Homemade Mashed Potatoes

How simple can it get really?  We get the instant kind, now and then, but our favorite is straight up and simple. Homemade mashed potatoes. Something of home in that I think, something that reminds me of dinner at Gramma's, of simple dinners around the table.  The best part? It's so easy, it's ridiculous.

You'll need:
-As many potatoes as you want.  At our house, it's not unusual for me to do a 10 lb bag and cook it all.  But really about a dozen nice sized potatoes will make a large bowl of mashed potatoes, plenty for dinner for 4 or 5 people.
-Butter - 1 or 2 sticks depending on how much you're cooking
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-Milk

You can use any kind of potatoes really, I've used plain old russet, red skins or even lovely new potatoes.  My favorite at the moment is the Yukon Gold type.  They have a nice buttery flavor on their own so you don't need to add as much butter.

In a large stock or soup pot, filled about 3/4 with water, add salt and bring to a boil.  While you're waiting for the water to boil, wash and peel the potatoes.  I usually just drop them in as I go, the water doesn't have to be boiling first.

Cook over medium to high heat at a boil for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Depending on the size of the potatoes.  The larger they are, the longer it will take.  You can always halve them if they are really large and it will cut down the cooking time.

Once the potatoes are fork tender, but not falling apart, turn off the heat.  Drain gently.

In a large mixing bowl, put a stick of butter down and then pour the drained potatoes over the butter.  This will help to start the butter melting.  If you use a softened stick, all the better.

With a potato masher, start smashing them.  You don't want to beat them to death or they'll start to get a gluey texture.

I used to use a hand mixer, but have found the taste and texture is much better with an old fashioned hand masher.  Mix as you smash.  Once you've broken the potatoes up for the most part, start adding milk.  For about 12 potatoes, figure about a cup of milk, but pour it in gradually, mixing in until combined before you add more.  The goal is to achieve the consistency that you like.  Oh, and don't even try to get all the lumps out, that's what makes them great.  We like a few lumps in ours, they add a texture that is wonderful and trying to get them perfectly smooth will turn them into glue.

Add your salt and pepper to taste at this point also, but don't over do it on the salt.  You can always salt each persons serving to their taste and potatoes do tend to soak up the salt.

That's it, pretty simple.  Now you could add all sorts of things into them, cheese, sour cream, chives, other herbs as you like.  That's the great thing about a simple base recipe, it's adaptable.

These potatoes will keep very nicely in the fridge, covered for several days and are perfectly fine heated up in the microwave.  My kids and husband love a nice hot gravy on top as well, but for me? Butter and salt are just fine.

Homemade Stuffing

We all remember the smell of homemade stuffing/dressing on Thanksgiving day. That smell of carrots, onions, celery cooking in a pan of butter. It always made my tummy growl, long before the smell of the turkey started up.  I used to think my Mom and Gramma slaved away for hours over the stuffing, it always tasted so perfect, how could it not take ages?

Yeah, well, it's pretty darn easy and I kick myself for not realizing it before now.  Homemade stuffing is not just for special occasions and a simple stuffing is so much easier than you might think.

There is nothing wrong, at all, with a boxed stuffing like Stove Top or something similar to that, nothing at all, but there is just something about the smell of the veggies cooking, the feeling of making something from scratch, that when I have the time, makes the little bit of work this takes, more than worth it.

You'll need:

-1 cup chopped celery
-1 cup chopped carrots (I used baby carrots so I didn't have to peel and chop as much)
-1 cup chopped onions
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper
-1 tsp thyme
-1/4 tsp garlic salt
-Butter to saute in along with a bit of olive or vegetable oil
-1 pkg bread crumbs (about 7 cups or so) You can use seasoned ones or unseasoned one, cubes or just   crushed bread crumbs, it's all personal preference.  I would suggest however, using either white or wheat crumbs with this combination of herbs.  A cornbread stuffing needs other flavors.
-2 to 3 cups chicken broth or stock - you can make your own, but I always buy the broth/stock, it's just easier.

Now sage is more traditional or even a poultry season mix, but I was out of sage and didn't feel like making a trip to the store so I used thyme and left out the sage.  You could use a different combination of herbs if you like, just go with what you enjoy and take the portions in moderation so you don't over power the taste of the carrots, celery and onions.

In a hot skillet or saute pan, add a splash of olive or vegetable oil along with about 1/2 stick of butter.  Make sure the pan you're using is large enough to get everything in without overcrowding things too much.  This weekend, I was making double this recipe for a series of leftovers I'm doing this week and used two good sized skillets and just spread things between the two.

Once the butter is melted and the oil is hot, start adding your vegetables and herbs and garlic.  You can either chop everything up ahead of time or chop and add as you go.  If you go this route, start with the carrots as they'll take the longest time to get tender, then onion, then celery.

Saute over medium to high heat for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your pan, some pans cook hotter and quicker than others, stirring things around every few minutes to keep things cooking evenly.  You want to end up with a nice caramelized look to your veg, those little brown edges give the stuffing much more dimension.

While this is cooking, in a large mixing bowl, pour in your bread crumbs.  Once the carrots and things are done, pour this over, butter and oil included and stir into the bread crumbs.  While your pan is still on the heat, pour about 3/4 cup or so broth into the pan and de-glaze the pan.  This is basically just letting the broth get hot and picking up all the nice brown sticky bits that otherwise stick to the pan.  This gives you even more of the caramelized flavors from the vegetables, but also makes the pan easier to clean.  Can't complain about that!

Pour this hot broth over the bread crumbs and then add the remainder of the broth about 1/2 cup or so at a time, stirring after each addition.  You want to make sure that the stuffing comes together, but isn't soggy. If it's too dry you can always drizzle more broth over the top, but if you've added too much broth, the stuffing is going to be a bit mushy.  That won't kill it, in fact for some recipes, a mushier stuffing will let you re-heat in the oven without it drying out too much.

Spoon all into a casserole dish and cook at 350º for 30 to 35 minutes.  Everything is cooked already, you're just making it all come together.  If you leave uncovered, the top will get a nice slightly crispy texture that is wonderful.

You could also stuff a chicken or turkey with this instead of putting into a casserole dish, you just want to make sure the temperature on the stuffing is at least 165º.

The stuffing can be made ahead and cooked the next day, just prepare as above, but leave in a covered casserole dish in the fridge until you're ready to cook.  Do not stuff your bird the night before though, if you're going to stuff a chicken or turkey, prepare the stuffing the night before, but wait until you're ready to go into the oven before stuffing into the bird.

The left over stuffing is great, easy to reheat and holds up well for a few days. The flavor is remarkable and the thing that takes the longest is chopping the veggies.