Name: Ultimate Mashed Potato
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 500 g Dutch cream potato; 250 ml full cream milk; 125 g butter; 100 g instant mashed potato; 1 pinch salt and pepper

by Keith_W Last updated on 07/09/2019

This recipe attempts to make the smoothest possible mash potato with the strongest possible potato flavour. The potatoes are first sous-vided to retrograde the starch (this helps with the smoothness), then the skins are oven baked and poached in milk. Finally, mashed potato powder is toasted and added to the mixture. - Keith_W

Ingredients

500 g Dutch cream potato
250 ml full cream milk
125 g butter
100 g instant mashed potato
1 pinch salt and pepper

Method

Step 1

Preheat sous-vide bath to 72C.
Step 2

Wash the potatoes and sous-vide for 1 hour, ensuring the internal temperature reads 72C after an hour with a probe thermometer.
Step 3

Peel the potatoes, reserving the skin.
Step 4

Bake skins at 180C for 20 minutes. This boosts the potato flavour. Keep the potatoes in salted water to prevent browning.
Step 5

Heat milk to 90C and add the potato skins. Simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to infuse. When cool, strain the milk and discard the skins.
Step 6

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil.
Step 7

Cut potatoes into 1 cm slices to speed up cooking. Boil for 20 minutes or until a knife easily passes through.
Step 8

Remove potatoes and allow to dry on a rack. This allows water to escape.
Step 9

Cut butter into cubes and scatter at the bottom of a microwave safe bowl.
Step 10

Pass potatoes through a ricer and into the butter.
Step 11

Toast mashed potato powder in a fry-pan using about 20 g of butter, stirring frequently. The more it is toasted, the more flavour will be produced.
Step 12

Add toasted mashed potato powder to the mash and start adding the infused milk, just until the desired consistency is reached.
Step 13

Adjust with salt and pepper. Add optional flavourings.
Step 14

Pass mashed potato through a tamis. The mash can be refrigerated for up to 3 days after this stage.
Step 15

Heat mashed potato in a microwave (not a saucepan). The mash is more likely to burn if a saucepan is used.
Step 16

Add garnish and serve.

Recipe Notes

from Australia’s Best Recipes team

If you wish, you could omit steps from this recipe but you will not get the same result. This is an explanation of what happens if you omit certain steps. Omit the sous-vide step: the purpose of this is to retrograde the starch. This method was invented by Jeffrey Steingarten. The starch in potato cells is liable to burst if you simply boil the potato without retrograding the starch first. This increases the risk that you produce gummy mash.Omit the toasted mashed potato powder: this step produces an intense roast potato flavour. The mash is so potato-ey that no other flavourings are required. Less fat: don't! Mashed potato needs the fat. The classic recipe by Escoffier recommends 2:1 potato to butter. I have recommended as little butter as I can get away with, but this recipe would benefit from more butter if you can spare the calories. The smoothness of a mashed potato depends on keeping the individual cells apart, which is why you need fat. A note on mashing: I own a potato ricer, a mouli, a food processor, and a tamis. By far the easiest way to mash is with the ricer. The mouli is not effective, the tamis is difficult unless the potato is already mashed, and you should never use a food processor to make mash. Optional flavourings i.e. truffle oil, nutmeg, wasabi, etc.