What water should you use to cook the puree? How to make regular mashed potatoes

Mashed potatoes are the most popular and beloved side dish in our country. It is difficult to say what dish housewives prepare as often as mashed potatoes. It is truly universal: tasty, flexible, and allows you to experiment with design. Mashed potatoes go wonderfully with any meat, vegetables, fish, and leave you feeling full for a long time. Perhaps in Russia, this dish is confidently ahead of even pasta in popularity, not to mention cereals and vegetables.

But for the puree to truly bring pleasure - and not only in taste, but also in appearance - it must be prepared correctly. You don't need any special talent for this. According to the classical canons (or rather, technical and technological maps developed in the blessed Soviet years), this dish is prepared from boiled potatoes, butter, milk and salt. All. No secret ingredients, no fancy electrical gadgets. Armed with a simple wooden pestle, you can make the perfect mashed potatoes.

Cook the right potatoes the right way

For the perfect mashed potatoes, you want to buy the best, young, freshly harvested potatoes. But this is exactly what you shouldn’t do. Young potatoes have their own charm: they are crumbly, tasty, but completely unsuitable for mashed potatoes. It is better to boil it in its jacket, and use potatoes from the previous harvest for mashing. Of course, this does not mean that the tubers should be green and sprouted.

Elastic tubers with smooth, dense skin are peeled, thoroughly washed with water and boiled until tender, dipped in hot water. Salt should be added as soon as the water boils. There is no need to cut the potatoes very finely: this way, of course, they will cook faster, but will lose a lot of starch. As soon as the potatoes are ready, they need to be drained and slightly dried over the fire.

Everything must be hot

Preparing the puree itself is as easy as shelling pears: dried potatoes are kneaded, and during this process butter and milk are added to it in several steps. The main problem that most cooks have when making mashed potatoes is color and consistency. Let’s ignore the cases where, in order to save money, they use water instead of butter - here you can’t count on excellent results. But even if you use the right ingredients, your mashed potatoes can end up being too chewy and disgustingly grey. And the secret is that mashed potatoes must be made exclusively from hot potatoes, the temperature of which is not lower than 80 ° C. Butter and milk added to potatoes must also be hot. This mixture of hot ingredients will give you smooth, creamy white mashed potatoes.

Options are possible

Any self-respecting chef will try to improve classic mashed potatoes depending on the moment. Sometimes it turns out so beautifully if you add curly parsley, finely chopped dill or carrot puree to regular puree. For children, you can create whole pictures of purees, vegetables and herbs on a plate. Sophisticated gourmets complement the taste of mashed potatoes with ground pepper, garlic, cheese and even nuts. But most importantly, never reheat cooled mashed potatoes. Its shelf life is only two hours. After this, the puree can be used to make potato pie, zraz, casseroles, fillings, but it will no longer become a side dish.

Only very novice cooks cannot cook mashed potatoes. But do you know all the nuances and all the cooking options? Very often in recipes on the Internet they write that the fluffiness and airiness of mashed potatoes depends on the type of potato. Or rather, from the starch content in it. This is absolutely true. But in everyday life, when buying potatoes at the market or in a store, how often do you have the opportunity to choose the right variety? And where is the guarantee that he will turn out to be so? Today I will not only offer you several options for mashed potatoes to choose from, but I will also tell you some secrets that will make any potato make very tasty, fluffy mashed potatoes.

But still a little about the varieties. There is a question online about why the puree turns out viscous and stringy. I used to think that you could get something like this if you pounded it not with a traditional masher, but with an immersion blender. Until I encountered this problem myself, having bought Egyptian potatoes in a store. Indeed, it turned out to be some kind of viscous mass, a very unusual consistency, similar to glue. Since then I have avoided buying this variety (or country of origin).

How to make mashed potatoes with milk

Let's start with the classic and most popular option with milk. We will cook it traditionally, in a saucepan, and we will use one trick that will make the dish fluffy and beautiful.

Ingredients for 2-3 servings:

• potatoes - 2 large tubers;
• butter – 60-70g;
• milk – 0.5 cups (125 ml);
• salt - to taste.

