Pusher, as mashed potato is often called, appears on dining tables quite often. All because this side dish is one of the most versatile and delicious. Russian people love potatoes in all its manifestations, and mashed potatoes from this starchy vegetable are no exception.
A word about mashed potatoes
The recipe for mashed potatoes is in the very first entries of the cookbook of young hostesses. It is very simple to cook: peel potatoes, boil and crush with a blender. But for some reason this dish turns out to be tasty and aromatic for some, while for others it is watery, slippery and not very pleasant to taste. This suggests that even a seemingly simple mashed potato has some secrets in cooking.
And let us today open these important "delicious" secrets to everyone's favorite crush? We suggest to conduct culinary tests in your kitchen and try the following recipes for mashed potatoes (with photo).
Gentle Mashed Potatoes
The most classic crush recipe. It was he who conquered many taste buds of those who at least once feasted on such a dish. The recipe for mashed potatoes with milk is the first one we will experience.
Products for the preparation of this dish:
- potatoes - ten pieces;
- half a glass of warm milk (take milk with high fat content);
- salt - a teaspoon;
- one hundred grams of butter;
- one onion;
- a couple of spoons of vegetable oil (for onion passivation).
Step by step recipe for mashed potatoes with a photo of the finished side dish:
- We wash off the dust from the potatoes and proceed to clean it. When you clean the vegetable, do not forget to remove the "eyes". Peeled tubers in a bowl of cold, clean water.
- Choose a pot suitable for crushing.
- Rinse the tubers and cut them in two lengthwise.
- Pour the potatoes with clean cold water so that the liquid slightly covers the vegetable.
- Put on the stove until it boils. When the pan begins to boil, reduce the heat to moderate and salt the contents.
- Without losing precious minutes, you need to peel the onion and finely chop it. Pour vegetable oil into the pan and bring the onion to a golden hue in the heated oil. When it reaches golden - turn off the stove under the pan.
- After 10 minutes, check the potato for readiness - pierce it with a fork. If the root crop is ready, proceed to the second part of the preparation.
- Drain the broth. Spread onion to boiled tubers.
- Let's get back to turning potatoes into tender mashed potatoes. It is better to use a wooden pestle for this procedure. Of course, all sorts of “warm-ups” for metal puree are much more familiar. However, metal is able to “bestow” your dish with not very pleasant corresponding taste and metallic aroma. After mashing the tubers slightly, add the butter to them (first let them soak at room temperature for about an hour). The butter will melt and soak into the crushed potatoes.
- When the mashed potatoes are almost ready, add half a glass of very warm milk. We continue to mash the resulting mashed potatoes until the small pieces of potato disappear.
And with what eat it?
Here he is - a simple recipe for delicious mashed potatoes. You can eat it with cutlets, salad, chicken, sausages. You can still diversify the puree itself and cook a little in a new way. To taste it is permissible to add various greens. She will ennoble the taste and aroma of the dish. If you prefer liquid mashed potatoes - just increase the rate of milk.
Oven mashed potatoes
We present you a recipe with a photo of mashed potatoes in the oven. Fragrant dish with garlic and cheese in the composition.
See if you have these products:
- five medium potatoes;
- any hard cheese - at least one hundred grams;
- fifty grams of butter;
- chicken egg;
- head of garlic or onion head (you can add onion and garlic together in a mashed potato recipe);
- odorless vegetable oil;
- a tablespoon of salt;
In this recipe, as you noticed, there is no milk. The fact is that with milk, the dish may turn out to be a little liquidy.
Step by step recipe for mashed potatoes in the oven
- Wash potato tubers and peel. Cut into two parts or into four.
- Pour water into the pot with prepared potatoes. Add salt and put on moderate heat.
- Ready potatoes will become loose, will not crack when pierced with a fork or knife.
- While the potatoes are being cooked, grate the cheese. It is better to rub it on a fine grater.
- Peel and crush the garlic using a press. Passion the onion until golden brown in vegetable oil.
- Separate the yolk and raw egg protein into separate bowls.
- From the finished boiled tubers, you need to drain the water. Leave a glass of broth to adjust the density of the finished mashed potatoes.
- Into the potatoes, slightly crushed, introduce the yolk and the entire rate of butter.
- Continue crushing potatoes with a wooden pestle until smooth. If necessary, salt again.
- If the consistency of mashed potatoes does not suit you because it is too thick, pour the broth in small portions and continue working as a pusher. When the mashed potato reaches a satisfactory state, it's time to start the final stage of preparing mashed potatoes according to the recipe.
The final stage
- Grease the non-stick deep baking dish with the oil inside. It is better to use a vegetable version of the oil. Thoroughly flush all existing recesses and especially the bottom.
- Fill the form with mashed potatoes.
- Top generously sprinkle with grated cheese, onions and transferred garlic.
- Preheat the oven and only then place the dishes with prepared mashed potatoes inside.
- Baking occurs with the lid open for about ten minutes. As soon as the top of the dish reaches the desired brownness, it can be removed from the oven.
- Give the mashed potatoes a little time to cool (5 minutes) and cut it into portions for serving.
With minced meat and vegetables
The previous recipe for mashed potatoes in the oven can be slightly diversified by adding minced meat and frozen mixed vegetables.
Products:
- four to five potatoes;
- fifty milliliters of milk;
- two hundred grams of any stuffing;
- assorted vegetables - frozen;
- two tablespoons of sour cream product;
- four raw eggs;
- salt to taste;
- bulb;
- seasonings to taste;
Recipe
- We wash the potato, peeling, cook until tender. Push it in mashed potatoes.
- In a frying pan, fry finely chopped onion. We use vegetable oil for frying. When the onion reaches transparency, add frozen vegetables to the pan to it. First we cook them under the lid, then, removing it, bring it to readiness. Salt vegetables if necessary.
- In another pan, saute the minced meat. Disassemble it thoroughly so that a big cutlet does not work out instead of small fried meat pieces. Stuffing slightly salt. Remember the salt added to potatoes and other vegetables, so as not to oversalt the whole dish.
- Lubricate the form in which we will prepare the dish with vegetable oil. Smear generously.
- Now we put a layer of minced meat on the bottom and a layer of vegetables on top. Fill with beaten eggs.
- On the omelet (egg) layer, spread the mashed potatoes. Level its surface. You can draw with a spoon some figures-drawings.
- Lubricate the surface generously with sour cream and egg mixture and place in a well-heated oven.
- The preparation time of such a dish lasts about half an hour, and soon you can enjoy a hearty and tasty meal. In addition, very budget (which is important).
The secrets of making perfect mashed potatoes
- Good mashed potatoes need potatoes with a high starch content. It is starchy substances that make mashed potatoes airy and so tender. Do not take young tubers to a crush - mashed potatoes will be rough and watery. It is better that mashed potatoes get more mature and slightly laid potatoes.
- Once you have peeled the potatoes, immediately proceed to its preparation. Do not let starch "go" into the water.
- The ideal puree is obtained if the tubers are dipped in boiling, salted water in advance.
- You need to eat mashed potatoes immediately after it is cooked. If the puree has cooled, it will not be so delicious.