Double mashed potatoes

 

Here's an interesting variant on traditional mashed potatoes I came up with tonight. A quick google search didn't reveal any comparable recipes.


Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sweet potato
   
2. 3 small red or Yukon Gold potatoes
   
   You want about the same amount of each kind of potato. Don't use Russet potatoes, the big brown ones you use for baking; they don't have enough starch, and the result will be thin and watery. I like Yukon Golds for their rich, creamy taste.
   
   
3. 1/4 cup (soy) milk
   
4. 2 tbsp butter or (soy) margarine
   
5. Optional: 1/2 of a small package of thawed frozen peas

Wash the regular potatoes, and peel the sweet potato (you can peel the regular ones, too, but I like the texture a little peel lends to the end). Cut the regular potatoes into 6-8 chunks of roughly the same size, and cut the sweet potato to match. You don't have to be perfect, but you do want all the potato chunks to be about the same size and shape so they cook consistently.

Put the just the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with enough cold water to cover both the sweet and regular potatoes. Sweet potatoes are much denser than regular potatoes, and they'll need a head start: heat on high until boiling, then turn down to medium-high to prevent boiling over and let the sweet potatoes cook for 10 minutes, or until they yield to a knife about as well as the uncooked regular potatoes. Add the regular potatoes and boil about another 10 minutes. The potatoes are done when they crack as a paring knife is pressed into them.

Drain the water and put the cooked potatoes in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add milk and butter and mash with a masher or beat on low with a mixer, until everything is nicely combined and the potatoes are fluffy. (Aesthetic note: A masher will probably let you keep the two colours of potato separate, while a mixer will turn everything a uniform pale orange.) Now it's time to season. I used salt, pepper, and garlic powder for a taste more like traditional mashed potatoes (chives are also a classic), but you could also go with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and brown sugar or honey for a more sweet potato flavour. Continue to mash or beat until seasonings are combined. Try not to overwork the potatoes at this point -- the starch molecules holding the mass together have already been boiled and beaten enough, and are liable to fall apart entirely if you push them too far. Fold in peas with a wooden spoon, then transfer to serving dish.

This recipe will serve 2-3 people as a main dish, and about twice as many as a side dish.