Grab a fork and put on your fat pants

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all! This is one of our all-time favorite holiday side dishes.

It never disappoints whenever we bring it to a potluck. It’s easy to make, travels well, and reheats beautifully. It’s also unapologetically NOT low fat. (Lovers of old-school indulgent holiday dishes, unite!)

This is also the first recipe in our Thanksgiving for Under $50 series, sponsored by Sam’s Club. (Thank you, thank you!)

For this recipe, you mash up 5 lbs. of creamy Yukon Gold potatoes, add a practically illegal amount of butter, cream, and cheese, then top it with more cheese and crispy panko breadcrumbs and bake it until golden.

Add your own twist

This is also one of those recipes that it’s really easy to customize to fit various tastes and menus. Here are some ideas for stuff you could stir in after you add the cheese.

• A few handfuls of crispy, crumbled bacon (come on, you knew I’d say something like that)
• A tablespoon or two of freshly chopped herbs (rosemary, parsley, chives, and/or thyme would all be great)
• A minced clove of fresh garlic (vampires beware, keep in mind that the garlic won’t have much time to mellow/cook in the oven)
• Chopped, caramelized onions

You get the picture. Just don’t add anything that’s going to give off a lot of moisture when it’s warm. Too much liquid will make your mashed potatoes runny.

Oh, and if you want to switch out the cheeses, be sure to pick cheeses that melt well. Fine Cooking magazine has a great list of cheeses here.

Let me know what you come up with!

A note on salt

Aside from the cooking water for the potatoes, I don’t add any extra salt. The cheese already has a lot. By all means, if you think it needs it, toss a little extra in at the end when you taste it, before it goes into the oven.

Three-Cheese Mashed Potato Casserole

5 lbs. white or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
water for boiling
kosher salt
8 Tbls. butter (that’s 1 stick)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups mozzarella, shredded
1 cup Asiago, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated + more for topping
white pepper
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs

Serves 6-8

Peel & dice the potatoes

This bag of potatoes would feed a small army. I used about half of it for this recipe. I’m saving the other half for later on this week. (If we’re feeding you around the holidays, guess what we’re serving?)

Alrighty. Grab your potatoes. Since I’m going to peel them, I don’t bother washing them. (That said, these spuds were pretty clean.)

Relieve them of their jackets with the sharpest peeler or paring knife you have.

Whack them into small-ish pieces. The smaller (and more evenly) you cut them, the faster they’ll cook.

Toss them into a pot. Cover with cool water by an inch or two. Add a little kosher salt and give the pot a swirl to combine.

Boil the potatoes

Set the pot on the stove over high heat and bring it up to a boil. Cook uncovered, at a rolling boil, until the potatoes are tender when you stick them with a fork.

When they’re cooked through, drain them well. I like to let them sit in the colander for a few minutes to get all the extra water off them. (Too much water = soggy mashed potatoes.)

Mash away!

When the potatoes are well drained, toss them back into the cooking pot. Whack the butter into a few pieces and toss them into the pot. Add the cream.

Mash the potatoes to smoosh them and incorporate the butter as it melts.

Toss in all that glorious cheese (the mozzarella, Asiago, and Parmesan).

Toss in a little ground white pepper to taste. Mash well to incorporate. Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning as you see fit (more cheese, more pepper, etc.). If you’re adding any extra ingredients, throw them in now and stir to combine.

Bake the potatoes

Scoop the mashed potatoes out into a glass baking pan. I used a 7″x9″ pyrex baking dish. Don’t bother greasing it. Just toss the potatoes in. There’s a ton of butter in them, and they’re not going to be in the oven long enough to stick to the pan.

Smooth the potatoes down in a relatively even layer. Sprinkle the top generously with panko breadcrumbs. Then sprinkle on a layer of grated Parmesan. (To add your own twist, you could layer on some fresh, chopped herbs, or even some chopped walnuts or pinenuts.)

Slide the pan into your preheated 350-degree oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, until just golden brown on the top.

Serve, inhale, enjoy!

When the topping is nice and brown, yank the pan out of the oven. Serve warm.

How to reheat

Just in case you don’t polish off the whole pan in one sitting, reheat the potatoes in a 250-degree oven. Cover the pan loosely with foil.

Enjoy!