How to cook delicious

By the way, it’s best to warm it up in the same way. You can add a little warm milk and heat over low heat, stirring constantly. Even the thickest puree will become fluffy and light when heated this way.

How to cook puree in a slow cooker

For those who are interested in the method of preparing mashed potatoes using a slow cooker, I suggest you familiarize yourself with how this is done. But you need to understand that in a bowl we will only boil the vegetable until tender, and then use our hands as usual. In this option, an egg will be added to the mixture.

Ingredients for 4-6 servings:

• potatoes – 1kg;
• milk – 1 glass (250ml);
• egg – 1 piece;
• butter – 50g;
• salt - to taste.

Cooking process

Egg is not a required ingredient. Then why is it needed? It is added only to improve the color of the dish, with it the mass has a pleasant yellow color, and, perhaps, for satiety. In my opinion, it does not impart tenderness and softness.

Mashed potatoes with water

As a rule, this recipe is needed by those who fast and during fasting do not consume any products of animal origin, not only meat, but even milk. For them - a recipe on water.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• potatoes - 4-5 tubers;
• salt.

How to do it

That's all the difference.

Creamy mashed potatoes

But cream makes its taste richer and its consistency creamy and light. In addition, during cooking we will add onions to the pan. This may scare some people. Don't be afraid, the finished dish will not smell like onions. If they hadn’t told you about onions, you wouldn’t have understood anything, and you would have absolutely considered puree to be the most delicious.

Ingredients for 6-8 servings:

• potatoes – 1.5 kg;
• cream 10% - approximately 3/4 cup (200ml);
• butter – 60g;
• egg – 1 piece;
• onion – 1 head;
• salt.

How to do

Delicious puree with cream is ready!

For those who prepare a side dish quite often and who have a desire to diversify it in some way, I would like to offer additional ingredients for taste and aroma.

Puree with potatoes and parsnips

Parsnips are a plant whose root looks like a large white carrot. It is also called “white root”. The vegetable is very healthy and low-calorie. It gives the puree a special aroma and a slightly sweet taste.

• potatoes – 0.5 kg;
• parsnip – 250g;
• cream 10% - 50ml;
• butter – 40g;
• nutmeg - a pinch;
• salt;
• ground black pepper.

How to cook

If you want to increase the amount of parsnips, you will need to increase the amount of butter to keep the puree tender or add additional sour cream.

Is it possible to blend puree with a blender?

You can whip it, but the consistency of the dish, pureed using a blender or food processor, becomes viscous, which is not for everyone.

What to do if you over-salt your mashed potatoes?

If it is only slightly oversalted, you can correct the situation by adding: 1) a little more milk and butter; 2) raw egg (hot). If there is too much salting, then you will have to boil the potatoes again, but in fresh water, crush them and mix them with salted potatoes.

How to thicken puree?

If you accidentally overfilled milk, water or cream and ended up with a dish that is too thin, and you don’t want to additionally cook the potatoes to add to it, put it in a deep frying pan with a thick bottom, put it on a very low heat and, stirring constantly, thicken him this way. Remember that as it cools (especially in the refrigerator), it will thicken naturally.

How long does puree last in the refrigerator?

No more than 3 days. If the shelf life has exceeded three days, but still within reason, you can prepare some dish from it that requires additional heat treatment - casserole, flatbreads, pies, pancakes, etc.

What to serve mashed potatoes with?

In fact, in most cases it is a side dish, not the main dish. If you prepare it as the main thing, then you can serve it with any sauce to your taste: with cheese, sour cream, mushrooms. It’s good to serve salted or pickled cucumbers with mashed potatoes. In general, there is enough room for imagination here. The main thing is delicious, beautiful mashed potatoes.

How to make mashed potatoes? It would seem that there is nothing complicated: the tubers are boiled and then pounded. But a truly tasty dish will only turn out if you take into account a few important details.

Who doesn't love mashed potatoes? This is a wonderful side dish for fish and meat, as well as an independent vegetarian dish - a frequent guest on the tables of each of us. It is prepared even for the youngest children as their first food... one might say that we have warm feelings for potatoes from the cradle. But since fried slices are not the most dietary food, mashed potatoes are often prepared - it is healthier, especially if the potatoes are cooked according to all the rules.

