Whipped Red Skin Potatoes

I am in full Turkey Day mode.  To go with the turkey that I made yesterday, I decided to make some whipped red skin potatoes.  Red skin potatoes are my favorite.  They are not too starchy and they taste great.  Since they have less starch, they whip up nicely.  Plus, I like having the skins in the mashed potatoes.  It gives the potatoes a homemade feel and further emphasizes to your dinner guests that you actually made real mashed potatoes.  Another bonus, I think it looks cool.

Simple and super tasty.

Whipped Red Skin Potatoes

• 2 1/2 Pounds of Red Skin Potatoes (New Potatoes)
• 6 oz (3/4 cup) heavy cream
• 3 tbs butter
• salt and pepper

Wash the potatoes.  Since we are going to keep the skins on, make sure to clean all of the dirt off the potatoes.  Next remove any bad spots from the potatoes.  Then quarter the potatoes.

Place the potatoes in a large pan and cover them with water.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender.  25-30 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and place them back into the pan.  Add the butter and cream.  Using a hand-held masher, start to mash the potatoes.  When they are broken up add some salt and pepper and then using a electric mixer whip the potatoes until light and fluffy.  If you don’t have a electric mixer, whip the potatoes with the masher.  Sounds weird, but it works.  Mash the potatoes, then stir the potatoes 10-15 times rapidly with the masher.  Then mash the potatoes again and repeat until the potatoes are light and fluffy.

Now comes the taste test.  Taste the potatoes.  Add a bit of salt, stir and taste again.  By incrementally adding the salt, you will determine the right amount to add.  It varies for each batch, due to the size of the potatoes.  This sounds scary, but keep on adding a little salt.  Trust me, your taste buds will know when it is perfect.  There will be a wow moment when the salt is perfect and the potatoes will come alive and you will hear music.  Maybe not music, but you will definitely have a wow moment.  Be careful though, a 1/4 tsp past the “wow moment”, will be a “oh crap moment”.  Too much salt takes away from the potatoes and leaves you with a salt lick, not good eats.  Don’t worry you will find your wow moment.  Just take your time and incrementally add salt.  I used about 1 1/2 tsp of salt.  But it will vary, so don’t immediately add that amount.

If you are a little scared of ruining the whole batch of potatoes, take a small bowl of the potatoes and add some salt.  Keep on doing it until they taste amazing.  Once you have that flavor.  Add salt to the pan of potatoes until they taste like the small bowl.  A comparison can be very handy.  Plus, then you have a goal and won’t worry about the amount of salt you are adding.

Serve with butter, gravy or top with bacon and cheese.

Tip – Keep a small bowl of kosher salt near the stove.  That way you can add a pinch whenever you need it.  Shakers can be inaccurate and kosher salt is better to cook with.  I actually use a small ramekin that I purchased for souffles’.