Next up: The Angry Chef’s Whiskey Glazed Roasted Turkey

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next installment of our Thanksgiving for Under $50 series. We’re doing the bird next. It’s actually a whole, bone-in turkey breast, which is a little more manageable than a Godzilla-sized bird.

Talk to you tomorrow!

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It’s easier than you might think to make potato chips at home. These particular chips are skin-on, thicker than usual, asian-spiced crunchy bliss. And? They take about 10 minutes to make.

The short version of this recipe goes like this: Slice. Fry. Sprinkle. Inhale. Read on for detailed instructions.

You only need a one or two potatoes to serve four people as a side. I like to dust my chips with hand-mixed Asian 5-Spice salt. They make a totally great accompaniment to burgers—or a pan-roasted sirloin.

How thick should you cut your potato chips?

I like them a little bit thicker than a standard potato chip. I also like to leave the skin on the potato. If you prefer, though, peel the potatoes before slicing.

I’m really good with a knife, and some of mine still came out uneven. You want them to be the same thickness so they all cook evenly.

Generally speaking, I like to cut the potatoes so that they’re a little on the thicker side, but they’re still thin enough to see through. Too thick = floppy chips.

All that said, I’d recommend using a mandoline to cut these. Or a food processor fitted with a thin slicing disk. Trust me. It will save you time and hassle.

How to buy a mandoline

If you haven’t seen one before, a mandoline is a hand-operated machine that you use to uniformly and precisely slice firm foods (fruits, veggies, etc.).

The blade is housed in the body of the mandoline, and you slide the food over it to make your cuts. You can adjust the height of the blade to change the thickness of the slices.

Mandolines usually fold up, and come with a nifty little guard to hold the food so you don’t slice your fingertips off. (I’ve done that before. Use the guard. It’s not worth the risk.) For more info on how they work, check out this in-depth description of the different parts.

Now, a high-quality French mandoline is a beautiful—but pricey—thing. I’m talking about one of these babies, the Bron Original Stainless Steel Mandoline, which will run you just under $200.

There are a bunch of in-between models, too.

If you don’t want to spend a ton of money, you can pick up a Japanese beniriner for about $20.

It’s missing some of the bells and whistles of the French model above (folding legs, etc.), but it delivers where it counts—i.e. it’s compact and sharp. It accomplishes most of the basic cuts for a lot less money.

I’ve had one of these for years. I picked it up in Boston’s Chinatown, and it’s been indespensible to me. I highly recommend it.

Alrighty. To the hot oil!

Rustic 5-Spice Potato Chips

1-2 large russet potatoes
canola oil for frying
1 tsp. five-spice powder
1 tsp. kosher salt

Serves 2-4 as a snack

Slice and rinse the potatoes

Grab your potato(es). Scrub them. Peel them if you like.

Slice them into thin rounds.

If you have the time, soak them in ice cold water for about an hour to leach out some of the starch. (Less starch = crispier chip.)

If you don’t, put them in a colander or strainer and give them a good, long rinse under cold, running water.

Shake them around under the water to get them good and wet.

Pat them dry with paper towels. You want to get as much water off them as possible. (Water splatters when it hits hot oil, and nobody likes a grease burn.)

Make the Five-Spice Salt

Do this before you make the chips. You’ll want to season the chips when they’re hot out of the oil—which is when the seasoning will stick best.

Put the salt and five spice powder in a small bowl. Whisk together to combine until relatively uniform. Set aside.

Fry the potato chips

Line a baking sheet with a few paper towels. Set a rack on top. Set it aside.

Put about 2 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Set it on the stove over high heat. Heat the oil to about 380 degrees, if you have a candy thermometer handy.

If you don’t, heat the oil until the surface shimmers, then start testing it. Dip (carefully!) the edge of a potato slice into the hot oil. If bubbles start to form furiously and immediately, the oil is hot enough to fry. If not, wait a minute or two, then test again.

When your oil is hot enough, add a handful of potato slices to the pot.

Stir them around with a skimmer or slotted spoon, so they fry on both sides.

Pull them out of the oil with your skimmer or slotted spoon when they’re light brown and crisp. This should take about 2 minutes, depending on how thick your chips are.

Season the potato chips

Transfer the hot chips to your prepared rack. Sprinkle with five-spice salt to taste.

