Nothing says comfort food like mashed potatoes. These are a very simple version I made to go along with the lamb I posted earlier this week. They came out very well and they don’t use all the heavy cream and loads of butter I keep seeing in recipes, and restaurants for that matter. Mashed potatoes might be comfort food, but I find there is no real comfort in eating super fatty foods. These are by no means lean, they are just not swimming in grease.

The key, as with all dishes that have very few ingredients, is that you want to seek out ingredients of the very highest quality. For example I like using pasture butter, meaning the cows ate grass while they produced the milk the butter was churned into. I also try and buy fresh potatoes, not ones that have been in a sack for who only knows how long. Milk is always organic in our house and I find it makes a heck of a difference in the flavor both for drinking and for cooking. If you only have three ingredients they must all be exceptional because they can not hide behind one another.

A note on the milk: When I made these last time I only needed about a 1/4 cup of the milk so do make sure and add it slowly. Other times I have needed 3/4 cups, it all depends on the consistency you are after and the type of potato you use.

Igredients
3lbs potatoes – Here I use new potatoes but any potato will do just fine.
1/2 cup whole milk
3 tbls butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut up potatoes into roughly similar sizes.

Place in water and bring to a boil. Boil until you can easily insert a fork into the potatoes. I find most people are impatient when they make mashed potatoes and don’t cook them long enough. There is no real science to it, if you have any resistance just keep boiling.

Strain the potatoes and return to the pot you boiled them in. Next add the butter and begin to mash. Slowly add in the milk until you reach your desired consistency.

You can add roasted garlic, chives, bacon, cheese or any other variety of flavors to this dish to make it more of a star. As it is it plays a beautiful supporting role.