Mashed potatoes can be made from many products - zucchini, peas, tomatoes, apples. But the most common is mashed potatoes. This method of cooking potatoes is known wherever it grows or where it is imported, that is, almost all over the world. Sometimes it is called crushed potato, and we are well aware of such a cook tool as a “pusher”. In the strict sense, mashed potatoes are not just crushed (mashed, mashed) products, but a dish of chopped potatoes with various additives and ingredients. Despite the apparent simplicity and simplicity of this dish, each housewife has her own secrets and ways to make mashed potatoes tasty, airy and extraordinary.
Whatever mashed potato recipe you choose, the first stage of its preparation is always the same. This is the selection, peeling and boiling of potato tubers.
The quality of the original product is a guarantee and excellent mashed potatoes. As a rule, when buying potatoes, we are rarely interested in its variety, therefore, the advice of the famous chef V.V. Pokhlebkina - choosing varieties with a high starch content will not work in urban conditions, but you should still consult with the seller.
Before you cook mashed potatoes, you should choose good root crops - without flaws and rot, not frostbitten and not sprouted. Wash them thoroughly with a brush in running water, dry and clean. Jacketed mashed potatoes are usually made as a semi-finished product for potato patties and fritters.
Before mashed, potatoes must be boiled. For this, tubers of medium size are usually chosen, if they are large, then each is cut into several parts. While we prepare them for cooking, salted water is heated in a pan. When it is close to boiling, lower the peeled potatoes into it and cook it until soft. You can add bay leaf and several peas of allspice to the broth. There should be little water, just a finger above the potatoes. Cook on low heat, boiling should not be stormy.
When the potatoes become soft, drain the water, remove the bay leaf and peppercorns. We do not cover the pan with a lid so that the steam (moisture) evaporates a little.
Since making the mashed potatoes on water is the easiest and most affordable way - to cover up, (wipe through a sieve, knead with a spoon) - often the hostesses are limited to this. But there is a trick here - you need to do this very quickly, adding a hot broth in which the potatoes were cooked so that the mashed potatoes were not dry. In this “crush” we add butter.
Such a dish can be satiated, but not enjoy. How to make mashed potatoes real, classic? For this we need half a kilogram of potatoes, a glass of milk, 50 grams of butter.
When the potatoes are boiled, drain the water and slightly dry it over a very low heat. Another hot push or pass through a meat grinder. Add the butter and gradually pour in the milk, mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps. Mashed potatoes can be whipped with fun, and now more and more often housewives use a mixer.
Potatoes prepared in this way are usually served as a side dish. But if you add bacon (pieces of fried lard) or bacon (100 grams) and tomato paste (50) grams in the puree, you will get a completely independent dish.
A wonderful casserole is obtained by driving two eggs in mashed potatoes and adding finely chopped green onions. Put the mass in a deep frying pan or stewpan and put in the oven, heated to 180 degrees, for 20 minutes. Serve hot casserole with sour cream and vegetable salad.
Knowing the basic principles of preparing mashed potatoes, each housewife in her own way decides the question "how to cook mashed potatoes?". It all depends on taste preferences, national traditions, and finally, on the availability of products.