Everyone knows that excessive heat treatment of foods deprives them of their beneficial properties. This rule also applies to potatoes: during cooking, B vitamins from the tuber pass into the water - and then you drain it, sending the nutrients down the drain. Because When preparing mashed potatoes, the main thing is to minimize the loss of vitamins. This article is devoted to how this is done.

Stage 1: Cleaning and Cooking

First, put a pan of water on the fire, and only after that start cleaning the tubers. Choose potatoes that are large enough - about the size of your fist, not too young. For cleaning, it is most convenient to use a special knife in the shape of a spatula with a slit: the peel is separated very thinly and neatly.

The layer of pulp just under the skin contains a huge amount of vitamins - much more than the core. Therefore, cutting off the skin thicker than necessary is an unreasonable extravagance. So, you have peeled the tubers: divide them in half with a knife. There is no point in cutting potatoes smaller for mashed potatoes if we want to preserve their nutritional value to the maximum. We throw the pieces into boiling water as soon as we prepare them for cooking, without letting them turn blue. This is precisely why we set the water to heat up in advance, to prevent the release of starch.

Make a medium fire. Add salt in a proportion of 10 grams for every liter of water. You can also use spices - bay leaf and allspice. While the potatoes are boiling, there is no need to touch them: just make sure that the water does not boil away. Leave a gap between the lid and the pan. When a tempting aroma floats through the kitchen, pierce one of the tubers with a knife: if the tip passes through the potato easily, then it’s time to remove the pan from the heat and drain the water into a separate container.

Stage 2

And now the most interesting thing - we will grind the puree. The best tool for this purpose is a good old masher, a device with a round perforated disk on one side and a handle on the other. Mashed potatoes prepared using a blender are a sticky mess that is not suitable for food. High technologies are not always better than household utensils that have been proven over centuries - so arm yourself with a masher and...

No, here's one more thing you need to do before mashing the potatoes: heat up some milk or cream. If you pour them into puree while cold, the dish will take on an unpleasant grayish tint. Some housewives add a lightly beaten raw egg instead. In this case, the taste turns out to be somewhat specific, for everyone. Therefore, if you are not sure that you will like it, do not experiment, but rather take milk. If there is no milk, the water in which the potatoes were boiled will do. Remember, we drained it not into the sink, but into a separate container? We did this precisely because it can still be used.

Stage 3: final

The final stage of preparing mashed potatoes is coming: first, mash them dry, then gradually add milk or water, continuing to grind. How much liquid is needed for the ideal consistency - decide for yourself. Some people like thicker purees, others the opposite. Now add butter or homemade sour cream (store-bought sour cream is not suitable, its fat content is insufficient for dressing the puree). Don't skimp: the more fat the potatoes absorb, the fluffier they will become. When the piece melts, stir our dish with a spoon, and from that moment we consider it completely ready. Get out the plates, please come to the table!

How long to cook potatoes for mashed potatoes?

It is important to know exactly how long to cook the potatoes for mashing, so as not to keep them on the fire more than required. Half an hour is enough to achieve optimal results.

30 minutes is how long it takes to boil potatoes for mashed potatoes. After this time, it is checked for readiness using a knife to make sure that it is already soft.

If you are wondering what to add to the puree, try one of two wonderful fish dishes to choose from:

- Fried fish

- smoked fish

What's a substitute for the usual potato and chicken dish?

Boiled potatoes are a traditional dish in many countries. It is difficult to find a person who does not like potatoes - whole boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes. But often each housewife produces potatoes that taste different. What does this depend on? Including how long to cook the potatoes. Perhaps we were all taught that this root vegetable must be cooked until it becomes soft - this is checked with a knife. But here many questions arise: for example, the potatoes still reach a little under the influence of their own temperature, and how many minutes should you cook the potatoes so that they do not boil over, if you need each root vegetable to remain intact. In addition, potatoes are used in different forms: mashed, whole, in salad. Let's find out exactly how long to cook the potatoes after boiling.

