How to Make Real Mashed Potatoes in 10 Minutes or Less
I first learned of the new, convenient recipes using fresh potatoes during the March 2007 annual meeting of the United States Potato Board (USPB) in Denver, CO. These were presented by the Turover Straus Group with help from several USPB grower volunteers. Microwave Mashed Potatoes, French Onion Chicken and Potatoes, and other meals were prepared and cooked in microwave ovens.
I was enthralled and captivated by the absolute deluge of entrees that were demonstrated at the meeting. In just over an hour, everybody had sampled and taste-tested all of these meals created by these impromptu chefs, showing just how easy these were to make. These recipes weren’t just convenient, they really did taste good. The “ohs!” and “ahs!” and applause from the crowd were overwhelming!
Watch “How to Microwave Mashed Potatoes” featuring Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough here or on You Tube:
Microwave Mashed Potatoes (Basic Technique)
4 medium Russet, Yukon Gold, or White potatoes, or 6 - 8 Red potatoes
Milk, to taste
Butter, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Step 1
Wash potatoes; peel, if desired. Place the whole potatoes into microwave safe dish. Cover dish. (If covering the dish with plastic wrap, poke a small hole in the plastic.)
Step 2
Place potatoes in microwave. Microwave on HIGH for 8 minutes* or until potatoes are done. Use oven mitts to carefully remove dish from microwave with hot pad, and due to steam build-up, use oven mitts or tongs to remove plastic wrap from dish.
Step 3
Pour contents into bowl and use a potato masher to mash potatoes. Add milk, butter, salt and pepper. Use potato masher to continue mashing potatoes until reaching the desired consistency. Serve.
The new recipes are a tremendous breakthrough in showing just how convenient cooking with fresh potatoes can be. I will never boil potatoes again. These recipes offer a new, exciting and colorful palette of flavors, tastes and presentation.
While I learned about how convenient potato meals can be to prepare, I also left the meeting with a new respect for what the microwave oven can actually do. In my household, this appliance had long-ago been relegated to simply defrosting frozen foods for conventional stove / oven cooking, heating leftovers and popping up bags of microwave popcorn.
Prior to the demonstrations, I hardly trusted a microwave oven to even make a decent baked potato using the old “poke some holes in it with a fork” method. Mine always came out with mixed results and were more often than not unevenly cooked. But by learning about a few simple microwave cooking techniques, I was able to cast off some erroneous notions previously conceived during the formative years of my microwave culinary training.
I learned that leaving meals in the microwave a few minutes longer after it “dings off” actually helps by allowing the heat to warm evenly throughout the food. Also, by covering the dishes with a lid or plastic wrap, steam cooking takes place and foods retain their moisture. Covering the meal also helps to prevent splatters and the resulting mess—something I could make in a microwave all too well!
My “Convenientized” Relocation to Denver
Being impressed and inspired by these convenient recipes—along with the overall USPB strategies, programs and successes I had become familiar with as a potato farm magazine editor—I joined the USPB’s Industry Communications and Policy team several months later. This career move required a relocation from Idaho Falls, ID, to Denver, CO. I moved in to an extended-stay hotel with a small kitchenette. I had two options for cooking: a small stovetop and a microwave oven.
What were my stovetop meal options? Macaroni & cheese, Rice-a-Roni® and Hamburger Helper®—sorry, but I’d burned myself out on those while I was a student in college. Armed with the convenient recipes, I embarked on a microwave/fresh potato extravaganza. One of the great things about these recipes is how easy they are to commit to memory. With the simple recipe instructions, I was soon whipping up meals like Chicken and Potato Pot Pie and Beef and Potato Tamale Casserole.
Today, with my family now in Denver, I continue to awe with my newfound ways of microwave cooking. These meals are quick and easy to prepare and to eat on busy weeknights while attending to homework, sports or other family activities. They do take a little preparation, planning and foresight, but doing this certainly beats not being able to decide what to do about dinner.
October 11th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
I’ve made the mashed potatoes recipe in the microwave, and it works really well. The potatoes come out steamed and ready for mashing. Plus, the skins add a nice texture. I’ll never go back to the traditional stovetop method, at least not on weeknights!
October 21st, 2007 at 6:03 pm
OK, this exceeded my expectations. Only cause David Fairbourn recommended this recipe did I try it. It is true, the mashed potatoes are easy and gooood! Why make them any other way. I think the potatoes have a better flavor than boiled in water! Elaine.