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From: macrakis@harvard.ARPA (Stavros Macrakis)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: mashed potatoes and peels
Message-ID: <253@harvard.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 16-Jul-85 10:33:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: harvard.253
Posted: Tue Jul 16 10:33:01 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 20-Jul-85 10:52:39 EDT
References: <2057@burdvax.UUCP>
Organization: Aiken Comp. Lab., Harvard
Lines: 57

> potatoes [mashed] with the peels on ...  always wound up with thick
> glop with brown, chewy peels.  ... blender... food processor...
> potatoe [sic] masher ...   (psuvax1!burdvax!sue)

I've always preferred my mashed potatoes peeled.  Classically, this
involves peeling them as they emerge boiling-hot from the pot,
mashing with a potato masher or ricing with a ricer, blending in a
bit of butter (if you'd use margarine, you might as well skip the
rest of this article), milk, cream (optional), salt, white pepper
(white for aesthetic reasons only; I prefer black), and nutmeg, and
serving immediately.  Henckel's has a cute little trident for holding
potatoes during peeling (the Germans eat many boiled potatoes!), if
you can't manage otherwise.

There are several types of potatoes on the market, but in general I
prefer the large Maine or P.E.I.'s, with the California's in second
place (the Oakes Ames Library of Economic Botany is closed for the
summer, so I can't cite the correct names...); I've never much liked
Idaho's.

I was once pleasantly surprised when served unpeeled mashed potatoes
(I suppose in fact that they're mashed unpeeled potatoes, but no
matter) -- the trick was to use the small red thin-skinned variety
("new potatoes") and mash them with a perforated masher (vide infra).
But this does require scrubbing the potatoes quite carefully before
boiling.

I have never had any luck with mashing potatoes in the food processor
-- the result is a combination of gluey overbeaten potatoes and lumps.
I wouldn't dream of trying in a blender, which requires that its
contents be very liquid to function at all; the Braun `mini-pimer' is
somewhat better than the blender because you can move it around, but
not much.

For slightly lumpy results, I like perforated mashers best (the metal
gizmos with a flat bottom with holes in it).  Buy a solid one, as you
must put some force into it.  `Potato mashers' (the ones that look
like a woodworker's mallet) I find less effective.  This lumpy style
goes very well with plain grilled pork chops or heavy stews.

For more even, finer, potatoes which you might want to serve with,
say, roast veal (either /nature/ or /gratinee/), ricers and food mills
work well.  You might have some luck with unpeeled potatoes in a food
mill, but of course most of the peel will stay behind (that's the
point of a food mill, after all); you will need to unclog it and empty
it of the dross from time to time.

In any case, it is critical not to beat the potatoes too much, as they
turn gluey.  It is also critical to serve them very hot and fresh from
the kitchen (on a heated platter).  They don't reheat well.

	Yours for better eating,

		-s


PS Please don't tell me about the vitamin content of the peels -- I
   really couldn't care less.