How to cook potatoes?

Before cooking, root vegetables must be thoroughly washed and inspected, especially if you are going to cook them in their skins, that is, together with the peel. Spots of rot or other diseases on even one potato can ruin the entire dish. It is also important that there is no “green” on the potatoes - this usually happens with vegetables that have been lying around for a long time. If the fruit turns green and begins to sprout, it means that new processes have already begun inside it, many substances have changed, chlorophyll has accumulated, which can be toxic to humans. Therefore, such a fruit is not suitable for boiling in its jacket, and all greens, sprouts and other parts that have changed color must be deeply cut out. When the potatoes are peeled, they should be rinsed again with cold water, and only then put into the pan. You should not save time by using warm or hot water for cooking - this can spoil the taste. To cook vegetables you need cold running water.

How long does it take to cook potatoes?

The duration of cooking potatoes depends on their size. On average, this is about 20 minutes, but if the root vegetables are large, it will have to be increased a little. Alternatively, these potatoes can be cut in half if you do not need whole potatoes. If the potatoes are young, then they are a little softer and will cook earlier - in about 15 minutes. The process will go even faster if you add a little vegetable oil to the water - it “envelops” the vegetables and heats up more than the water. By the way, about 5 minutes before complete readiness, it is better to drain most of the water from the pan, cover the potatoes with a lid and put them on a very low heat - then they will steam and will not fall apart.

How long to cook potatoes for mashed potatoes?

- These are boiled potatoes that are kneaded into a homogeneous mass with a small amount of milk or water. In this case, the root vegetable should be soft, so you need to cook it longer - 25 minutes, or even 30. You shouldn’t cook it too long either: all the starch will go into the water, and the puree will taste dull. By the way, it is better to pour less water into the potatoes, and then use at least part of it to make mashed potatoes, this way we will retain more nutrients.

How long to cook potatoes for salad?

It is usually cooked in its uniform - this way we preserve not only a richer taste, but also useful substances. To the boiled skin came off better; the potatoes should be doused with cold water as soon as they are removed from the heat: the temperature difference will cause the skin to peel off. For salad, it is better to cook potatoes for 4-5 minutes less than usual, that is, 10-12 minutes for a young vegetable and 15-17 for an old one. The skin retains heat well, and the potatoes will still cook, while remaining dense enough so that they do not turn into small crumbs in the salad. Usually potatoes for salad are cooked without salt, but if you intend to make a spicy dish, then, on the contrary, you can add even a little more salt than required: then the jacket potatoes will resemble potatoes baked over a fire.

Crushed potatoes are one of the most popular side dishes among Russian housewives. This dish is universal: it is very tasty and goes well with almost any other food, be it vegetables, fish, mushrooms or meat. Mashed potatoes fill you up for a long time and at the same time do not give you a feeling of heaviness.

How to make mashed potatoes

Even such a low-component, easy-to-prepare dish has certain nuances. In order for the pound to turn out tender and airy, you should follow some rules. How to make mashed potatoes correctly:

• young potatoes are not suitable for cooking; you should choose mature yellowish tubers with a high starch content;
• Warm/hot milk should be added to the finished fruit, as a cold product will turn the dish an unsightly gray color;
• do not keep peeled potatoes in water for a long time, since starch, which is important for mashing, leaves the vegetable at this time;
• you need to not just crush the potatoes, but beat them - this way the side dish will acquire the necessary fluffiness;
• To create a dish with a rich, creamy taste, don't skimp on butter.

Mashed potatoes - recipe with milk

To make crushed potatoes not only tasty, but also have an appetizing appearance, you need to cook them correctly. To do this, you do not need to have special skills, you just need to take into account a few important rules. So, according to the classic recipe, pound cake is prepared from 4 components - boiled potatoes, milk, butter and salt. At the same time, it is not advisable to use a blender or other electrical appliances to beat the dish. The most delicious side dish is obtained if you use a regular masher or pestle. How to make mashed potatoes with milk?

Ingredients:

• milk – 0.3 l;
• potatoes – 1 kg;
• butter – 50 g;
• salt.

