I get very stressed out in the final hour before we sit down to our Thanksgiving Day meal. It is probably the most difficult hour of the day for me (and for my long suffering family). Knowing this about myself has forced me to try to find ways to do as much as I can ahead of time.
Mashed Potatoes have always been a last minute thing by necessity - once they cool off a little bit they loose their light and fluffy quality forever. The short half life of Mashed Potatoes has always meant that once the Turkey is out of the oven the cook is running around the kitchen making the gravy and the brussel sprouts and on top of everything else the potatoes.
I don’t do that anymore – thank goodness. Now, as soon as the Turkey goes into the oven I start making the mashed potatoes – hours and hours before we sit down to eat. I make them just the way I normally would and when they are at their peak of fluffy and buttery perfection and put them into my slow cooker (already plugged in, pre-heated on warm and sitting ready on the dining room buffet). Then I sigh with relief and move on to the rest of the tasks I have to get done before the Turkey comes out of the oven.
One suggestion – liberally butter the inside of your slow cooker before you fill it with the mashed potatoes otherwise they do tend to get brown and crusty on the bottom. If you are doing mashed potatoes with bacon you could really splurge and grease the slow cooker with bacon fat… that’s living on the edge.
Just so you know, I have a 6 1/2 quart Crock-Pot and I fill it at least 3/4 full with mashed potatoes. That way I’m confident that we’ll have plenty with some for leftovers.
Some folks suggest that you whip hot milk or cream into the potatoes right before serving them. If you feel like taking that extra step between finishing off your gravy, perfecting your broccoli and getting everyone to the table at the same time more power to you. If not, don’t worry, you can skip that additional work and the potatoes will be just as delicious. What’s even better is that you’ll be relaxed enough to enjoy them.
2 comments:
Sara - Brilliant! We will try it next week. Thank you for solving and sharing the hot potatoe puzzle. Thanks - MJ
Definitely made the day less stressful! Made garlic mashed potatoes again (pre-boiled the whole bulb, peeled and then pureed with whole milk and butter, then added to potatoes) early in the day. My grandmother gave me a crockpot last year that has 5 settings so we kept in on warm and it was perfect! A new tradition for sure.
Post a Comment