Garlic-Roasted Whipped Potatoes

Mashed potatoes. Can you get a better comfort food than mashed potatoes? (Well, besides my world-famous pesto-shrimp-macaroni-and-cheese. But you'll have to wait for that.)

The answer is, yes. Garlic-roasted whipped potatoes. Whipped with cream so they're fluffy. Made with red potatoes, so you don't have to peel the buggers.

I almost cut off the tip of my finger peeling potatoes a few months ago. My thumb-knuckles are scarred with nicks from my potato peeler. Luckily, this recipe is perfect for the peeler-disabled like myself. Here, I'll prove it to you!


Alright, alright. I know I promised a dessert post. But I have a killer test tomorrow, and editing all those dessert pictures made my head spin.

So mashed 'taters it is. (Why am I speaking like a hillbilly? I have no idea).

Ingredients: 2 cloves of garlic. 10-15 red potatoes. 1/2 a stick of butter. 1 cup of heavy cream or half-and half. Pepper and kosher salt, to taste.

Step One: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Get your garlic cloves....

and cut their heads off!

Off with their heads!

(Speaking of, has anyone seen Alice in Wonderland yet? I didn't think it had a very good plot, but I was thrilled to see a female heroine for once. Yay for strong female role models in kids' movies! All too often, girls are either the love interest or the sidekick, like Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger.) 

Lay out two pieces of foil. Put your beheaded garlic on it, and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap them up tightly into little balls, put them on a baking sheet, and roast for 45 minutes- 1 hour.

Step Two: Wash and dry your potatoes. Fill a pot with water and pour in 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. (To be honest, I never measure it, I just pour some into my hand and throw it in the pot). Bring this to a boil. Put your potatoes in and boil until soft, about 20-30 minutes. A  good way to test is by, quite literally, sticking a fork in it. If it's soft enough for the fork to go through easily, they're done. Sorry that there aren't a lot of pictures of this part, it was kind of boring.

Step Three: If your garlic is done by this point, take it out of the foil and let it cool till you're able to handle it. When your potatoes are done, drain them into the bowl of a stand mixer. If you don't have a stand mixer, just put them in a big bowl. Mash them around with a masher or large fork, until they're broken up. Throw in the butter while they're still hot, and stir it around a little bit.

Step Four: When your garlic is cool enough to handle, it's time to put it into the potatoes. This is so easy. You can peel each clove off very easily, and just squeeze the garlic into the bowl. It slides out of the skin really easily. Also, the roasting process mellows the taste of the garlic, so the more, the better!

Step Five: Attach the paddle attachment to your stand mixer, or the regular beaters to your hand mixer. Begin it very slowly... if you do it too fast, your mixer will break. Continue mixing until the garlic, butter, and potatoes are well-combined. Slowly begin pouring in the cream, until the potatoes have reached the right consistency. You can speed it up a little bit here, in order to fully whip them. However, follow your manufacturer's instructions so the machine doesn't break. 

Now, you can stop the mixer. Try a spoonful of the potatoes, to see what seasonings they need. Adjust to taste.

Step Six: Transfer this heaping pile of deliciousness to a serving dish. I made these on Christmas day, and the pork loin still wasn't finished. I didn't want the potatoes to get cold, so I put them in the oven with the meat.

The peaks ended up browning in the oven, which made it even more delicious. So good! You'll want seconds. And thirds. And.... well, you get the picture.