Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes. Seriously, how difficult can they be to prepare? Do I really need to share a recipe when almost every cook can make these without searching the Internet (or perusing a stack of cookbooks) to figure out how to throw together such a simple dish? 

I've been making mashed potatoes for decades, but decided to see if I could find something a little more decadent for our Thanksgiving dinner. (My usual "recipe" is pretty basic: Some peeled potatoes, some warm milk and a bit -- okay, a LOT -- of butter.) I also wanted a recipe that I could make ahead of time. I don't know about you, but the traditional Thanksgiving dinner involves a lot of dishes and a lot of dish washing, not to mention the stress of having everything hot and ready all at the same time! This year I wanted to prep as much as possible the day before (or at least the morning of) so that we could relax with our guests and not spend hours cleaning up after they'd gone home. Enter The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays.

I'm a big fan of PW's recipes and snagged a copy of this book last year during Barnes & Noble's cookbook sale. Have I used the cookbook in the past year? Nope. At least not until last Wednesday, when I discovered her recipe for Perfect Mashed Potatoes. It's pretty much your typical recipe for this favorite comfort food, but in addition to butter, she adds cream cheese, half-and-half and heavy cream. Not exactly healthy, but we can overlook that once or twice a year, right? And the verdict? Fantastic!

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Photo Credit: Food Network

Ingredients

5 lbs. russet or Yukon gold potatoes
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces, more for the dish and topping
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp seasoned salt, more to taste
1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
1 tsp black pepper, more to taste

Directions

Peel the potatoes, placing them in a bowl of cold water as you go to prevent browning.

Cut the peeled potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. (I usually cute them into eighths.) 

Place the potatoes in a large pot and add water until the potatoes are completely covered. Bring to a boil and cook (uncovered) until the potatoes are cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes. (When they're done a fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.) 

Drain the potatoes thoroughly in a large colander and put them back into the dry pot. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing the steam and excess moisture to escape.

Remove the pot from the stove and add the butter, cream cheese, half-and-half, heavy cream, seasoned salt, salt and pepper. Use the masher or a wooden spoon to combine all the ingredients until smooth.

Spread the potatoes in a large buttered casserole dish, smoothing out the surface of the potatoes. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Prior to baking the potatoes, remove the dish from the refrigerator 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Dot the top of the potatoes with a little more butter and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are piping hot and golden brown on top.

My Notes:

I used two large pots to boil the potatoes so they wouldn't be too crowded as they cooked.

I didn't use the seasoned salt, nor did I add any additional salt & pepper (to taste) since the amounts indicated were enough.

I didn't add any extra butter to the top of the potatoes. I think 2 sticks of butter in the potatoes is plenty.

I made the mashed potatoes the day before Thanksgiving and placed them in a Crock-Pot and stored that dish in the refrigerator until mid-morning on Thanksgiving. I began to heat them about 6 hours before serving, starting out on High for the first hour and then reducing the temperature to Low for the remaining time.

I have never before tasted such creamy, rich mashed potatoes! There was no need to add any butter or salt & pepper, but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a big ladle-full of gravy. Mmmmm!

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