When I was a growing up I despised mash potatoes, the texture, the taste, everything about them. As I got older, that all changed as I became a parent and cooked almost every night. I learned how to make some improvements to foods I didn’t like as a child. Honestly, I wanted my daughter to like and eat everything I made, especially all variety of vegetables. A mother can dream, can’t she?

I can remember, the texture of mash potatoes was just awful, NOW, I love their creamy texture. Funny thing, Steve doesn’t care for smooth mash potatoes. He likes them to have some texture, like mashed potatoes with the skins.  I came up with a compromise, I’m calling them my Lumpy Mashed Potatoes.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Yields: 4 servings
Equipment: 1 (6-quart) saucepot, 1 rimmed baking sheet pan, large mixing bowl, potato masher

Ingredients:

3 pounds of potatoes, Yukon Gold
4 large garlic cloves, roasted
1/2 stick of butter, unsalted,  room temperature
2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
4 ounces of whipped cream cheese, room temperature
4 ounces of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups of half-and-half
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoon of fresh chives, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400-degrees F.
Peel and discard the papery out layer of the garlic bulb, leaving intact the skins of the individual cloves. Using a sharp knife, cut 1/4 to 1/2-inch from the top of the cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Set the garlic on top of a piece of foil. Drizzle a couple of teaspoons of olive oil over each exposed head, using your fingers to rub the olive oil over all the cut, exposed garlic cloves. Sprinkle each head with a pinch of Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Wrap the garlic bulbs up in the foil. Place the foil packet on a rimmed baking sheet pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cloves are lightly browned and feel soft when pressed. Remove from the oven, carefully open the foil packet, and set aside to cool.

Start with a large saucepot add the potatoes. Cover the potatoes with cold water. Bring the potatoes up to a boil. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of Kosher salt. Continue boiling for around 10 to 15 minutes until just fork tender. Turn the heat off. Strain the water, return the potatoes back into the hot pot. Place a towel over the top so they will continue steaming for another 5 minutes. The potatoes will be perfectly cooked and the skins can be easily removed. Remove the skins and dice into approx. 2-inch size chunks. Place the diced potatoes into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

In the same large saucepot over low heat, melt the butter. To the melted butter add the fresh chopped thyme, cream cheese, Mascarpone cheese, half-and-half, Kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper, stirring occasionally.

Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes or until everything becomes nice and smooth. Take the mixture off the heat, add the 4 roasted garlic cloves and cooked diced potatoes right into the cream mixture.

With a potato masher start mashing. The warm potatoes start to absorb the liquid as I start the mashing. This potato recipe is kind of unique because it still has the creaminess you know mash potatoes to have, but yet, because they’re not whipped or put through a food mill they still have little bits of potatoes throughout. Finally, I add 4 tablespoons of fresh chopped chives.

There you have it, my Lumpy Mashed Potatoes.

https://lindalouhamel.com/2019/07/10/summer-time-flowers-and-herbs/

https://lindalouhamel.com/2014/07/23/recipe-for-my-homemade-meatlove/