Normally I make my Moms mashed potatoes with evaporated milk for Christmas Day dinner. This year Mom said I could deviate from our traditional menu so I decided to make this mashed potato recipe that had cream cheese. Because, well, it's potatoes and cream cheese, what's not to like. It was served with some HoneyBaked Ham, Pillsbury Flaky Biscuits and the Stewed Green Beans with Bacon I had tried out for Thanksgiving.
It's an understatement to say I stress about cooking Christmas dinner. Not sure why, because it's only the three of us and Mr. L and my mom are always willing to help out. I guess it's just the pressure of the season to have everything perfect. When I start to stress like that it's 'everyone out of the kitchen now, I can handle it'. That's why when something deviates from the plan (and you know it's the holidays and you know something won't go as planned) I freak. Well, I had one of those 'moments' with this recipe, though in hindsight it had us cracking up.
Though we usually buy non-fat organic milk in the glass bottle, I figured I'd go "full fat" with this recipe and use whole milk, so I bought a glass bottle of it at the store. When we opened this bottle, we thought it had gone bad. There was a "plug" at the top that was thick and though the milk didn't smell bad we figured it was spoiled and we tossed the whole bottle. Silly city kids. It wasn't until a few days later when I bought another bottle of whole milk for another recipe and found another "plug" that I read the side of the bottle and it warned that a plug of "cream" would usually rise to the top. The horror! I would have had some awesome cream for my coffee. Silly city kids, wasted that whole bottle of milk. Yeah, we felt stupid.
This recipe came from the November 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine. It was very rich and yummy and made a perfect addition to our Christmas dinner. It also heated up well the next day. It's simple but with good flavor. I'd make this in a heartbeat anytime I needed mashed potatoes as a side dish. Of course one could add some crumbled bacon bits to the recipe to add more flavor...the only reason I didn't was because there was already some bacon in the green beans. I can also see adding chives or mushrooms to this mixture. Garlic too.
Sorry for the awful photo of the mashed taters. It was Christmas Day and I was more worried about getting a hot meal on the table than getting a great photograph. This is my entry into the January Potato Ho Down. This month it's being hosted by Fig & Cherry. Be sure to check out her blog for some great recipes and a Potato Ho Round up.
And do take a look at the photograph below. Big Martha's recipe calls for rubbing off the skins of the potato after cooking them and "discarding". Fools. Mr. L fried these little puppies up for breakfast the next day. I gots me a good one in that man.
BIG MARTHA'S MASHED POTATOES WITH CREAM CHEESE
3 1/2 pounds white or Yukon Gold potatoes
course salt and freshly ground pepper
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup whole milk, warmed
1/2 cup heavy cream, warmed
Place potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt in a medium pot, cover with cold water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover partially, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes. Drain, and let stand until just cool enough to handle. Rub off skins, and discard. Cut potatoes into large pieces.
Combine potatoes, cream cheese, butter, milk, and 1/4 cup cream in a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until combined. Season with salt and pepper, and beat to desired consistency.
Return mashed potatoes to pot, and place over medium heat. Add remaining cream, and cook, stirring constantly, until heated through. Serve immediately, or keep warm in a covered bowl over simmering water for up to 2 hours.
Serves 8
Note: I used Yukon Gold potatoes. I used a bit more heavy cream and some non fat milk to make up for the missing whole milk.
Note: I didn't want to get out the stand mixer in a crowded kitchen (we don't exactly have a lot of counter space where we live) so I just used a hand mixer to mix with.
Oooh fried potato skins - delicious!
Love your mashed potatoes entry to the Ho Down. You're right, potatoes and cheese are a great combo!
Posted by: Christie @ fig&cherry | January 14, 2009 at 11:42 PM
Double potato entries?! Two dishes from the same set of lovely Yukon gold potatoes?! Oh, what a clever Ho you are, Mrs. L! Well done!
Posted by: Louise | January 15, 2009 at 07:42 AM
ain't nothin wrong with potatoes and cream cheese that a little garlic and some chives can cure... :) i love mashed potatoes and these look yummy.
Posted by: chef barbie | January 15, 2009 at 08:00 AM
The mashed potatoes were great! My take home bag of food was also great. But you are right the potatoes were good the next day and the next day and the next day! Garlic, chives, bacon oh boy make that the next time. Sounds heavenly. I love mashed potatoes!
Posted by: Mom | January 15, 2009 at 09:39 AM
In my defense, I did think that the "plug" was usable cream, but we played it safe, since the Rum had already been flowing via Eggnog :-) Mr. L
Posted by: Mr. L | January 15, 2009 at 02:28 PM
oh mrs l. mashed potatoes are my favorite way to consume potatoes, and the very thought of the creaminess created by that cheese makes me shiver. my stars. :)
Posted by: grace | January 15, 2009 at 03:39 PM
Oh doubles...how I love thee! Wow, I'm all over it...yahoo!
Posted by: noble pig | January 15, 2009 at 03:58 PM
MMmmmmmmm!!! These look delicious and your fried potato skins? Even better!
Posted by: Kristen | January 15, 2009 at 09:07 PM
Oh yeah! Mashed potatoes with cream cheese is how my mom eats em.
Posted by: peabody | January 17, 2009 at 05:32 PM
Christie - Thank you for doing this round of Potato Ho.
Louise - You have to give partial credit to Mr. L who brilliantly made those little fries for breakfast.
Chef Barbie - I will definitely try garlic and chives in this next time.
Mom - Wait til next Christmas, I'll add the bacon and garlic and chives!
Mr. L - ah yes, lots of eggnog and rum that day :)
Grace - Any kind of potatoes works for me, I can never really decide what my favorite way to cook them is. Baked. Fried. Mashed. Plain. Fancy. It's all good.
Noble - Hey, two for the price of one always works for me.
Peabody - I've actually never had them with cream cheese which is a shame because they are sooo good that way.
Posted by: Mrs. L | January 17, 2009 at 06:10 PM
Looks so creamy... Just how I like my mashed potatoes. Yum.
Posted by: Jude | January 19, 2009 at 10:51 AM
I love mashed potatoes. Nice recipe!
Posted by: Mary | January 21, 2009 at 05:51 PM
Oh my goodness. Potatoes, cream cheese, cream, butter make perfect mashed potatoes.
Posted by: Christine | January 23, 2009 at 07:29 PM
Yeah, mashed potatoes are really delicious. I lived on an MF diet for eight months as I'm waiting for my gums to heal after a dental implant surgery. Good thing my wife knows how to trick out her mashed potato, as she serves different recipes everyday. And I like the way you include the potato skins; it contains most of the vitamins and minerals. I'll ask my wife to try this recipe.
Posted by: Sean Butcher | June 07, 2011 at 10:38 AM