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Potatoes

A Tasty Mash-Up: Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Blue Cheese

By Rob Childs ⋅ December 19, 2008 ⋅  Print Recipe ⋅ Post a comment

I’ve always thought that the potato was a great vegetable.  It’s nutritious, easy to grow, and can be prepared many ways.  If I were to compare it to a vehicle, it would most resemble a ski bum’s Subaru:  road tested, well decorated, and sturdy.  You may have seen an example of one basking in the muddy parking lot of a ski area or tooling down the mountain for some apres beers, its back window an off white due to many miles of travel on dirty, salty back roads, flaunting some ski stickers or funky bumper adornments like antlers or macrame (for those living in crunchier areas).

With that image in mind, and an idea for some apres ski food that might not fit into the traditional mold, I’d like to contribute a recipe for some mashed potatoes that have some extra ingredients that are sure to help you warm up after a long day of shredding the gnar (for non skiier’s, “gnar” refers to “gnar gnar pow pow” or “gnarly powder” or “great conditions” -Editor).

I grew up in Buffalo, and while there isn’t much in the way of skiing there, people have instead adopted a healthy enthusiasm for food that might not be the most heart friendly, but is very delicious, especially when gearing up for some skiing (700 ft. of vert!), or more appropriately, attending a Bills game.  I am speaking about wings, or as many know them “Buffalo Wings.”  You may ask what wings and mashed potatoes have in common, and I have the answer: blue cheese.  I find that adding a generous serving of blue cheese to mashed potatoes, in addition to at least a head of roasted garlic (depending on how many people are being served), makes the dish more exciting, more stimulating to the taste buds, and definitely more interesting.  Without further ado, here is the recipe:

3 to 4 lbs. of potatoes  - I usually go for a mix of new (red) potatoes and Yukon Gold’s, with no real favor given to one type or the other – basically, I just pick out what looks good at the market and take a few more of one depending how I’m feeling that day.

1/3 stick of butter (maybe more) cut into chunks
2 cups of heavy cream
some freshly ground pepper to taste
salt to taste
1 full head of garlic
olive oil as needed
four ounces of blue cheese crumbles

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

To start, take the head of garlic and cut the top bit off so that a large majority of the cloves are exposed.  Grab a sheet of aluminum foil, place the garlic in the center, and wrap the sides of the foil around the garlic, leaving the top of the wrap open.  Drizzle about two table spoons of olive oil over the top of the garlic, making sure that the oil soaks into the garlic.  Scrunch up the top ends of the foil around the garlic and toss the whole thing in the oven for about 30 minutes, making sure that the garlic is standing upright.  While the garlic is roasting, you can prepare and boil the potatoes.

Begin by cutting the potatoes into small chunks – roughly the size of those big, two-toned erasers that you used in grade school.  I like to leave the skin on, as I feel that it adds a nice flavor to the dish, but you can skin ‘em if you wish (just do that before you cut the taters into chunks).

Toss the chunks of potatoes into a pot of lightly salted water and bring to a boil.  This could take a while, depending on the amount of potatoes that you use.   You’ll know when the potatoes are finished when they easily slide off the tines of a fork stuck in them.  Turn off the heat if they’re done.

Check on the garlic – you want it to take on a carmel color, but avoid letting it get too dark brown.  If it is ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool off.  Once cooled, take it out of the foil and remove the cloves with a fork or your fingers.  This can be messy because of the olive oil, but it smells great and if you’re brave and no one is looking, you can pop one of the cloves in your mouth and sample the goods.

The next step would be to drain the liquid from the potatoes.  Make sure to reserve about 2 or 3 cups of the liquid – you might need it to add to the potatoes to facilitate the mashing process.  Begin to mash the potatoes in the pot they were cooked in, and add the butter chunks.  If the mashing is a bit tough, add some of the reserved boiling liquid, as it will help the situation quite a bit and add a little more flavor.  Once the mixture is pretty smooth, slowly pour in the cream as you mash.  Add the garlic cloves and mash some more.  Finally, add the blue cheese.  At this point the potatoes should still be very warm and can be served.   Salt and pepper to taste, or leave out the spices and chow down!

Serves about 10 people (fewer if everybody has been slaying the pow and is HUNGRY).