the potatoes and leave the other half with skins on.  Cut them into 1" chunks and place in a large pot of boiling salted water.
2.  Cook until the potatoes are tender enough to be cut with a knife/fork/spoon, about 30 minutes.
3.  Drain the potatoes and place them back on the burner to 'dry' for a minute.  Add the butter and begin to mash coarsely.
4.  Add in the milk, sour cream, and cream cheese to the mix and mash thoroughly, but don't overdo it!
5.  Serve up with your holiday meal and enjoy!

TIPS: You can make these Kicking a Dead Horse Mashed Taters of Death by adding cheese and bacon bits to it.  Mmmm.....bacon!  And really, you CAN cut the amount of fat by using nonfat or lowfat versions of everything and omitting the butter, but then it's just not a treat in my book, although it will still be tasty.  Again, guesstimate on amounts if you want to.  It's all about creating the ultimate creamy mashed potato which is really a matter of taste preference.

Bon apetit!
Kelly