A Rich Special Occasion Mashed Potato Side
It’s not easy to dress up mashed potatoes for a photo shoot.
But, it is easy to prepare this scrumptious comforting side dish that you will be proud to escort to a festive potluck dinner or place prominently beside the main on a serve-yourself- buffet. Where ever you place this dish, guest will find it, come back for seconds, and lick the bowl clean. I heard someone say, “These are so good, they don’t even need gravy!” Gravy? The thought hadn’t occurred to me, so I had to try it. This is a “stand alone” dish. This is a “take me as I am” dish. This is an “I am absolutely good enough all by myself” dish. But, if you are exceptionally indulgent, by all means, add gravy. Not necessary, but does work with the dish. Much better than I had expected, actually. Much.
No mis en place photo. Sorry. This is a busy time of year. The sour cream and cream cheese are whipped together while the cooked yellow potatoes are riced. Hot riced potatoes are then added to the whipped ingredients and beat with electric mixer, to combine. Salt, pepper, butter are beat in. Onions are then added. Above, you see an over abundance of garlic in the mix. Three cloves added to 6 large potatoes. It was not pleasant, and I adore garlic. Let the onions be the star in this recipe. I learned the hard way.
All done. This recipe would also be delicious used for the Twice Baked Potato recipe as the filling. Mmmmm.
Into a buttered casserole, covered with plastic wrap overnight or for 24 hours, these are the perfect make ahead side.
Above is a full recipe, and below is 1/2 a recipe (family friendly) with only 6 potatoes. The ingredients puff up when baked. Let the dish relax a bit on the counter to solidify.
When making mashed potatoes with a hand mixer, or anything but a masher, I get gummy potatoes with a very off putting texture. Usually, I simply rice the potatoes, add nothing and they are delicious that simple. However, on occasion, especially when the list is long and the time is festive, it is such a pleasure to indulge and to be prepared. This recipe is that recipe.
Scrumptious on their own. A hearty scoop could easily satisfy one for a midday meal, and one could likely not resist the urge for more.
Even better. Yes. Did I say that? Even better with homemade gravy. The utmost of indulgences. And, if now isn’t the time, when is?
Retro Recipe: To Die For Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
This is a great dish for a Potluck dinner, or great recipe to use to stuff twice baked stuffed potatoes. This year, it was on our Christmas dinner table to save last minute preparation time.
Ingredients
- 12 medium potatoes
- 1.5 cup sour cream
- 12 ounces cream cheese
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon pepper
- milk
- 1 garlic clove , minced (optional)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
Instructions
- Peel and cook potatoes until tender; put through ricer
- Beat softened cream cheese and sour cream in mixing bowl
- Add hot potatoes and beat until smooth, adding small amounts of milk as needed
- Add butter, salt, pepper and beat until well-mixed
- Add green onions; beat until well-mixed (and garlic, if desired)
- Pour into well buttered casserole dish
- Dot with additional butter
- Refrigerate until next day
- Bake for 30 minutes in 350°F oven (If making half batch, bake 20 minutes)
- Garnish with bacon just before serving
Notes
Do not use more than 3/4 cup of finely chopped greens for 6 potatoes. Some recipes say 1-1/2 cups. That makes the dish taste far too strongly of onions.
I was very surprised that the balance of flavours in this recipe was much more difficult to achieve than I thought. Follow the recipe the first time. Then improvise to suit your palate once you find what the initial recipe offers.
Key: Beat the potatoes into the cream and cheese while hot, otherwise they will be gummy. Ingredients must be combined when the potatoes are hot for a lovely fluffy mashed texture.
I do a similar recipe and my family like it a lot. Happy New Year!
Really, Helene?
Can you share it with me?
Would love to read your recipe!
Happy New Year and much love,
Valerie
Regular mashed potatoes are my all-time favorite, when freshly made. But when they’re reheated they take on a kind of sweet taste, not good. So I like to do something like this with sour cream and cheese to avoid that, AND it’s so handy to just pull them out of the oven. I’ll definitely try this with the cream cheese. And I so agree with you about the garlic. I’ll leave it out altogether. (Reminds me of one of my very first posts back in 2010. I called it Enough Already With the Garlic!, which I learned later is not a good way to title a food blog post.)
That is a great idea, Jean. I wonder if the mashed potatoes would whip up as well day 2 if I simply heated them. Going to try!
🙂
Valerie