Recipe #23: The best mashed potatoes you'll EVER eat

Not a big story to tell here, since I think the title is pretty self explanatory. When we go out to eat, I almost always prefer mashed potatoes to french fries. I've just had too many mediocre fries that left me wishing I had picked a different side. I've had some good mashed potatoes, but few that really had all the flavor I would have wanted. So, I just had to make my own.

The Best Mashed Potatoes You'll Ever Eat

Cook time: 1 hour
Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
2 lbs. red bliss potatoes
1 stick salted butter
8 ounces sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
6 cloves of garlic, minced*
water for boiling
fresh or dried chives for garnish (optional)

Tools
large pot for boiling
potato masher

Boil water and add potatoes. Continue boiling for 45 minutes. If potatoes are not fork tender, continue for another 15 minutes and check again. Continue boiling until tender.



Once potatoes are done, remove them from the pot and discard the water. Turn off heat.

Place potatoes back into the hot pot, and begin to mash. Add butter, in chunks of a few tablespoons at a time. Continue mashing and mixing until potatoes have absorbed the butter.



Add garlic to pot, and mix. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add sour cream, salt and pepper. Serve warm, and top with fresh chives.



*Comments:
-Garlic: I don't usually use fresh garlic when I cook, unless it's going to be almost raw in the dish. What I use instead is a huge jar of Spice World minced garlic. It saves me the time of having to chop (and have my hands smell like) garlic for any given recipe. For this recipe, if you use the jarred garlic, use three tablespoons.

Enjoy!