Cooking method:

1. Cut the peeled tubers in half to speed up the cooking of the vegetable.
2. Place the product in a saucepan, add water so that the liquid barely covers the vegetable halves. You can salt the dish at this stage or during pounding.
3. Boil the vegetable until tender (this will take about 20 minutes). Its readiness is indicated by the soft insertion of the knife/fork into the pieces.
4. After draining the broth from the pan, start pounding the potatoes with a pestle/masher, gradually adding heated milk into the pan.
5. Add pieces of butter to the mixture, thoroughly beat the side dish using improvised means and serve with fresh vegetable salad.

Without milk

Few people are indifferent to this dish, which is why the side dish is served on almost every holiday; it is no less often prepared on weekdays. The side dish goes well with various other dishes - fish, meat, salads and all kinds of snacks. There are many recipes, each of which has its own characteristics. Below is how to make mashed potatoes without milk. If you remove butter from the list of ingredients, the side dish can even be included in a vegan menu. How to cook potatoes for mashed potatoes?

Ingredients:

• salt;
• water – 2 l;
• potatoes – 1.5 kg;
• butter – ½ pack.

Cooking method:

1. First, prepare the main ingredient; for this, the potatoes are peeled and washed thoroughly. Then cut into medium slices to reduce cooking time.
2. The vegetable is placed in a pan, filled with water and boiled until tender (about 20 minutes).
3. When the product becomes soft, the potato broth is poured into a cup, and the rest of the volume is poured into the sink.
4. Dry boiled vegetables are pounded with a pestle, gradually adding the remaining broth.
5. The mass is seasoned with butter, salted, and then it can be served.

Mashed potato dishes

Puree can serve not only as a side dish, but also as an integral component of various independent dishes. Since potatoes are often left over after festive feasts, practical Russian housewives use them to prepare original appetizers, casseroles, cutlets, pies, etc. Below are interesting, tasty options for dishes that can be prepared from puree.

Casserole

Yesterday's crumpled potatoes lose their airiness, plasticity and taste. However, you should not throw away the product - you can prepare a simple, unusual, satisfying dish from it. Mashed potato casserole can be prepared with different fillings, be it meat, cheese, fish, mushroom, cottage cheese or vegetable mass. Below is a recipe for a dish with ground beef.

Ingredients:

• large onion;
• semolina – 2 tbsp. l.;
• sour cream or heavy cream - 3 tbsp. l.;
• eggs – 2 pcs.;
• hard cheese – 100 g;
• minced beef – 0.3 kg;
• puree – 0.5 kg;
• flour – 2 tbsp. l.;
• seasonings

Cooking method:

1. Chop the onion finely, fry in oil, turning on medium heat.
2. Add the minced meat to the same pan, after mashing with a fork. Season the mixture.
3. Grate the cheese.
4. Grease a baking dish with oil and sprinkle the bottom with semolina.
5. Place ½ of the puree into a container, then all the minced meat with onions and 1/3 of the cheese.
6. Place the rest of the potatoes and cheese on top. Fill the dish with sour cream, sprinkle with a pinch of semolina.
7. Bake the food at 200 degrees oven, covering the top of the pan with foil.

Cutlets

After the holidays, as a rule, every housewife is left with a large amount of powder, which needs to be quickly disposed of so that the product does not go to waste. There are several options for how to do this - reheat and eat the not-so-tasty dish, or show your imagination and make mashed potato cutlets. Below is how to make tender, savory cutlets.

Ingredients:

• eggs – 2 pcs.;
• spices;
• mashed potatoes/potatoes – 1 kg;
• butter – 50 g;
• flour – 2 tbsp. l.;
• vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

1. If the masher is not ready yet, you should know how to make puree. To do this, cut the peeled vegetable into small pieces, boil the product until tender and crush with a pestle, after draining most of the water into the sink. Add a spoonful of butter and a little salt to the mixture.
2. Add egg, flour, spices to the warm mixture.
3. Form small balls from the finished homogeneous mass (it is better to do this with wet hands).
4. Dip each cutlet into the breading and place in a heated frying pan.
5. Fry each cutlet on both sides until golden brown and serve with sour cream and mushroom sauce.

