Sides That Free Up the Oven

Mashed Potatoes

Name: Mashed Potatoes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 lb Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks; 1 cup chicken broth; 1/2 cup butter, one stick, cut in pieces; 4 cloves garlic, smashed; 2 tsp salt · 1 tsp black pepper; 3/4 cup whole milk, warmed; 1/2 cup sour cream; 2 tbsp chives, snipped

No boiling, no draining, no colander. They cook in butter and broth and then you mash them in the same pot.

Serves6

Prep10 min

Low4 hr

High2 hr

Pot6 qt

What goes in

3 lb Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup butter, one stick, cut in pieces
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tsp salt · 1 tsp black pepper

Stir in at the end

3/4 cup whole milk, warmed
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp chives, snipped

Warm the milk

Cold milk into hot potatoes cools them and makes them gluey as you work them. Thirty seconds in the microwave solves it. And mash by hand, never with a blender.

How to make it

Put the potatoes in the pot with the broth, butter, garlic, salt and pepper. Lid on.
Low 4 hours or high 2 hours, until a knife goes through with no resistance.
Do not drain. That liquid is butter and broth and it belongs in the potatoes.
Mash them right in the pot with a hand masher.
Add the warmed milk and the sour cream and fold them in just until smooth. Stop there, overworking turns potato to paste.
Taste for salt and stir through the chives.

Swap it

Russets give a fluffier mash, Yukons a creamier one. Add a cup of grated cheddar or roasted garlic for a louder version.