Repeat with the rest of the potato slices until you’ve fried them all.

Enjoy!

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I have to tell you: I’m a sucker for blue food. Especially food that you don’t always expect to be blue. (You know what I’m talking about. Anything blue raspberry flavored, etc. And bonus points if it makes your tongue change color.)

Call it a weakness.

So, you can imagine that I’m thrilled as can be whenever I can get my paws on nice-looking blue potatoes.

You could probably blast these at super high heat in the oven and get them nice and crunchy. A lot of folks make oven-baked fries that way, say 20 or 25 minutes at 450 degrees.

Me, I prefer to roast them for about an hour at a lower temperature. I’m not a kitchen scientist, but I swear that there’s something about doing it this way that makes them a little nuttier. (Anyone, anyone?)

What is a blue potato, anyway?

Blue potatoes, native to South America, have been popping up in American markets since the 1970s. Aside from their striking color, though, they taste pretty much like a regular potato. (No blue raspberry flavor here, sorry.) The insides will range from solid blue, to speckled, like mine.

They get their blue color from anthocyanin pigments. That’s the same phytochemical that makes cabbage purple and blueberries blue. Anthocyanin is also a source of antioxidents. (Hello, a healthier potato? Yes, please!)

Blue potatoes are a medium starch potato. This means that they’re starchy enough to make fabulous mashed potatoes, and waxy enough to hold their own in potato salad.

A lot of folks are partial to making red, white, and blue potato salad around July 4.

This is a really simple recipe. It’s a great, easy weeknight alternative to french fries. I tossed the potato wedges with some fresh, minced herbs, garlic, and olive oil, then baked ‘em in the oven.

Roasted Blue Potato Wedges with Fresh Herbs

1 lb. blue potatoes
1 Tbls. fresh green herbs, minced (I used rosemary, thyme, and oregano)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Serves about 4 as a side

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Grab your potatoes. I got mine from a local farmer’s market, but I have seen ‘em in some Whole Foods.

Scrub ‘em clean under cold water. You can peel them if you like. Blue potatoes have relatively thin skins, so I don’t bother. Nip out any big eyes with a sharp paring knife and discard.

Blue potatoes tend to be on the smaller side, so I just whack each potato into quarters, like this.

Put your potato wedges in a large bowl. Toss in the chopped herbs.

Give them a good drink of olive oil. A quarter of a cup is usually good for about a pound of wedges.

Add the garlic and some kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

And toss to coat well.

Spread them out on your prepared pan.

Pop them into your preheated 350-degree oven. Roast for about an hour, stirring them once about halfway through.

They’re done when they’re crisp and brown on the edges.

Serve hot or at room temp. To reheat, pop them in a 250-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until warm throughout.

(Seriously, yum!)

Enjoy!

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Oh, delicious French fry, how you elude me in my own kitchen. You’re so yummy, but you’re such a pain to make.

There’s the soaking in cold water. The first fry to cook your insides. Then the second fry to crisp you up. You’re so good when you’re fresh out of the oil. But, honestly? I’d rather just order you when I’m out.

You can imagine my surprise when I came across a one-step recipe for French fries in this month’s Cook’s Illustrated.

No soaking? Only one fry? Start the potatoes in cold (yes, cold) oil? Come on. I had to try it. And man, am I glad I did. Hands down, these are the easiest, most delicious fries I’ve ever made.

The Cook’s Illustrated article explains that, because of how starch interacts with the frying oil, this method will only work well with a less starchy potato, like the Yukon Gold.

I couldn’t wait. I hit the market for some spuds.

And whaddaya know? This method really does produce a crisp French fry that’s crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

I’m a convert. I’ll never make double-fried French fries again.

Super Simple French Fries

2 1/2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4-5 large potatoes)
6 cups peanut oil
kosher salt

Line a sheet pan or large plate with a few layers of paper towels. Set it aside.

Then grab your potatoes. The skins are thin, so I didn’t bother peeling them. Just give ‘em a good scrub and dry them well.

Cut out any eyes with the tip of a small, sharp knife.

Cut the round edges off the potato, so that you have a fairly solid rectangle.

Cut the long sides in three or four sticks.

Then cut the potato into fries.

