Rockin' Mashed Potatoes - Day 12

Despite being born in Idaho and loving potatoes, I can't remember ever making them from scratch. I really am a cooking-newbie, despite being 40 years old. All of our potatoes have always come from a box.

Betty told me that was shameful...and then refused to acknowledge my presence for about an hour. So temperamental!

This Christmas we decided to set out on the new adventure of using something other than the Dough Hook. So you know, the KitchenAid stand mixers come with three standard accessories, The Flat Beater, Dough Hook, and Wire Whip. After cruising through AllRecipes.com for a good mashed potato recipe, I settled on a photo that looked very much like our local steakhouse's side dish. My only problem was that I couldn't decide which accessory to use: the wire whip or the flat beater. After boiling, the potatoes seems so dense and heavy..or maybe it was the fact I was trying to do 7 lbs at the same time, so I started out with the flat beater on the 2 setting.

Cooking for me has never necessarily been about creating amazingly good food. Over the years I have settled on about 8 meals that fulfill my Cardinal Rules of Dinner:

1. Easy Clean Up (fewest dishes and least mess)
2. Fast & Simple
3. Tastes decent

And yes, the priorities have always been in that order. Most meals have consisted of 5 ingredients (not counting spices) or less, and cook up in under 30 minutes. Either that, or they are crockpot meals that take less than 10 minutes to prep and then cook all day on their own. Despite my new interest in all things kitcheny, I still insist on easy clean up (Betty's a dream in this area), but I am expanding the meals and side dishes to include new tastes and textures.

The flat beater seemed like the way to go, and despite the fact that the potatoes were threatening to overflow, Betty whirred and purred them into a lovely consistency. It being Christmas, I had a greater willingness to break the Cardinal Rules, and so I added one step to the following recipe that basically turned my mashed potatoes into Rockin' Potatoes of Instant Fame! I roasted the garlic in olive oil for 30 mintutes before adding it to Betty's bowl. Yes, yes, yes! I had to constantly keep moving the food around my plate so that no one realized I was only eating the amazing potatoes.

It's worth the time, people. And actually, I found that if you are cooking up something else in the oven, just throw the garlic, wrapped in aluminim foil after being splattered with olive oil, in with whatever else is in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes.

Here it is, the Rockin Potatoes of Instant Fame Recipe:

• 16 medium red potatoes, cubed
• 1 tablespoon of garlic (more or less depending on your garlic tastes)
  
• 1 cup butter or margarine (I cut this in half..too much fat)
  
• 1/2 cup milk or cream
  
• 1/2 teaspoon steak seasoning (didn't have, so used just some basic seasoning salt)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano (also optional)
  

1. Place the potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.
2. Drain the potatoes, and add everything else. Whip it all up in your kitchenaid, or other hand mixer. Do not drench with gravy.
   

Feeds about 8 people if they are also eating other food. Or serves me and about 5 others. ENJOY!

Tasting Team Ratings: Jen-5 Bettys, Kate-5 Bettys, Teresa-5 Bettys, Madeline 5-Bettys, Victora 2-Bettys (comment: prefers instant, potatoes were weird).