Velvet Mashed Potatoes

These velvet mashed potatoes are spud seduction. The recipe is written clearly, the ingredients are easily accessible, and the results are amazing.

The true key here is using the potato ricer and bringing all the ingredients to the same temperature, allowing for the cream, butter, and potatoes to waltz happily into a velvety potato party in your mouth.

Using a ricer makes these velvet mashed potatoes so smooth and creamy. Next time, I’d leave the potatoes to dry in the pan for a few minutes after draining. I had to add some salt to the finished potatoes, but I think next time I would use salted butter. They certainly didn’t need the olive oil, but it did look pretty. We loved them.

Perfection. The only adjustment I would make would be to salt the water more. I have a heavy hand there, to be sure, but I feel it makes a difference.

This simple velvet mashed potatoes recipe is perfect with a juicy meat dish, which would incorporate well with this recipe. The mashed potatoes were creamy and velvety, much as the recipe’s title implies, and can be done in no time. Perfect for a fast side dish on a weeknight.

I think the flavor is excellent and this purée can be served with many different types of meat and seafood. It’s truly more of a purée than what I would call a mash. If mashed potatoes are what you want, you should simply add less cream, probably no more than 3/4 cup rather than the full cup stated in the recipe.

My 3 rather large Yukon Gold potatoes weighed about 1 1/2 pounds. Perhaps if 2 pounds of potatoes were used the consistency would have been a bit better, i.e., still able to be eaten with a spoon if desired, but having a bit more structure on the plate.

Everyone I know loves mashed potatoes, so when you sneak something in front of them and call it purée, you know what the reaction will be. “Yuck! Purée—that’s baby food! I hate it — why can’t we have regular mashed potatoes?” Fast-forward about five minutes, and all you can hear is the soft humming of contented diners smiling and swinging their feet to some favorite tune in their head. “Wow! THIS is what potato purée is?” “I think I want to be a baby again!” Yes, this recipe is just that good. Smooth, velvety, warm, creamy, and seductive as you close your mouth around “just one more bite” of this potato puree.

I’ve always used a ricer, so I knew what to expect in the way of texture. I usually cook the potatoes with the skins on, however, because peeling them is not necessary with the ricer—it does the job for me. I didn’t use the drizzle of olive oil at the end. Why not? So I would have the excuse to make this recipe again and try it that way!

This is a great rendition of mashed potatoes.

The recipe is simple, with few ingredients, and results in delicious and rich potatoes. There’s still some effort involved, with the use of the ricer, but it’s worth the extra time because the potatoes seemed almost lighter, even though this is definitely not a low-calorie or low-fat dish.

I used the ricer disc with the smallest holes and the potatoes were quite smooth—not baby food purée smooth, but definitely no large lumps that lend smashed potatoes their rustic feel. I wish the ingredients list specified pounds of potatoes instead of the number of potatoes.

This is pretty much how I always make mashed potatoes but without a recipe. I just throw in a little butter and cream until they look and taste just right. I had no idea I was using that much cream, but when I used up the full cup of cream, they were just right (knowing they thicken a little as they sit).

I finished making the potatoes and was getting ready to take a turkey out of the oven and asked everyone to taste the potatoes before I started on the turkey gravy. They said it was torture to give them only one bite until dinner was ready, so I figured it’s worth the tester’s designation.