Twice-Cooked Mashed Potatoes

There are hundreds of ways to make mashed potatoes. Skin on, skin off, simply boiled and mashed, butter added, cream added, garlic added, etc. There are as many variations as their are cooks and deciding which route really depends on your personal preference and what you’re serving it with.

I came by the technique of double-cooking mashed potatoes accidentally when I was re-heating leftovers once. We don’t use a microwave so everything gets reheated traditionally – either on the stove top or in the oven. In doing this, I found that leftover mashed potatoes are fantastic when reheated in the oven.

Whatever fat – butter, cream, sour cream, cream cheese, etc. – that had been added when the potatoes were originally mashed, melts down into the starch, causing the potatoes to become fluffy, the same way pastry dough becomes flaky as the butter or lard melts. I like to use whipped cream cheese because it adds a little tang and it’s easier to blend than regular cream cheese. A few pats of butter added to the top before baking forms a decadent crust.

And I’m thinking nutritionally, this recipe is not all that bad in the grand scheme of things. You’re only injecting anywhere from 65 – 130 calories and 3.5 – 7 grams of fat per serving in addition to the milk, which really, I don’t count as a bad thing at all.

Twice-Cooked Mashed Potatoes - serves 2 – 4

2 lb (6) medium golden potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 T whipped cream cheese
2 T butter
1/3 C milk (2% or higher)
salt to taste

Fill a large stockpot halfway with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Add potatoes, cover and simmer 20 minutes until fork tender.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain in a colander and transfer potatoes to a medium casserole dish. Mash with a potato masher. Stir in milk, cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of the butter and salt. Slice the other tablespoon of butter into thing pats and top the potatoes.

Bake for 30 minutes until a golden crust forms on the top.

Ingredient origins: Potatoes – California, Whipped cream cheese – Vermont; Butter – Maine; Milk – Vermont; Salt – Maine