Summer reruns, summer not. Get it? "Some are reruns, some are not." Sometimes I crack me up!
This rerun was actually a first. It is the first time I decided to make something from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" a second time (hollandaise sauce doesn't count) simply because it was so good the first time I made it and I wanted to make it again, not just because I needed to complete a new recipe. I made it to have as a side dish with my world famous "Salmon a la Costco" and it did not disappoint!
I do love garlic and that's a good thing since this had about 30 cloves in it (3 full head). It really isn't as potent as it sounds -- the garlic is boiled for about 2 minutes at the beginning to loosen the skin and make them easier to peel but it also mellows the taste a bit. I remembered an important lesson after making this recipe the first time -- boiled garlic cloves are really hot! I'm guessing they'd be about 212 degrees after the boiling water is drained away. Of course if you're boiling them at a high altitude like Denver, Colorado, or in a 747 somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, the boiling point is lower because of the decreased air pressure. Sorry, I digress. Thought I was writing a science blog.
Back to the Puree de Pommes -- The last time I made this it was a bit of a challenge to peel the skin from the garlic cloves as the blisters were growing on my fingertips. Perhaps I exaggerate a bit but the cloves were really hot. This time I knew the danger and came up with a verrrrrrrrrry clever solution -- I let them sit for a couple of minutes to cool off and then peeled off the skin. There's your cooking tip for the day!
Now that I've been gaining such amazing skill, and mostly because I've learned where Elizabeth keeps it hidden, I used the immersion blender and didn't spray stuff all around the kitchen. It does work really well and turned the garlic/butter/flour/boiled milk into an extremely creamy garlic sauce. It also helped me have everything done on time and at the same time! I've got to be careful, they're going to start expecting meals when I say and also at some time close to when normal humans eat.
In case you didn't read my earlier post about vampire repellent, here's the quick description of how these were made: garlic boiled, garlic peeled, butter and flour cooked with garlic, boiled milk added, garlic and stuff blended with immersion blender, potatoes boiled, potatoes mashed (using the electric mixer -- more power!!), butter (yep, French recipe has to have more butter) beat into potatoes, garlic sauce mixed into potatoes, cream added into mixture, puree put into serving dish, done! Simple, no? The only real difference from the first time I made this was that I remembered to add a couple of tablespoons of cream at the end. Now you're all set to try making it yourself.
The only major disaster that came close to occurring was the great butter crisis of October 2019. My secret stash of butter apparently wasn't so secret after all. I used up a partial stick of butter and when I went to get another stick to finish up...there was nothing there!! I don't know who's been using the butter around here but I had to place an emergency order and my lovely sous chefs (Elizabeth and Kathryn) made the delivery when they came home. I suppose they both earned their hot and timely dinner tonight.
These garlic mashed potatoes are downright tasty and I'll be glad to make them for you if you come over for dinner so I'll have an excuse to eat them again! Some conditions may apply -- I need to have potatoes, garlic, cream, butter, and I need to know you're coming!
Bon appetit!
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