Three Mash Potatoes Ideas

Mash can be your ally to getting a meal on the table quickly. It is the meal that tops comfort food, cottage and fish pies, the base to fish cakes and cradles the stewed meat and sauces of casseroles and slow cooked food.

I have been known to buy mash on the days when I used to commute to work and needed to get something on the table in minutes, there are good and bad bought mash. Waitrose was our favourite, however in lock down I have made homemade mashed potatoes and it is in a class of its own.

The recipe that got me using bought mash was the Waitrose Easy Fish Pie Recipe it is a family favourite, although I don’t add the mustard to the mash, just to the fish pie mix.

Below are a few ideas that I have been using and some of my favourite ways to add flavour and nutrients:

1 No Peeling Needed

This easy tip will have you enjoying mash in record time. The trick is to use baking potatoes with their thin skin they almost disappear in the mash and my fussy family enjoyed the mash and they were never ones for bits of skin in their mash. I have used Maris Piper and King Edwards and this tip has worked well.

Method:

Wash or scrub the potatoes well.

Chop the potatoes with their skins on into small pieces and pop them into your pot and boil or steam.

Make as usual with lashings of butter and my favourite addition of double cream, it is decadent but hey we can all do with a dollop of decadence in these times. Use the mash as a topping or a worthy supporting act to your casserole or stew.

The second tip is to:

2 Stock Up

I always add a stock cube into my water when I boil any vegetables or mash. I stir in an organic chicken or vegetable stock into the water, if I am making a smaller amount say 4 potatoes I will use half a stock cube. It adds another subtle layer of flavour in the background to the mash.  I know you think that this could be wasteful, as you pour away the water, but the stock cube or powder really imparts flavour into the mash as it boils, try it and you will taste the difference.

3 Add kale to your boiling mash

This is such an easy way to get you or the family to eat kale, add a bag or couple of chopped handfuls to your mash as it is boiling as discussed above. Add  the kale after the potatoes have been boiling for 5 minutes then pop the kale in and cook until the potatoes are soft.  Mash as you would normally and add butter and cream or make it as you enjoy it. The bitterness that can be tasted in kale, which my family don’t usually enjoy, is boiled or steamed away. You are left with a wilted spinach flavouring and most of the wonderful nutritious that you get when eating stir fried kale.

Happy Mashing and enjoy the tips.