You want them to be about a quarter-inch thick, which looks about like this (balanced on my 10-inch butcher’s knife).

Cut the rest of your potatoes into fries the same way.

Set a large, heavy-bottomed pot on the stove. Clip on a deep-frying thermometer, if you like—strictly for curiosity’s sake. (My oil hit about 325 degrees and held steady.) Pour in the peanut oil.

Put the cut potatoes into the cold oil. (That’s right, you heard me: Don’t turn the heat on yet.)

When all the potatoes are in the oil, wiggle them around with a pair of tongs so that they’re all submerged. (Feels wrong, doesn’t it? Just you wait.)

Now turn the heat on high. And wait. After about 3 or 4 minutes, small bubbles should start to appear in the oil. (Still feels kinda wrong, ya?)

After about 5 minutes or so, the oil should come to a rolling boil.

Fry the potatoes like this for 15 minutes, untouched. Don’t stir them at all. Just keep an eye on the pot.

After about 15 minutes, some of the fries should have floated to the surface of the oil. You should see them just starting to turn brown.

Give them a stir with a long set of tongs to loosen them up. If any are stuck to the bottom, give them a nudge to unwedge them.

Fry like this, stirring occasionally, for another 5-10 minutes, until crisp, golden, and done to your liking.

I yanked mine when they looked like this:

Fish them out of the oil with a spider or large slotted spoon. Let them drip for a sec over the pot to lose any excess oil.

Transfer to your paper-towel lined pan or plate.

Sprinkle with kosher salt when they’re hot out of the oil. (This helps the salt stick better.)

Serve and enjoy (and gobble and inhale)!

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I could eat bowls of buttery mashed potatoes for dinner—which is probably why I don’t make them too often. (Hello, carb coma!) There are a zillion recipes out there for making mashed potatoes. Here’s how I make mine. They’re simple and creamy—and just a wee bit tangy from the addition of a little sour cream.

The secret is in the potato…or is it?

Truth be told, I like all kinds of potatoes for mashed potatoes. Call me a savage, but it’s true. (I know a lot of folks will say that this is blasphemy…that there is one—and only one—definitive type of potato that’s right for mashed potatoes.)

So, there are two basic types of potatoes: Floury and waxy. Floury potatoes are high in starch and include such old standbys as the Russet. Waxy potatoes have less starch and a thinner skin, like red and yellow potatoes.

Me? I love Russet and/or Yukon Gold potatoes.

How do you like your mashed potatoes?

I know a lot of folks who make mashed potatoes in a lot of different ways.

Some swear by starting their potatoes in cold water. Others use a ricer, not a masher—or a stand mixer, let’s not forget those folks. I know people who prefer rustic, skin-on “smashed” potatoes—and those who will wax poetic about aligot, a heavenly mixture of creme fraiche, cheese, garlic, and potatoes that’s beaten until it forms smooth ribbons.

Sigh. So many potatoes. So little time. How about you…what’s your secret?

Flavor, ahoy!

This recipe is just a starting point. Make your mashed potatoes extra fabulous by stirring in some:

+Wasabi powder
+Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
+Crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar cheese
+Minced green herbs and garlic
+Goat cheese and lavender
+Caramelized onions and chopped Fontina cheese

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

3-4 big Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
kosher salt
1/2 stick butter
1 Tbls. chives, chopped + more for garnish
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
ground white pepper

Serves 4 as a side dish

Cook the potatoes

Set a large pot of water to boil on the stove over high heat. While the water’s heating, peel your potatoes.

Chop your potatoes up into small-ish chunks.

When your water has come up to a boil, toss in some kosher salt and drop your potatoes into the pot. Boil uncovered for about 15 minutes, depending on the size of your potato chunks.

To test them for doneness, fish a potato chunk out of the pot and press on it with a fork. It should break apart easily, like this:

When your potatoes are cooked through, drain them.

Season your potatoes

Put the cooked potato chunks back into your empty, hot pot.

Toss in the butter and chives.

With a potato masher, smoosh the potatoes up to break them apart and mix in the butter.

Add the sour cream to the potatoes.

Pour in the cream.

Mix the sour cream and heavy cream in with a spoon until it’s well blended. Season with kosher salt and ground white pepper to taste.

Serve & enjoy!

Serve garnished with chopped chives.

Enjoy!

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