Now the term "Interesting Mashed Potatoes" is one that personally I consider somewhat of a contradiction in terms as I find mashed potatoes generally somewhat boring. We do have it at home with some meals. For example the Husband is very fond of them with sausages with onion gravy for example and when he dishes it up I do eat it. Anyway, I have recently treated myself to a new recipe book called "The Kitchen Diaries" by Nigel Slater. The book is big, about 400 pages and basically is a record of what he has cooked each day over the course of a year, with recipes and comments on foods. It is really fascinating and well-worth reading. As the book is very fat and covers a whole year I am trying to read the entry for the day I am living though, to get inspiration, etc for future meals.
Anyway, browsing through the book over the last couple of weeks I came across a couple of entries for mashed potatoes. For the entry for 31st October to have with sausages he suggests "Mustard Mash": this is mashed potatoes flavoured with Dijon mustard and grain mustard - he suggests 1 tablespoon of each in enough mash for two people. The Husband did this with the aforementioned sausages and onion gravy last weekend and it was delicious, Well worth remembering for the future.
The entry for 9th November included "cheese mash", which is basically 125g of grated mature cheese like Cheddar, Lancashire or Wensleydale in enough mashed potatoes for four. Now I haven't tried this yet but I think it well worth considering for the future. Interestingly the entire meal comprised a roast chicken with garlic gravy served with roast potatoes and no other accompaniments then followed by the cheddar mash with the gravy. I must admit that I am not too sure about this meal with no green vegetables and two lots of potatoes. But the cheese mash itself sounds promising.
Obviously one could vary the amount of mustard or cheese that one added to the mashed potatoes, according to personal taste.
8 comments:
(Your blog is being spammed quite a bit, lately. That's a really hateful thing for someone to do to bloggers!) Other than not knowing what "grain mustard" might be, the recipe is very interesting. We'll deduct 2 points from Nigel's score for his unbalanced meal, and award those 2 points (plus two more, for good measure) to your score for correct use of "comprised". (This is a rather cheeky comment coming from an engineer since engineers are notoriously poor in their use of grammar.) It is rare to see the word used correctly here in the United States.
Cop Car
Oh well, it is at least quite easy to get rid of spammed comments here as Blogger provides a facility for this.
Umm, grain mustard. Over here one can buy "wholegrain mustard" which I must admit I prefer to very hot mustards like English mustard in some dishes. Wholegrain mustard tends to have a more subtle taste than that. But, of course, what Nigel Slater has shown us is that it is possible to add to or change the flavour of the mashed potatoes by adding another flavour. Tomato ketchup anybody?
As far as the use of "comprised" is concerned I worked for three decades in an office environment where proper use of the English language was considered a major tool. My spelling wasn't too bad then either. I think it has deteriorated subsequently. Or perhaps it's because I so rarely remember to reread what I write before I post it now. Note to self - proof read what I say before I press the button.
Good luck on proof reading. As you may have noticed, many small errors slip by my own proof reading of my own writing. I tend to read what I expect to see rather than what is on the screen, sometimes.
The English language is a major tool of anyone in an English-speaking country--including us recalcitrant engineers. It doesn't do us any good to do brilliant work if the people who build the airplane, or who work on the airplane, do not correctly understand what we mean. It was humbling to find that the mechanics interpreted my exhortation to them that they use a 1" blend radius to mean that they should blend for a distance of 1" in all directions from the damage that they were addressing. I intended that the tool used for blending operation should have a 1" radius. Oof! A sketch would have been worth many words.
Cop Car
I'll have to keep the idea of the mashed potatoes with mustard in mind. I bet Dear Husband would love it with brats or keilbasa.
You might consider a sharp white cheddar for those potatoes you want to try. We have a micro brewery that serves them, and they are WONDERFUL.
And...you might consider roasting some garlic, and then adding the soft garlic to mashed potatoes. I like the smooth garlic mashed potatoes, but I don't care for the version that uses husk and all. No lumps for me.
I can see that I need to brush up on "comprised." Cop Car is a font of knowledge about the English language!
Buffy
The best mashed potatoes that I have ever tasted were served at a restaurant that was attached to a B&B, near the apartment that Hunky Husband had in the Philadelphia PA area for the 2.5 years just prior to his retirement (HH retired in late 1993). The potatoes did, indeed, have the soft part of cooked garlic buds mashed into them--and enough butter to bring on instant artery obstruction! I've tried to mimic those potatoes on occasion, but have never come close. Adele and Buffy may have come up with the winning combination. Thank you!
Buffy--Thanks, too, for the compliment, and for not including the words, "...thinks that she...." after "Cop Car". Much of what I think I know is demonstrably wrong!!
Cop Car
Err.. what are brats or Keilbasa? We tend to serve mashed potatoes with casseroles, so that it can absorb some of the gravy or with the Great British Banger.
I hadn't though of adding roasted garlic to the mash. What a good idea! I have to admit that I do like roasted garlic and this could be a good addition to the dish.
I have to admit, Buffy, that I prefer a strong Cheddar to a mild one. Over here you can get a "Farmhouse Cheddar" which is quite strong and excellent in cooking. I must admit I like a chees that tastes like a cheese.
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