~ Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Exactly Perfect

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

We could hardly believe our own senses today when we experienced the odiferous wonder of garlic and butter roasting in the oven. Our girl was concocting what may soon come to be known the best garlic mashed potatoes known to Man(kind), but until then we will just refer to them as Exactly Perfect. She found chefly secrets online at this locale: (reluctantgourmet.com) and then whupped up this exquisite garlic sauce that can be used in potatoes or a whole variety of foods. You'll see what we mean as you wisely read on. It's all in the technique, which has somehow eluded our cooker until now. These are the principles she learnt: 1) Boil the water first 2) Scald the milk before adding it 3) Add the milk last (after lumps are out of potatoes) 4) Nutmeg removes the "stored" flavor of potatoes. Who knew? 5) It's ok to make mashed potatoes ahead if you keep them hot (a crock pot works!). They don't reheat well after cooling.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Me's Independent Rating: 3 of 3

5 lbs. potatoes
2-1/2 cups milk (more or less)
10 oz. butter
1/2 cup Garlic Sauce (see recipe below)

Kosher salt
Pepper
Nutmeg


Potatoes can be steamed, pressure cooked or boiled. Heat the water in advance in each case. Pare and cut potatoes. (Keep in a bowl of cold water if you prepare them ahead.) Place into (or over) boiling salted water and cook til tender but not falling apart. For a pressure cooker this was about 8 minutes for quartered potatoes. 


Drain potatoes and puree immediately with butter, garlic sauce, and nutmeg until smooth. Don't worry about overbeating at this juncture. 


Meanwhile, heat milk to scalding. When potatoes have no lumps, gradually beat in hot milk to the desired consistency. Do not overbeat. Pepper and salt to taste. Transfer potatoes to a crock pot to keep hot until serving.



Garlic Sauce  

1 pound (?!) garlic
1/2 lb butter, unsalted
1/4 lbs onion
1/4 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon Kosher salt

Peel garlic and place in oven proof bowl. Cover with butter and onion, pepper and salt. Seal with aluminum foil and bake at  375F for one hour. The garlic will be very tender and lightly browned. Puree. Use for Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Garlic Sauces, Pastas with or without Cream, with Mayonnaise on Sandwiches (Roasted Garlic Aiioli). Keep refrigerated to store. 

 
Notes from Guthrie: Lick the bowl immediately before the residue turns to a hard glue that will take a lot more licking to get off.

- Pumpkin Soup

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

Here we are, pups after Halloween with so many jack-o-lanterns. We baked them up (they were only outside for the evening glowing with candlelight) and froze the puree in pint bags. We noted which ones came from darker dense pumpkin (cooking pumpkins) and the lighter watery pumpkin (carving pumpkins) so when we go to cook with it we can adapt the pumpkin accordingly. (We will drain the light stuff some more and not expect the deepest pumpkin flavor that the darker flesh will yield.)

We searched our favorite epicurious.com and found this Delicious recipe for pumpkin soup. We ate it with whole wheat french bread slathered in Butter.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup chopped carrot
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 3/4 cup chopped ripe banana
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 whole clove
• 5 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 2 cups canned pure pumpkin
• 3/4 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk*
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried sage leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon yellow curry powder

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrot and next 6 ingredients and sauté until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Transfer mixture to processor and blend until smooth. Return mixture to pot. Add broth and all remaining ingredients except cilantro. Boil soup over medium-high heat 15 minutes to blend flavors. Cool slightly. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly, then cover and refrigerate.)

Bring soup to simmer. Divide among 8 bowls. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

*We used dried coconut cream powder and diluted it twice as much for the coconut milk.