Sunday, December 03, 2006

Perfect Mashed Potatoes?


http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe1951


For a long time now I've listened to various cooks talk about the superiority of putting your cooked potatoes through a ricer rather than beating them with an electric mixer. All the talk was interesting, but I continued to use my mixer as I'd never seen any "real" people use anything else!

On our recent shopping trip to Williams Sonoma in the Boise mall, I remembered the ricer and went in search of one. The ever-present saleswoman gladly led me to the ricer and gave me lots of tips for using it. Well, today was the inaugural use of said ricer - exciting stuff, huh?! I must say that I'm rather pleased with the results and the ease in preparation overall.

To start, I did not peel the potatoes. For my family with lots of boys, peeling potatoes takes quite awhile. Scrubbing them and cutting them in half was the extent of my preparation for cooking. After boiling them till they were ready, I inserted each half into the ricer and squeezed the handle, extruding the cooked potato and leaving the peel for me to swipe out quite easily. Add some warm milk and butter as the recipe linked above states and they were ready to eat.

Beaten potatoes reminds me a bit of bread dough when the gluten is fully developed. The riced potatoes didn't seem to change the integrity of the potato. Don't misunderstand me - I love mashed potatoes however they're made. But I think my new ricer is going to get a lot of use around this house!



16 comments:

Dianne said...

Hmmm..a ricer-now that would be an awesome gift for me as my guys never know what to get me. I like the 'no peel' method. I mostly use my apple peeler for potatoes (the kind you adhere to the counter with a suction cup) and that was faster. Thanks for the ideas Von! Enjoy your tators! ; )

Anne S said...

Hmmmm, never heard of a ricer before ... sounds intriguing ;) Those piccies of mashed spuds is making me hungry, though haha.

Unknown said...

Ohhh, this sounds great...I never knew a ricer was for mashed potatoes too! I think I need to try this!

I'm having troubles with blogger tonight...there's no toolbar to upload pictures and do spell check. Arggh, and I have some great photos to upload today!!!

Connie

cathymk said...

Ooh Von, I have always thought "bah!" when I hear celebrity chefs rave about the ricer. Good to hear of your personal experience with the device (especially the no need to peel news!! - I hate peeling potatoes). I love mashed potatos - they are a true comfort food!

Michelle said...

mmm, that sounds good. I will have to check it out! Riced potatoes here I come!

Tracy said...

Yummmmm your making me hungry ,must go cook some potatoes LOL.

Susimac said...

I've seen ricers but never used one or heard of anyone using one - thnaks for the tips and I just think I might get one and give it a go!

Carina said...

I've always used a ricer for mashed potatoes as that is how my mom made them and was surprised to learn that not everyone else made them this way too! Willams-Sonoma's ricer is great because it is so large--perfect for big families! :)

Wendy said...

Very neat idea! My family loves mashed potatoes, but I just hate preparing them.

Unknown said...

I've never heard of a ricer, but we love mashed potatoes, maybe that is an easier way to make them?

Anonymous said...

I read this yesterday, and I came back to ask - why call it a ricer, when you mash potatoes with it? They look divine!! I love mash!

mainely stitching said...

I've never heard of a ricer. Our kids love mashed potatoes, but I hate peeling them ... I'll have to check it out. ;>

lena-lou said...

Well Von, I never knew you could do mashed potatos any other way than with a plain old manual masher, mmmmm and not having to peel them.....cool!!
One of my favourite dinners is Sausage, mash, peas and gravy, now I'm getting hungry 12.30 at night...lol

Cathy B said...

This reminded me of the time when my mom made her mashed potatoes ahead and used a recipe that she had found somewhere - it called for either cream cheese or sour cream and then they were kept warm in the crock pot. My brother (who is strictly a meat and potatoes guy) didn't like the fact that she had "messed" with the potatoes! He likes plain old mashed potatoes!

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Well isn't that interesting! I always wondered myself.
HMMM...maybe on my Santa list..
:D

Lelia said...

I never heard of this before. What a beautiful bowl of potato!!!