Pies

The unclaimed mashed potatoes left after dinner can be used to make very tasty, unusual potato pies. In this case, any filling can be chosen for them - mushroom, vegetable, meat. The fastest and easiest option is to use sausage/ham and cheese as a filling. Pies made from mashed potatoes turn out very tasty, no matter what filling you choose. Below is a recipe for an appetizer with mushrooms. How to cook pies?

Ingredients:

• breadcrumbs;
• frying oil;
• eggs – 2 pcs.;
• puree – 0.6 kg;
• onions – 2 pcs.;
• mushrooms (any) – 100 g;
• spices;
• butter – 1 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

1. Mix the potato mixture with egg yolks and soft butter. Mix thoroughly.
2. Wash the mushrooms, chop and fry them along with the onions in vegetable oil.
3. After wetting your hands, begin to form cakes from the potato mixture, into which place a spoonful of fried mushrooms. The edges should be pinched as tightly as possible so that the pies do not fall apart.
4. Dip each bun first into beaten egg whites, then into breadcrumbs.
5. Fry them in oil on both sides until golden brown. Then place the finished pies on a flat plate lined with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

With cheese

The dish goes well with any food, including cheese. By adding such an ingredient to a traditional side dish, you don’t have to worry about preparing a meat or fish dish, since the puree will already be very satisfying and nutritious. You can use semi- or hard cheese, and in this case it is better to choose sandwich or melted butter. How to cook mashed potatoes with cheese?

Ingredients:

• Parmesan/Dutch cheese – 100 g;
• garlic cloves – 3 pcs.;
• milk – 200 ml;
• potatoes – 10 pcs.;
• butter – 2 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

1. Cut the potatoes in half and boil over medium heat, covered.
2. Drain the water after the vegetable is ready.
3. Pound the potato pieces with a pestle while adding warm milk. Salt foods should be moderate, as cheese will also give a salty taste.
4. Squeeze the garlic, mix with melted butter, add to the crush, mixing it thoroughly again.
5. The cheese shavings are added last. Serve cheese puree with fresh vegetable salad.

With minced meat

To make a quick lunch, you can use yesterday's puree. By mixing the finished product with minced meat, you will get a completely different hearty and tasty dish. It bakes in the oven for about half an hour and does not require any effort on the part of the cook. If you wish, you can supplement the list of ingredients with any vegetables, herbs, and spices. Below we describe in detail how to prepare mashed potatoes with minced meat.

Ingredients:

• cheese – 150 g;
• butter – 100 g;
• minced meat – 0.5 kg;
• potato mass – 0.5 kg;
• high fat cream/milk – 2/3 tbsp.

Cooking method:

1. Reheat the potatoes, re-buff them and place them on a greased baking sheet/casserole dish.
2. Place the minced meat fried until tender along with the onion on top.
3. Sprinkle the food with cheese shavings so that the finished product has an appetizing crust.
4. To prepare the dish, place it in the oven for half an hour at 200 degrees. Then let the casserole cool slightly and serve, cutting into portions.

With mushrooms

To prepare pounded mushrooms, you don’t need to put in any serious effort; in addition, the dish does not require a large number of ingredients - all of them, as a rule, are already in any housewife’s refrigerator. Mushroom puree is an excellent lunch or dinner option for fans of vegetarian food. How to make mashed potatoes with mushrooms?

Ingredients:

• oyster mushrooms/champignons – 0.2 kg;
• mashed potatoes – 1 kg;
• garlic cloves – 2 pcs.;
• butter – 2 tbsp. l.;
• sour cream – 50 ml.

Cooking method:

1. Heat the finished puree, add heated cream and butter to it. Try to prepare a perfectly plastic and homogeneous mass.
2. Season the mixture if necessary, cover, and set aside.
3. Fry the crushed garlic in butter, then add the mushroom pieces. Cook the ingredients, stirring vigorously, until golden brown.
4. Place the potato mixture on serving plates and place the fried mushrooms on top.

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