Recipe - Classic Mashed Potatoes

4 lg Potatoes; peeled
Water
One half cup Milk; or more
2 tablespoon Butter
Salt and pepper; to taste
1 pn Nutmeg; optional

Cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 20
minutes, or until tender. (Watch the pot! Potatoes have a tendency to boil
over.) While the spuds are cooking, slowly heat the milk and butter. When
the potatoes are done, drain them and add half the hot milk mixture. Mash
the potatoes with a handheld potato masher or an electric mixer. Keep
adding the hot milk until you reach the proper consistency (which, of
course, varies from family to family). Season with salt, pepper, and
nutmeg, if desired. Serves 4 to 6.

VARIATIONS *Spuds with Jewels: In a frying pan, heat 1 teaspoon of
vegetable oil and briefly saute 1 minced red pepper (add hot peppers such as
green jalapeno for fire). Stir in One half teaspoon basil. Immediately pour on
top of mashed potatoes.

*Green Potatoes: Use an electric mixer to blend 1 to 2 cups chopped cooked
spinach into one batch of mashed potatoes until they turn green.

*Red Coats: Use purple, red, or new potatoes with their skins on.

*The Cheddar Broccoli: Mix 1/22 cup grated Cheddar cheese with 1 cup
chopped, steamed broccoli florets and fold into the mashed spuds.

*Prague Potatoes: Panfry 4 strips bacon until crisp. Remove from the pan
and add 1 minced onion, cooking until translucent. Crumble the bacon into
the onion. Top mashed potatoes with bacon, onion, and drippings, using 1
One half teaspoons, or less, of fat per serving.

*Golden Broil: Spread prepared mashed potatoes in an oventotable baking
dish. Drizzle One half cup heavy cream over the top and sprinkle with Parmesan
cheese. Broil until the top turns golden.

*Breakfast for Dinner: Serve mashed potatoes in a large bowl topped with 3
to 4 chopped hardboiled eggs chopped fresh parsley and chives.

*Tatties'n'Neeps: For the Scots' way of using up leftover mashed pototoes,
mix equal amounts of mashed potatoes and mashed turnips.

*Colcannon: Mix mashed potatoes with l One half cups shredded, cooked, drained
cabbage or kale. *Bangers and Mash: Try this English recipe serve plain
mashed Potatoes with broiled or panseared sausages ("bangers") on the
side.

*Fencedin Spuds: Surround a mound of mashed potatoes with a fence of
steamed green beans and carrot sticks.
Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #180

Date: Fri, 2 Aug 1996 16:42:49 0700 (PDT)

From: PatH phannema@wizard.ucr.edu
NOTES : Reviewed in "Vegetables your kids will eat," Family Fun Magazine,=
May 1996. Flavored to perfection, homemade mashed potatoes may
seem like a=
lot of work, but a little peeling and mashing are worth the
effort.