David has an Irish friend called Jerry O’Regan who always triple checks whether or not his main course is served with mashed potatoes. In fact, Jerry doesn’t understand why all food isn’t served with potatoes. Sometimes we send him a side of lentils instead of potatoes and he looks at it as if it were alien food. We don’t want to make an “Irish guy potato” stereotype here, but after cooking for Jerry for ten years, we get it. At the end of the meal, Jerry doesn’t say thank you, he says “Feels good to have some potatoes, hey Davey?”.
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Place the potatoes in a saucepan. Add water to cover by 1 inch (2.5 cm) and 1 tablespoon salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until you can press against the potatoes with a spoon and feel them crush.
Step 2
Just before the potatoes are ready, in a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil and remove from the heat. Drain the potatoes and pass them through a potato ricer into a large bowl. Add the butter and half of the milk. Using a wooden spoon, incorporate gently until silky. Add the rest of the milk and more butter if you deem necessary. Rectify the seasoning.
Step 3
Serve immediately as is, or push through the ricer again (if you’re going for that look) straight onto the serving plates.
